Southeast Asia Tech Investment - H1 2019

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Southeast Asia Tech Investment - H1 2019
Southeast Asia Tech Investment – H1 2019
Southeast Asia Tech Investment - H1 2019
ABOUT CENTO VENTURES
                                                                                                                                                                 d
Cento Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on technology startups           - Founders with great ambition
building products and services emerging from the digital transformation of        We look for founders who want to build large digital companies that are
promising growth markets, particularly Southeast Asia.                            leaders in their category. In a fragmented region, such as Southeast Asia,
We are based in Singapore and backed by a team well experienced in                operating across multiple countries often essential. Our preference is for
internet business. We operate three funds that invest across industries           business models that are light on physical assets and where the founders
through a disciplined, well-researched approach to locate technology              have ambitious plans to scale internationally.
investment opportunities originating from the Southeast Asian region.             Cento Ventures is convinced that the opportunity exists for Southeast Asian
Our investments are guided by three main principles:                              founders to build transformational digital companies, and we look forward to
- Sectors ready for digital transformation                                        working with more startup teams to create new success stories.

There is a great opportunity for technology to solve some of the inefficiencies   Learn more about us at cento.vc or our Facebook or Linkedin pages.
present in emerging markets. However, technology alone does not digitalise
industries. Most of our investments apply innovative business models to large
industry sectors that are set in their ways, using technology as an enabler.
- Tech startups at an early stage, but with proof points
Our investments are usually at Series A, where we lead the round. This helps
us establish a solid relationship with the founder, and to influence company
strategy. We only invest once a company can show that a market exists for
its product and that it is ready to use extra capital to scale.

                                                                                                                                                             2
Southeast Asia Tech Investment - H1 2019
d

Introduction
Southeast Asia Tech Investment - H1 2019
INTRODUCTION
                                                                                                                                                                                                            d
The headline story of Southeast Asia is the sustained investment in technology investment            - Investments to Vietnam increases in proportion
with increasing geography and sector diversification. Close to $6B was invested during the
                                                                                                     As compared to 2018 where Indonesia accounts for more than 70% of the capital invested in
first half of 2019, lower than that of first half of 2018. However, we expect the total investment
                                                                                                     Southeast Asia, there seems to be greater geographical diversification in capital deployed.
in 2019 will match the total investment amount in 2018 as local champions like Grab, Go-jek,
                                                                                                     Investment into Vietnam is increasing, making up 17% of the capital invested in 2019 H1, a
Traveloka and Tokopedia continue to attract sizeable funding rounds. Besides that, a growing
                                                                                                     significant to 2018 where it only made 5% of total capital invested. Indonesia captured a
cohort of new companies valued in excess of $100M will attract significant capital.
                                                                                                     smaller proportion of the total capital invested. Investments into Malaysia, Thailand and
A closer look at the data partly emphasizes the progression of existing trends, but also             Philippines appear to be consistent to previous years
reveals interesting findings emerging in the first half of 2019:
                                                                                                     -   Logistics and healthcare attract more interest
-   Record number of deals
                                                                                                     We also continue to observe investment into a wider range of sectors. Fintech, Healthcare
The first half of 2019 sees investment in more than 300 companies, a record high in our data         and Logistics startup investments demonstrate solid growth. While Fintech has attracted
set for the region. The amount invested, remains ‘relatively’ constant relative to 2018. While       interest since 2017, Logistics and Healthcare are two key sectors that have attracted more
we continue to see ‘mega-deals’, tech investment in Southeast Asia appears to be more                interest in the first half of 2019.
diversified in 2019. ‘
                                                                                                     -   Absence of landmark exits
-   A new set of unicorns?
                                                                                                     While the number of liquidity event in the first half of 2019 is relatively high, the total proceeds
Although the majority of capital will likely continue to be associated with a few familiar names,    remains low as we have not yet seen a landmark exit during the year. In 2017, the largest
we also observe a growing cohort of other late stage companies who are raising larger                liquidity event was the listing of Sea Group in NYSE while in 2018, the region sees the
rounds, putting them above the $100M valuation. As these companies mature in the coming              merger of Grab and Uber Southeast Asia. The largest liquidity event in the first half of 2019
year, they may follow the fundraising trajectory of the current SE Asian unicorns.                   remains Go-jek’s $72M acquisition of Coins.ph in the Philippines.
- Increasing early stage activities
Small deals (less than $500K) experienced a spike in the first half of 2019, after remaining                                                                                                Thank you
fairly flat between 2016 - 2018. We note that the increase in the early stage activities is partly
                                                                                                                                                                                         Mark Suckling
driven by deals invested by a number of new accelerators/ incubators such as Antler, SKALA
and Accelerating Asia.                                                                                                                                                              Laphat Tantiphipop
                                                                                                                                                                                      Marco Hadisurya

