Singapore’s Genesis Alternative Ventures Raise $125 Million

Singapore-based Genesis Alternative Ventures, Southeast Asia’s leading private lender to venture and growth stage companies funded by tier-one VCs, on Tuesday said that it has raised total commitments of $125 million for its second Southeast Asia-focused venture debt fund.

Fund II welcomes back over 80% of investors from Fund I, including Aozora Bank, Korea Development Bank, Mizuho Leasing, Sassoon Investment Corporation and Silverhorn. New and notable investors in Fund II include Japanese mega bank, Mizuho Bank, and OurCrowd, the online global investing platform.

Separately, Genesis and Indonesia’s digital-focused bank, Superbank, announced a collaboration in August 2023 to provide up to $40 million of venture debt to promising technology start-ups in Indonesia. Superbank counts Emtek, Grab, Singtel and KakaoBank as significant shareholders.

Genesis also announced that former Chairman of Singapore’s Economic Development Board Philip Yeo has joined Genesis’ Advisory Board. Yeo is a veteran in the technology investment space across Southeast Asia and brings a wealth of experience and insights to guide Genesis’ continued growth and future strategies.

Dr Jeremy Loh, Genesis’ Co-Founder and Managing Partner, said that they were grateful for the continued support of their limited partners (LPs) and pleased to welcome new strategic institutional investor, Mizuho Bank, to Fund II.

Shifting Profiles of Start-Ups

“Fund II has already deployed venture loans of more than $20 million to a handful of promising start-ups across the region, including in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines. The current market has brought about a shift in start-up profiles, with a focus on leaner structures and a profitable mind set. Our portfolio companies exemplify this new direction, positioning themselves for long-term sustainability and success,” Dr Loh said.

Dr Loh also said that while the start-up landscape presents its share of funding and exit challenges, Fund II has already marked its first successful warrant exit. “This validates the market demand for venture-backed companies that are strategically aligned with evolving market needs,” he added.

Yasuhiro Kubota, Managing Executive Officer and co-CEO for APAC, Mizuho Bank, Ltd., said that they were delighted to come on board with Genesis on a shared vision in the venture debt space. Southeast Asia continues to be an exciting region with a thriving start-up ecosystem.

“We are confident that this partnership will accelerate the growth of promising firms with access to capital, industry networks and expertise led by Genesis,” Kubota added.

Genesis extends debt to revenue-generating companies that are backed by venture capital funds. These start-ups typically do not qualify for regular bank loans because they lack collateral, or have not yet reached profitability, and/or their founders and institutional investors are keen to take venture debt to build up the company’s credit worthiness while equally seeking to minimise unnecessary equity dilution.