11/7/2018 – Danish venture capital firm 3B Ventures today announced the launch of its US$60 million Frontier Fund II, which will be targeting impact investments in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States.
“We see many high-quality startups in the market that have impact integrated into their business model. These companies are scalable, profitable, and good business.” explained 3B Ventures General Partner Jan-Cayo Fiebing.
3B Ventures will mainly focus its investments in startups working on water, energy, agriculture, education, and health sectors. It will cater towards companies which are raising seed, bridge, or Series A funding rounds, in addition to follow-on investments in later rounds.
So far, the firm has secured an undisclosed initial financial commitment for the fund and plans to raise the remaining quota from family offices, GLCs, and accredited investors.
According to the general partner of 3B Ventures James Digby, the investment firm is looking to reach a soft closing for the fund by the end of this year in order to start deploying its capital and make its first investment in 2019.
Digby also added, “The forecast is to invest into 60 ventures, with initial tranches from US$25K to US$50K at the early stage, with allocation for follow-on funding up to US$2 million. Our focus is on seeing how we can scale our ventures through our ventures throughout Southeast Asia.”
The criteria for selected startups are to have been in establishment for at least 12 months and are on track for at least US$500K revenue in the next 18 months, as well as a business model that demonstrates profitability and potential to scale.
“We are leveraging upon the skills and talents available in the Nordics with the market potential of Southeast Asia and other emerging economies. We will be adopting a systemic approach to vertical investments and look to see where we can synergize between portfolio companies where it makes sense,” Digby said.
Andrew Tan of Malaysian venture capital firm TinkBig is appointed as the fund manager who will be operating the fund out of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where its Asia operations are based. The entrepreneur also helms the position of TBV Capital Managing Partner and CrowdPlus CEO.
Commenting on Frontier Fund II, IWI Technologies partner John Raabo said, “on the macro level, we recognize the historic opportunity presented by technology as we look to see how our innovations can impact the lives of the next 3 billion.”
“We invested in the fund because it has the right strategy and the 3B team has the network, experience, and expertise to execute it,” Raabo added.
IWI is also an initial investor in Frontier Fund II’s predecessor, Frontier Fund I. The fund has made investments in visual assistance startup Be My Eyes, women-focused personalized wellness startup Yesmom, and drone-based agritech startup Agrieye.