                                                                                                                                                                                                        4
Southeast Asia Tech Investment - H1 2019
d

Investment landscape
Southeast Asia Tech Investment - H1 2019
$6B INVESTED IN H1 2019
                                                                                                                                                                                                d
$ 9
  , 0 0

                                                                                                                      332
                                                                                                                              3 5
                                                                                                                                0

                                                                                                                                    The number of Southeast Asia internet
   Capital invested, $M and deals done, #
                                                                                                                                    technology related investment continues to set
$ 8
  , 0 0                                                                                                                             a new record in first half of 2019 even though
                                                                                                                              3 0

                                                                                                                                    the total capital remains relatively constant
$ 7
  , 0 0
                                                                                                                                    relative to 2018. The tech investment during
                                                                                                                                    this half of the year is less concentrated as
                                                                                                                                    only 50% of the total capital invested is
                                                                                                                              2 5
                                                                                                                                0

                                220
                                                                                                                                    contributed by ‘mega deals’, lower than 70%
$ 6
  , 0 0

                                                    209
                                                                                                            183
                                            190                           193           197
                                                                                                                              2 0
                                                                                                                                    in 2018
                                                                                                  177
$ 5
  , 0 0

$ 4
  , 0 0
                                                                149                                                                 Furthermore, the increase in number of deals
                                                                                                                              1 5
                                                                                                                                0

                                                                                                                                    done in this half of the year is mostly driven by
            108       104                                                                                                           the increase of early stage deals (< $500K).
$ 3
  , 0 0

                                                                                                                              1 0

$ 2
  , 0 0
                                                                                                                                    Notes:
                                                                                                                                    The numbers exclude the investment portion
                                                                                                                                    carved out for secondary exits, and include
                                                                                                                              5 0

$ 1
  , 0 0

                                                                                                                                    various events that while count as investment
           $247      $989      $899      $970     $1,468       $2,043   $1,154        $4,216    $8,306    $3,622    $5,993          in technology companies, are considered non-
   $ -                                                                                                                        -

          2014 H1   2014 H2   2015 H1   2015 H2   2016 H1    2016 H2    2017 H1       2017 H2   2018 H1   2018 H2   2019 H1         VC, e.g. ICO, project financing, corporate
                                                                                                                                    spin-off. Some early stage incubator-funded
                                                    Capital Invested     # of Deals
                                                                                                                                    companies are not yet included in our data
                                                                                                                                                                   Source: Cento research

                                                                                                                                                                                            6
Southeast Asia Tech Investment - H1 2019
INVESTMENTS INCREASES AT MOST DEAL SIZES
                                                                                                                                                                                                        d
$0.5M or smaller deals**                                  $0.5M+ to $2M deals                                              $2M+ to $5M deals

                                                                                                      164                                                                                94
                                                254

            205
                                                                      117              111
                                                                                110                                                                              59
                                                                                               92                                                                            53
                     147
                            124                                                                                                          42          41
  110                                111
                                                              56
                                                                                                                            19

  $26       $45       $34   $27       $24       $49           $64     $147      $139   $137   $116    $194                  $72         $134        $145        $203        $190        $357

  2014     2015      2016   2017     2018      2019E         2014     2015      2016   2017   2018   2019E                 2014        2015        2016        2017         2018       2019E
$5M+ to $10M deals                                        $10M+ to $50M deals                                              $50M+ deals
                                                 56                                                                                                                           19
                                                                                                      70

