Temasek’s VC Arm Vertex Ventures Marks First Close Of Master Fund III At $900 Mn

Vertex Ventures, the venture capital (VC) arm of Singapore’s state investor Temasek, has reportedly marked the first close of its latest fund, Vertex Master Fund III, at around $900 Mn.

Set up in 2021, Vertex Master Fund III closed its first round at the end of June, Vertex CEO Chua Kee Lock told Nikkei Asia. He added that the fund is slated to reach its target corpus of $1 Bn ‘in coming months’.

The VC firm, which has invested in 71 startups so far, has backed big Indian startups like Licious, Firstcry, XpressBees, Grab, Kissht and Kuku FM.

The third Master Fund comes three years after Vertex closed its second fund in 2020 and nearly four years after the close of its $305 Mn India and SEA-focused fund in September 2019.

Vertex, having debuted in India in 2010 with India and Southeast Asia Fund, has since dedicated four funds to investing in the region. The VC firm is reportedly also in talks to raise another India and SEA fund – India and SEA Fund V – with a target corpus of $500 Mn.

According to media reports from February this year, Vertex Ventures has already secured commitments worth $300-400 Mn for Fund V.  Of this, Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek reportedly contributed $100 Mn as an anchor investor. Further, DEG, the investment arm of German state-owned development bank KfW, also invested $18 Mn the Fund V.

The development at Vertex Ventures comes at a time when despite the funding winter, the Indian startup ecosystem has seen funds worth nearly $4 Bn announced so far in 2023, according to Inc42 data.

Some of the most recent fund launches include Gruhas and the Collective Artists Network’s consumer brands-focussed fund, Varanium Capital’s INR 250 Cr fund, Good Capital’s $50 Mn fund, Arkam Ventures’ third fund, Lumikai’s $50 Mn gaming-focused fund and Blume Ventures’ first close of its continuity fund at INR 200 Cr.

While investors in Indian startups continue to accumulate dry powder, the funding situation continues to deteriorate. According to Inc42’s ‘Indian Tech Startup Funding Report H1 2023’ report, Indian startups could only raise $580.18 Mn across 94 deals in the first half of 2023.

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