Convergence Ventures
Venture capital firm | |
Industry | Investment services |
Founded | 2014 |
Founder | Adrian Li |
Headquarters | Jakarta, Indonesia |
Website | http://www.convergencevc.com |
Convergence Ventures (formerly Convergence Accel) is an Indonesia based venture capital firm.[1] The firm invests primarily in early stage funding in the emerging markets and start-ups which build technology products and internet services with a primary focus on Indonesia. The firm was founded by Adrian Li and joined by Partner Donald Wihardja in November 2014.[2] The company manages a US$25 million fund with LPs from Indonesia, China and the US.[3][4][5]
History
Convergence was founded by Adrian Li in 2014 in Jakarta, Indonesia.[6] Li had a background as an internet entrepreneur, he had founded six internet startups in the emerging markets of China and Indonesia, and also was a mentor for Endeavor, GEPI, Ideabox, Incyte, and others. Realizing the business potential in the Indonesian market, he launched Convergence Ventures in 2014.[7] The firm is advised by a notable group of experienced investment professionals including Ryan Floyd, Vyomesh Joshi, Dave Morin, Robert Soni, Raj Gollamudi, Andrew Malk, and Xu Xiao Ping.[8] The firm focuses on early stage companies primarily in digital media, digital commerce, O2O and enabling technologies and invests at Pre- Series A to Series B stage.[9] Up to end of 2015 the fund had announced 9 investments in Indotrading, Female Daily Network,[10] Qraved, MalesBanget (MBDC Media), Paktor, Adskom, YesBoss, MoneySmart and Ematic Solutions.[11]
In November 2015, Convergence Ventures announced a strategic and financial partnership with Baidu.[12] The partnership brought technical resources and expertise from China for existing and portfolio companies of Convergence Ventures as well as additional fund.[13][14][15] Convergence Ventures was rated as one of the top southeast Asia’s investment firms by Tech In Asia.
Investments
The company has been an early investor in companies across South East Asia, primarily in Indonesia. In September 2014, Convergence Ventures invested in MalesBanget, founded by Christian Sugiono. MalesBanget is the leading viral content production site in Indonesia.[16] In the next month, the firm invested in another Indonesian company, Female Daily Network, which is the largest forum site for fashion and beauty in Indonesia, founded by Hanifa Ambadar and Affi Assegaf in 2007.[17][18]
Adrian Li along with Steven Kim, and Sean Liao founded Qraved, a leading food discovery site in Indonesia, Convergence participated in the Series A funding in November 2014.[19] In October 2015, the company received USD 8 Million follow-up funding at Series B led by Gobi Partners and Richmond Global.[20] In March 2015, the firm invested in Indotrading, the largest B2B online directory, founded by Handy Chang in 2012.[21] Convergence Ventures invested in Adskom, an advertising technology company led by Italo Gani and Daniel Armanto.[22][23] The company received funding at undisclosed amount in July 2015.
The firm invested in a leading social dating app in South East Asia, Paktor.[24][25] Convergence Ventures participated in a USD7.5 Million Series B.[26] In October 2015, Convergence Ventures invested in YesBoss, a text-based personal assistant startup based in Indonesia, founded by Irzan Raditya. Later, firm invested in MoneySmart, a fintech company based in Singapore.[27][28] Convergence Ventures participated in a seed round of Ematic Solutions, an email marketing company founded by a Stanford University graduate, Paul Tenney and home-cooking delivery startup Black Garlic.[29][30]
Areas of Investment
Convergence Ventures focuses on the following areas of investment:
- Consumer Internet
- Financial Technology
- Digital Advertising
- Online Media
- eCommerce
- Social Networking and Communication
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
References
- ↑ Leighton Cosseboom (23 Sep 2015). "Southeast Asia's top 37 startup investment firms". Tech In Asia. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Leighton Cosseboom (24 Nov 2014). "Meet Convergence Accel, Indonesia's newest venture capital firm". Tech In Asia. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Catherine Shu (24 November 2014). "Convergence Accel Launches $25M Fund Focused On Indonesian Startups". TechCrunch. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Twishy Shahi (24 November 2014). "Convergence Accel launches with US$25M Indonesia-focussed fund". Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Dan Primack (24 November 2014). "Term Sheet". Fortune (magazine). Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Shiwen Yap (27 January 2016). "Jakarta meal delivery startup Black Garlic bags seed funds from Convergence, Skystar". Dealstreetasia. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ "Adrian Li".
- ↑ "Convergence Accel Launches $25M Venture Capital Fund".
- ↑ Winnie Liu (24 November 2014). "Convergence Accel launches $25m Indonesia VC fund". AVCJ. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Resty Woro Yuniar (29 November 2014). "Indonesian Women's Online Shopping Habits". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Iris Leung (11 November 2015). "Baidu Indonesia teams up with Jakarta-based Convergence Ventures". e27.co. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ "Baidu Gandeng Convergence Ventures untuk Dukung Startup". Indotelko. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Vincencia NLS (12 November 2015). "Baidu comes in as strategic investor, partner in active Indonesian VC Convergence Ventures". DealStreetAsia. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Nadine Freischlad (11 Nov 2015). "Chinese internet giant Baidu backs Indonesia's Convergence Ventures". Tech In Asia. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ "百度与印尼风投 Convergence Ventures 达成合作". Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Leighton Cosseboom (4 Sep 2014). "Indonesia's humor site MalesBanget gets investment from Rebright Partners and 500 Startups". Tech In Asia. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Leighton Cosseboom (19 Nov 2014). "Indonesia's Female Daily Network raises $1M in series A funding". Tech In Asia. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Oleh Amir Karimuddin (19 Nov 2014). "Female Daily Network Raised $1 Million Series A Funding Led by Ideosource". Daily Social Id. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Enricko Lukman (26 November 2014). "Indonesia restaurant booking platform Qraved raises another $1.3 million, will launch in Bali". Tech In Asia. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Leighton Cosseboom (30 October 2015). "Indonesia's foodtech firm Qraved gobbles up an $8M series B". Tech In Asia. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Leighton Cosseboom (11 Mar 2015). "IndoTrading grabs $1.5M series A funding to get more small businesses into ecommerce". Tech In Asia. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Joji Thomas Philip (8 July 2015). "Indonesia's ADSKOM raises Series A from Geniee, Convergence Ventures & East Ventures". DealStreetAsia. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ 7 July 2015. "Indonesia's ADSKOM Raises Series A Investment from Geniee, Convergence Ventures, and East Ventures to Dominate Digital Ad Market in Southeast Asia". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ "Start Singapore: 9 S'pore start-ups to face foreign rivals". Straits Times. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ "Dating app Paktor receives S$10 million in latest funding round". Channel News Asia. 14 Jul 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Michael Tegos (14 Jul 2015). "Singapore's Paktor gets $7.3M to become more than a dating app". Tech In Asia. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Jacqueline Woo (6 October 2015). "Singapore start-up MoneySmart.sg gets $2.8m boost from SPH Media Fund, other investors". The Straits Times. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Yon Heong Tung (6 October 2015). "SG-based finance portal MoneySmart.sg raises US$2M in Series A". Yahoo News. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ Kevin McSpadden (1 December 2015). "The seed round was led by notable VCs Wavemaker Partners, 500 Startups and Convergence Ventures". Yahoo News. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ "Jakarta's home-cooking delivery startup Black Garlic boxes up seed funding". Business Standard. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.