                                                                                                                                                                                          14
                                      33
                                                                                                                                                                  10
                      25     26                                                                36
                                                                                        31
                                                                                 25                                                                   7
            17                                                         22                                                                 6
   12                                                                                                                         5
                                                              10
  $101      $132     $213   $196     $265       $433         $199     $540      $639   $710   $930   $1,915                 $774        $872       $2,342       $4,098     $10,403      $9,125
  2014     2015      2016   2017     2018      2019E         2014     2015      2016   2017   2018   2019E                  2014        2015        2016        2017        2018        2019E

                                                                                                                                                                         Source: Cento research
                                   Capital invested, $M                                                       **Various incubator funded early stage companies are yet to be included in the data
                                   Deal #
                                                                                                                                                                                                    7
Southeast Asia Tech Investment - H1 2019
SERIES B DEAL SIZE GRADUALLY INCREASES
                                                                                                                                                        d
Deals done by series, #                                            Average deal size by series, $M

                                                                                                                                     12.0
                      14                                                               11.5                         11.4
                      25           21                                                                        10.7

                            26     33                                                                9.8
                                              32
                     109    22                             25
                                              39
                                                           25
                           101    146

                                             110           86            6.2
        9
       11

       55
                     249                                                                                            3.3              3.2
                                                                                        2.8                  2.7
                           194                                           2.4                         2.3
                                  174                      176
                                             157
      122
                                                                                        0.5          0.7     0.5    0.5              0.6
                                                                         0.4

     2014           2015   2016   2017       2018        2019 H1        2014           2015          2016    2017   2018          2019 H1
                  Pre A       A          B          C+                                  Pre-A               A              B

                                                                                                                           Source: Cento research

                                                                                                                                                    8
Southeast Asia Tech Investment - H1 2019
VIETNAM GAINS LARGER SHARE OF CAPITAL INVESTED
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                d
  Share of capital invested by country
                                                                                                                                                1.3%           In 2019 H1, Indonesia and Singapore continued
2019 H1                              48%                                            25%                   7%        2%           17%
                                                                                                                                                               to capture the majority of investment activity in
                                                                                                                                         1%     0.6%
                                                                                                                                                               Southeast Asia. Indonesia loses large share of
  2018                                                    77%                                                        13%            3%        5%               capital invested due to the absence of ‘mega-
                                                                                                                                                               deals’, although potentially this may change
                                                                                                                                                               during the second half of the year.
  2017                                        60%                                               19%                      9%          8%       2% 2%
                                                                                                                                                               Vietnam gains the larger share of capital invested
                                                                                                                                                               as it produces more late-stage company such as
  2016                                              67%                                                  15%               7%       6%    3% 2%                Tiki, VNPay and Vntrip. Singapore also maintains
                                                                                                                                                               its share of capital distribution as a new cohort of
                                                                                                                                                               later-stage companies such as QExpress,
  2015                        37%                                            32%                         11%               12%           4% 3%                 Carousell and Taiger continue to raise larger
  Share of deals done by country                                                                                                                               rounds.
                                                                                                                                                               On the share of deals done, the trend is fairly
2019 H1                26%                                       36%                          8%         6%                 19%                4%              consistent with the last few years data with similar
                                                                                                                                                               general increase in Vietnam’s deal count as we
  2018                      33%                                        30%                    11%              8%               15%             3%             are seeing more early stage deals in the country.

  2017                  30%                                          34%                           12%              10%             8%         5%              Notes:
                                                                                                                                                               The data excludes Sea Group (Garena), Grab,
  2016                  29%                                      31%                      12%                 11%             8%          9%                   Lazada and other companies that have a truly
                                                                                                                                                               regional footprint and are therefore hard to
                                                                                                                                                               allocate to a particular country.
  2015                24%                                  29%                          20%                   10%             10%             8%

          Indonesia               Singapore               Malaysia           Thailand           Vietnam                   Philippines                                                                                Source: Cento research
                                                                                                                                                       Country of origin is defined as where the company was founded and where it is believed
                                                                                                                                                                                                                to generate its core revenues

