International early-stage VC fund Accelerating Asia has announced its investment into ten new companies joining Cohort 8 of its flagship accelerator program.
Cohort 8 startups have a market presence in 7 markets across Southeast Asia (Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines), South Asia (India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan), and the Middle East and North Africa region (United Arab Emirates). The startups hail from a wide variety of industries, including education, ecommerce, logistics, insurtech, agritech, and many more.
Across this diversity, these 10 startups are united in one attribute: They all have significant market traction. To date, they have collectively raised US$5,800,000. Cohort 8 startups have been able to successfully fundraise despite the overall funding downturn due to the strength of their growth revenue, as they boast a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of over US$57,000 per month and an average monthly revenue of over US$27,000.
According to Co-Founder and General Partner Craig Dixon, this market traction is what separated the chosen ten startups from the wider pool of applicants.
“The new cohort comes into the portfolio with strong early revenue and fundraising traction in their local markets. Accelerating Asia looks forward to helping them leverage this early success to scale into larger geographies and fundraise from a larger suite of investors across the world,” said Dixon.
In keeping with Accelerating Asia’s mission of leveraging entrepreneurship to catalyze change, Cohort 8 startups are also making a social impact in their communities. Accelerating Asia invests in startups with impact embedded into their core business model with the SDGs as a framework for impact. Portfolio companies have gone on to create over 1000 jobs and gender lens investments make up 50% of all startups in the portfolio.
Across eight cohorts, there are now 70 startups in more than 20 verticals, which are led by over 100 founders. These startups have an average of over US$285,000 in monthly revenue and an annualized revenue growth of 520%.
Because the portfolio startups have such impressive market traction, they have attracted top investors from not only Asia Pacific, but around the world. In total, they have raised over US$63.8 million in venture capital, bringing the total portfolio valuation to US$600 million. This figure is also not swayed by a handful of outliers: 100% of the portfolio has raised outside capital.
These investors are a who’s-who of venture capital. Accelerating Asia portfolio startups count the likes of Sequoia Capital, Cocoon Capital, MDI Ventures, Wavemaker Partners, and Indonesia Women Empowerment Fund as their backers, in addition to top angel investors and networks.
Some of these investors also choose to work with Accelerating Asia directly as a limited partner. According to Co-Founder and General Partner Amra Naidoo, these investors choose to partner with the organization for three key reasons.
“With the size and scale of Accelerating Asia’s portfolio, investors can gain immediate diversification across industries and markets. They also obtain access to the highest quality startups, since the selectivity rate for each cohort is less than 2%. Finally, they can tap the portfolio as a dealflow source for thesis-relevant startups for their own fund,” said Naidoo.
Accelerating Asia launched Fund II in 2021, Cohort 8 is the fourth batch of investments for Fund II which will deploy capital across Southeast and South Asia pre-Series A startups. If you’re an accredited investor who is looking to build the best pre-Series A startups in the region, reach out to the Accelerating Asia team for more information about investing alongside us.
The invite only Demo Day for Cohort 8 will be held on August 3, more information on how to apply to attend can be found here. If you’re interested in joining our next cohort, apply here.
Pattern (Pakistan, SDG 8) is the first social food app in Pakistan with a focus on the dine-in & pick-up experience which is more than 2x the delivery market. Pattern lets diners discover, order, pay, review, and unlock multiple offers at their favorite restaurants including loyalty discounts, redeemable reward points, cashback and more.
Lemonade (Global, SDG 10 and SDG 13) is a marketplace brand that retails luxury goods at fair prices, connecting world’s best manufacturers, directly to consumers across Asia.
Lister (Indonesia, SDG 4) is the leading online learning platform for languages and test preparation in Indonesia.
Edutechs (Bangladesh, SDG 4) is the easiest way to start adding technology to your teaching. Built from the ground-up to automate and expand your teaching business with the click of a single button!
Fullfily (India, SDG 8, 11, and 13) is an electric vehicle based full-stack solution for intra-city deliveries
On Demand Deals (Philippines, SDG 1, 8, 9, 10, and 11) empowers entrepreneurs to earn extra income from empty spaces by franchising ODD Stores, omnichannel convenience stores that can deliver in minutes.
Sova Health (India, SDG 3) is India’s first full stack Gut Health company offering proprietary synbiotic supplements, gut microbiome testing and 1:1 nutrition coaching for conditions such as Acidity, Bloating, IBS, Hormonal Acne, Migraines, Anxiety and more.
Proton (United Arab Emirates) is the MENA region’s first & only insurance platform that helps insurance companies better risk portfolio through behavior based driving data and incentivizes insurance customers for good behavior.
WEGRO (Bangladesh, SDG 1, 2, and 8) provides end-to-end solutions for farmers connecting them with finance and buyers to sell their produce.
Accelerating Asia invests in startups with scalable technology solutions and revenue generating business models that combine purpose with profit.
In making an investment decision, investors must rely on their own examination of startups and the terms of the investment including the merits and risks involved. Prospective investors should not construe this content as legal, tax, investment, financial or accounting advice.