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            9
Southeast Asia Tech Investment - H1 2019
VIETNAM CONTINUES TO ATTRACT MORE CAPITAL
                                                                                                                                                             d
Capital invested and deals done in Malaysia                         Capital invested and deals done in Thailand
                         76                                                                37            38           37
                                                                                                                                             32

                                                             52                                                               26

                                     41        43
                                                                            18
                                                      33

          16

          $31           $111        $116      $214   $150   $173           $28            $125           $99         $174    $78             $76

       2014             2015        2016      2017   2018   2019E          2014          2015           2016         2017    2018          2019E
Capital invested and deals done in Vietnam                          Capital invested and deals done in Philippines
                                                             110
                                                                                                29          29

                                                                                                                                              24

                                                                                                                       18
                                                      49                         15
                         40
                                     28        30                                                                              9
          19

          $36           $44         $58       $48    $286   $731                 $10            $28        $39         $36    $33            $38

       2014             2015        2016      2017   2018   2019E             2014          2015          2016        2017   2018          2019E

                                                                                                                                    Source: Cento research
 Capital invested, $M
 Deal #                                                                                                                                                 10
LOGISTICS, HEALTHCARE - KEY GROWTH SECTORS
                                                                                                                                               d
 Capital invested by sector, $M
Proceed (US$M)                         2014   2015   2016   2017     2018     2019 H1   While online retail (e-commerce and C2C) and
Multi-vertical                         $53    $270   $770   $2,550   $5,895   $2,394    local services (on-demand services and urban
                                                                                        transportation), along with ‘multi-vertical’
Travel                                 $13    $78    $176   $400      $51      $454
                                                                                        companies (often a mix of the two) remain the
Retail                                 $182   $229   $935   $937     $1,874    $303     most heavily funded categories, other
Financial Services                     $7     $130   $134   $189     $407      $242     categories are attracting increasing attention.
Logistics                              $15    $34    $64    $136     $124      $143
Healthcare                             $12    $26    $37    $102      $12      $128     The Financial Services and Travel sectors
Advertising and Marketing Technology   $22    $117   $25     $78      $34      $96      continue to attract investment. The Logistics
                                                                                        and Healthcare sectors are emerging as some
Payments and Remittances               $26    $85    $115   $112     $240      $58
                                                                                        of the most funded sectors.
Entertainment / Non-Gaming             $4     $52    $83    $393      $75      $57
Real estate                            $2     $9     $17     $53     $259      $56
                                                                                        By deal count, we have also seen emerging
Local services                         $376   $442   $827    $49     $100      $49      interest in other categories such as Real
Business Automation                    $13    $28    $30     $78      $94      $40      Estate, Business Automation and Advertising
Education                              $7     $12    $9      $16      $60      $15      and Marketing Technology.
Employment                             $4     $11    $10     $20      $24      $14
Others                                 $0     $1     $3      $5       $3       $13
Comms & communities                    $23    $16    $48     $0       $10       $3
Entertainment / Gaming                 $8     $11    $11     $5       $4        $2

                                                                                                                      Source: Cento research

                                                                                                                                          11
SERIES B REMAINS A CHALLENGE BUT IMPROVING
                                                                                                                                                                                     d
% of companies raising seed round that raised follow-on rounds

100%                                                                                                             We tracked Southeast Asian startups
                                                                                                                 that announced seed funding between
 90%
                                                                                                                 2013 - 2015 and compare the rate of
 80%
                                                                                                                 follow-on fundraising with data from the
                                                                                                                 US and Europe where it appears that
 70%                                                                                                             startups in Southeast Asia have been
                                                                                                                 able to attract Series A funding at a
 60%                                                                                                             broadly similar rate. We also observed
                                                                                                                 a clear rise in Series B follow-on
 50%
                                                                                                                 funding rate for the 2013 cohort, and a
 40%                                                                                                             gradual increase for 2014 - 2015,
                                                                                                                 compare to the previous year data.
 30%

 20%                                                                                                             Although we believe the follow on
                                                                                                                 funding rates will continue to increase
 10%
                                                                                                                 through time, it is still too early to tell
                                                                                                                 how Southeast Asia later stage funding
  0%
                   Seed                 Follow-on Round 1          Follow-on Round 2         Follow-on Round 3   environment compared to those of a
             SE Asia 2013          SE Asia 2014          SE Asia 2015       US 2008 - 2010        Europe 2010
                                                                                                                 more mature ecosystem.

                                                                                                                                                         Source: Cento research
                                                                                                                     https://www.cbinsights.com/research/venture-capital-funnel-2/
                                                                                                                    http://www.atomico.com/news/the-state-of-european-tech-2016

                                                                                                                                                                                12
THERE IS A GROWING CROP OF $100M+ COMPANIES
     SEA beyond recognized leaders:
     Ø 4 companies with combined value of ~$4B are crossing into ”unicorn” territory in 2018: PropertyGuru, Zilingo, Qoo10 and Bukalapak
                                                                                                                                                                                                        d
     Ø ~40 companies with valuations above $100M and combined value of $ 6-7B

                   Regional                                Singapore                 Indonesia                        Vietnam               Malaysia              Thailand           Philippines

                                                                                                                                           Southeast Asia has produced companies valued
~10 B

                                                                                                                                           above $1B with Bulakapak, Zilingo, PropertyGuru,
                                                                                                                                           and Qoo10 crossing the “unicorn” zone.

                                                                                                                                           A more comprehensive view of the region’s
                                                                                                                                           capability to generate shareholder value in digital
~1+ B

                                                                                                                                           space is provided by looking at companies we
                                                                                                                                           believe are valued in excess of $100M, based on
                                                                                                                                           a recent substantial financing or liquidity event
                                                                                                                                           and known business developments.

                                                      M-Daq                     Akulaku

                                                   Carro
~100+ M*

                                                                               RupiahPlus

                                                                                                                                                Publicly-listed company      New Entry
 Source: Cento research
 * List of US$ 100M+ companies is not exhaustive

                                                                                                                                                                                                   13
OTHER $100M+ COMPANIES PRESENT IN THE REGION

           Select $100M+ enterprise value businesses executed via prior acquisition / non-third party funded subsidiary
                                                                                                                                                                                                             d
                     Regional                     Singapore       Indonesia          Malaysia          Thailand           Vietnam        Philippines          An overview of the value being
                                                                                                                                                              created in the digital space in
                                                                                                                                                              Southeast Asian would be incomplete
                                                                                                                                                              without noting:

                                                                                        Search                                                                • A significant and growing set of
                                                                                                                                                                digital    businesses     previously
~100+ M*

                                                                                                                                                                acquired by or created within larger
                                                                                                                                                                companies and continuing to grow
                                                                                                                                                                around         their      respective
                                                                                                                                                                opportunities within Southeast Asia
                                                                                                                                                              • A number of overseas players -
                                                                                                                                                                usually from adjacent markets in
                                                                                                                                                                North Asia - focusing on Southeast
                                                                                                                                                                Asia as a primary source of growth
                                                                                                                                                              • A number of Southeast Asia-
           Select $100M+ enterprise value businesses by global players targeting SE Asian market or by SE Asian based players targeting a global                originating companies that build
           opportunity.                                                                                                                                         their domestic advantage into a
                     Bigo                           Revolution                                                Razer                                             significant international footprint
                                                    Precrafted                                                                                                  beyond Southeast Asia

                                                                                                                                    Publicly-listed company                         Source: Cento research
   Source: Cento research
   * List of US$ 100M+ opportunities is not exhaustive

                                                                                                                                                                                                        14
MORE CAPITAL TO SE ASIA VS. OTHER GROWTH MARKETS
                                                                                                                                                            d
Tech companies investment in growth markets ($M)

                                                                                                        Over the past 5 years, SE Asia has
                                                                                               1,163    consistently attracted significantly more capital
                                                                                                893
                                                                                                        into tech investment relative to other growth
                                                                                                        market. It is perhaps worth noting that LatAm
                                                                                               1,976    recorded relatively similar amount of funding
                                                                                                        to SE Asia in 2013.

                                                                                                        Furthermore, other growth markets like
                                                                                                        LatAm, MENA and Africa have also seen
                                                                                                        relative increased investment in tech
                                                                                                        companies over the past five years albeit at
                                                                               560                      different rate.
                                                                               679
                                                                              1,141            11,917   Interestingly, each region has also seen
                                              367                                                       investments driven by “mega deals” in 2018:
                                              972                                                       • LatAm: Rappi ($185m), Nubank ($150m)
                                              500
               277                                                                                         and Movile ($500m)
               291                                                            5,371                     • MENA: Careem ($200m)
               594
                                             3,515                                                      • Africa: Webuycars ($98m), Frontier Car
              1,888                                                                                        Group ($130m) and Jumo ($52m)

              2015                           2016                             2017             2018
                       SE Asia                    LatAm                      MENA     Africa

Source: LAVCA, Partech Ventures, Magnitt Research, Cento Ventures Research

                                                                                                                                                       15
M&A & SECONDARIES PROVIDE MOST LIQUIDITY
                                                                                                                                                                                               d
 Proceeds realized at exit, $M                           Liquidity events, #                                      Exit valuations, $M

                                                                                                                                                       $327
                                                                                5
                                                                                                                                                                 Exit Valuations decrease
                                 931                                                                                                                           due to lack of landmark exits
                                                                                                                                                                in H1 2019. We expect FY
                                                                                        6
                                                                                                                                                                  2019 results to be more
                                                                                                                             $250
                                        201                                                                                                                        similar to past years

                                                                                                 4
                                                                                                                  $187
                                                                      1

                                                                                                                                                                   $151
                                                           5
390
                      35                                                                                                                 $110
           9

                                                                                                                                                                                    $65
                                                                                                                      $55                    $50         $55           $55

                                                                                                                                 $30
                                                                                                                                                                                    $20
                                                                                                                                                   $24
894      1099        1082      2084     2232     362       28        41         68      56       44      55                            $13                        $8
                                                                                                                 $2         $6                                                 $5
2014     2015        2016      2017     2018   2019 H1   2014       2015       2016    2017     2018   2019 H1    2014       2015        2016         2017         2018         2019H1

               Trade Exit + Secondary   IPO                            Trade Exit + Secondary   IPO                         Top decile             Top quartile              Me dian

                                                                                                                                                                  Source: Cento research

                                                                                                                                                                                          16
EXITS ARE HAPPENING, BUT STILL RELATIVELY FEW IN NUMBER
                                                                                                                                                                                          d
Liquidity events and proceeds, $100M

                                7                                                                        4                                                 4

                                                                 3        3                                                    3
    5        5                            5
                      4
                                                                                   2         2                   2                      2      2                      2
                                                     3

  $162     $189      $160     $265      $173       $104        $239     $220      $163     $111      $301      $132       $1,057    $543     $620     $3,397        $1,856

  2014     2015      2016     2017      2018      2019 H1      2014     2015      2016     2017     2018      2019 H1     2014      2015     2016     2017          2018      2019 H1

                                                                                                                                                               Source: Cento research
                                      Amount, $M
                                      Events, #
                                                                                                                                                                                     17
KEY ACQUIRERS ARE FROM SE ASIA & APAC REGION
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 d
Country of origin of acquirer, by deals done, 2013-2019H1*                                                                                                    Country of origin of acquirer, by capital invested, 2013-2019 H1*, $M

         45

                                                                                                                                                               2,109

                 29
                             27

                                                                                                                                                                         948

                                                                                                                                                                                     703
                                      13
                                                  12                                                                                                                                          564
                                                        11
                                                                                                                                                                                                     489
                                                                   9            9
                                                                                           7                                                                                                                363
                                                                                                       6
                                                                                                                    5
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       204   176
                                                                                                                         3                                                                                                          145
                                                                                                                                  2         2             2                                                                                 86        67           61       48          47        40      40           24

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                                                        SE Asia Countries                Others                                                                                                                         SE Asia Countries         Others

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Source: Cento research
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         *For 180 liquidity events

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            18
d

Methodology
METHODOLOGY
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          d
Key premises:                                                                                                In this report, we analysed and verified close to 3,000 financing and liquidity events. Inevitably, a few
                                                                                                             large deals would avoid detection on occasion of exceptionally secretive nature of the transaction or
Numbers and conclusions in this study rely upon a company’s reported last round valuation. At best this      due to the methodology we apply. It is also our impression that we are likely seeing only half or less of
is a partial reflection of a company’s true value. To all in our audience who appreciate the importance of   the pre-Series A activity in the region due to a sheer volume of deals in $ 10 - 250K range happening in
financing terms over headline valuations, and who recognise that a more complete understanding of any        the market – while total dollar value of inflow and outflows is unlikely to be impacted heavily, do take
underlying business is helpful, we apologise. To atone for this oversimplification, we’d like to take this   our “number of deal” assessments for pre-Series A with a large handful of salt. Finally, as new facts
opportunity to give a commendation to the great work being done by a few in academia who probe               come to light and as erstwhile announcements are verified, we adjust our databases retroactively,
deeply into the contradictory nature of how tech valuations are reported, and produce splendid research      leading to mild inconsistencies between various versions at the same period.
that will one day help us as an industry upgrade our reporting systems and, perhaps, change how tech
company narratives are formed. In this report, our recognition goes to Will Gornall and Ilya A.              Category definitions and company profiles include:
Strebulaev (professors at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia and the        This report aims to describe the state of financing and liquidity generated by companies focused on
Stanford Graduate School of Business, respectively) for their comprehensive work on “Squaring Venture        digital technology-driven opportunities in Southeast Asia. The exact definition of what a digital
Capital Valuations with Reality”, available here:                                                            technology-driven opportunity constitutes is a subject of much debate. While leaving biotech, new
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2955455           and     with    media      coverage    materials and space tech out is relatively straightforward (but including software and digital services
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/fake-unicorns-are-running-over-the-venture-capital-industry.html      enabling these industries), telling an offline company with digital elements apart from a business where
                                                                                                             value creation is primarily tied to either its technology core or its digital distribution is anything but
Geographies covered:                                                                                         simple.
This iteration of our report does not make an attempt at covering some of the newer digital ecosystems       We have generally taken a view that if something is valued as a technology company, we can trust its
within ASEAN beyond the customary six countries, or the developments in counties starting to gravitate       investors that it probably is. At the same time, we also endeavour to exclude categories that, while
towards SE Asia venture scene such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.                adjacent to digital economy, tend to attract non-VC capital to a degree where their financing /
                                                                                                             liquidation events interfere with the signal from the rest of the ecosystem (notably, excluding the
Data sources and completeness :                                                                              companies with valuations determined by token economics). Furthermore, we currently do not include
Our data is compiled from a number of sources, although we primarily rely on public press                    traditional TV stations, content producers, telcos, IT infrastructures and system integration companies
announcements and community disclosures from the companies and their investors. Our team                     as well as holding level entities that buy or develop technologies in addition to their core business into
researches the validity of claims to an extent possible and supplements incomplete information with          our reporting. Hence, this excludes a number of otherwise very important names absolutely worth a
insights from our own industry sources and, on occasion, somewhat educated guesswork.                        closer look under different circumstances such as MyRepublic, Airtrunk, NetTV, One Championship,
                                                                                                             and others that would occasionally be included in other digital ecosystem reports. It also excludes tech-
                                                                                                             savvy conglomerates such as FPT Group or Emtek.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     20
METHODOLOGY
                                                                                                                                                                                                                             d
Company classification:                                                                                     •   Financial Services: companies that apply technology into traditional banking services i.e. lending,
                                                                                                                wealth management, etc.
Country of origin:
                                                                                                            •   Healthcare: provision of goods and services revolving around medical and wellness services
Determined by the country in which the company was founded, and has its primary base of operation               including, but not limited to, e-pharmacy, medical tourism and telehealth
(defined in terms of revenue, if known). At the (subjective) point where the company has both
operations in multiple countries in Southeast Asia and substantial revenues generated in multiple           •   Local Services: platforms that connect local merchants/ service providers to consumers in an urban
countries, then it may be classified as Southeast Asia / regional in the country of origin.                     setting including, but limited to, ride-hailing services, local search and directory and food delivery

Sector classification:                                                                                      •   Logistics: companies that facilitate the movement of goods including, but not limited to, acquiring,
                                                                                                                storing and transporting of goods
Cento’s definition of the industry segment in which the company’s primary business focus sits. A full
taxonomy of sector allocation is listed below. In cases where a company focus on multiple sectors with      •   Payments and remittances: companies that facilitate movement of capital
different units generating thought to generate substantial revenue, then multi-vertical category is used.   •   Real Estate: construction, buying & selling and management of real estate assets, including the tools
We also note that a company’s sector may change as the company progresses; the company’s sector                 facilitating those activities
is evaluated according to the primary business focus during the event of financing.
                                                                                                            •   Retail: companies that sell or rent goods using internet technology, including tools that facilitate those
•   Advertising & Marketing Technology: companies that facilitate the acquisition of customers                  activities e.g. Store-front management software, POS systems, etc.
    including coupons and rebates, price comparisons and affiliate marketing
                                                                                                            •   Travel: tourism and hospitality
•   Business automation: tools that automates non industry-specific business activities such as CRM,
    ERP, workplace communication tools, etc.                                                                Fund definitions:

•   Comms & communities: social networks and dating                                                         Mapping fund allocations is an inexact science. We count the number of funds that have been observed
                                                                                                            doing early stage tech investment in Southeast Asia. We also try to assess the allocation of those funds
•   Education: provision of goods and services revolving teaching and learning, including adult training    to the region. In some cases (e.g. Cento Ventures) that is equivalent to 100% of their AUM. In many
    and education                                                                                           others with a broader, or no particular geographic focus, Southeast Asia allocation is an estimate based
•   Employment: companies that manage and facilitate the management of employees including                  on information received from the fund manager, or the relative number of deals that they have done
    onboarding, benefit, payroll, etc.                                                                      within the region compared to elsewhere. Besides that, the collected fund information is also compared
                                                                                                            with third-party data sources such as Pitchbook and Preqin.
•   Entertainment/ Gaming: gaming development, distribution and publishing
                                                                                                            Currency:
•   Entertainment/ Non-gaming: content production and news aggregation
                                                                                                            $ refers to United States Dollar (US$) unless otherwise stated.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       21
METHODOLOGY
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    d
Deal definitions:                                                                                       Deal type:
Deal stage:                                                                                             We focus mainly on venture capital deals – investments made by fund entities into early stage startups,
                                                                                                        whether they are from independent funds of corporate venture capital entities. This is a subset of the
Each series definition is determined as follows:
                                                                                                        total number of early stage tech deals in the region.
-   Pre-Series A: amounts of $10K - $1M. Purpose of investment tends to be building the idea/team; in
                                                                                                        We separate the following from most of our data, apart from the ‘total capital invested and total deals
    some cases, the company generates revenue.
                                                                                                        done’ chart:
-   Series A: amounts of $1M - $3M. The product has been built and proven via initial but repeatable
                                                                                                        -   Corporate transfers: events where a corporate entity funds an entity in the region in which it owns a
    revenue. Investment purpose tends to be establishing domestic position, and sometimes scaling           majority or significant minority stake (e.g. Rocket Internet, Lippo Group)
    regionally.
                                                                                                        -   Project financing: A deal which was a partnership for an identified purpose – e.g. Grab-Honda.
-   Series B: amounts of $3M-$10M. Investment purpose tends to be building scale, either domestically
    or regionally.                                                                                      -   Non-Southeast Asia deals: e.g. India and China focused companies that happen to use Singapore for
                                                                                                            their corporate domicile.
-   Series C+: any amount invested later than Series B. Series C, Series D, later series investments,
    pre-IPO, mezzanine.
We have also estimated a particular company’s valuation through a recent substantial financing or
liquidity event and known business developments

                                                                                                                                                                                                               22
d

Contact
          www.cento.vc

          team@cento.vc

          +65 6816 2810

          Office address: 56B Pagoda Street, Singapore
          059215

          Mailing address: Cento Ventures, 3 Church Street,
          Level 8, Singapore 049483

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