Newsletter

Amber Rings Nasdaq Bell | SkyeChip, Funding Societies & Zence Object Raises Funds | Thomas G. Tsao on Pakistan | Synagistics Launches Geene-R1

Gobi Backs ArmourZero | Durioo x Muslim Pro Collaboration | Phase Raises US$13M, Boosting Investor Ties in SEA | SCMP 2025 Conference Recap

Gobi Partners Launches Techxila Fund II with The Bank of Punjab Partnership | Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Gobi & Cross Capital Boost Japanese Investments in ASEAN | IM8 Health Debuts with Beckham | Immuno Cure Advances HIV Vaccine | HSBC OneCMB 2024

Gobi Invests in DCAP and JAZRO | Gobi GBA Funds GenEdit Bio | Synagistics Goes for IPO | AdalFi Selected for Google’s First AI Academy

September 2024 News Highlights: 🎉 Bateriku.com Closes US$7.4 Million in Series B | Qist Bazaar Raises US$3.2 Million | Base Therapeutic’s Global Expansion | Soonicorn Nation Podcast

August 2024 News Highlights: SleekFlow Secures US$7 M in Funding: Exciting new investment to fuel innovation and growth | Airwallex Featured in Forbes 2024 Cloud 100: Recognized as a leading player in the cloud industry | FinKnight Gains Investment: New funding to drive expansion and development | KWAP Malaysia Inspire Conference: Key takeaways and highlights from the event

Amity Solutions and Parent Amity Corp Raise US$60 Million | Jay-Z Invests US$5 Million in Hong Kong-based Wristcheck | David Beckham Joins Prenetics

Gobi Partners 2023 Sustainability Report | Paywatch Secures US$30 Million in Funding | ESGobi Month

Fatima Gobi Ventures Increases Investment in Pakistan | Two Gobi Portfolio Companies Featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 | Beyond Expo 2024 Recap | Fano Labs Secures Series B | S. Asia’s Potential on the Rise: Pakistan Leading the Charge | Why Fasset is Focused on Financial Opportunities for All

Aitrasound® Raises US$7.6 Million in Pre-A Funding for Advancements in AI Medical Imaging and Global Expansion

EPF Commits US$53 Million | ProCredit Secures US$4.1 Million | Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress Panel Session and IWD in Collaboration with HSBC

Lapasar Raises US$6.5 Million | Airwallex and McLaren Racing Announced Partnership | Greater Bay Area International Sports Business Summit

Bitsmedia Raises US$20 million in Series A | Gobi-Core Releases Founders’ Report 2023 | JazzCash and Fatima Gobi Ventures Team Up to Boost Startups

Gobi GBA & MTR Lab Infuse $5.9M in isBIM | Fintech Awards 2023 | ORIGIN Awards Nomination Now Open | CARSOME Aims for 2024 Profits

Gobi Partners Strengthens Commitment to Sustainability with Investment in ERTH, a Leading E-Waste Recycling Firm | Kiddocare Secures Strategic Investments in Pre-Series A Round, Powering Malaysia’s Caregiving Revolution | Twin Towers Ventures and Gobi Partners Sign MoU to Drive Sustainable Innovation in the Asia Pacific Region

Gobi Partners Hits US$256 Million Milestone for Greater Bay Area Fund | Gobi Partners Onboards CompAsia, Southeast Asia’s Largest Integrated Recommerce Platform | Eleven Gobi-Backed Companies Listed in Forbes Asia’s 100 to Watch 2023 List

Immuno Cure Completed US$12 million Financing | HSBC and Gobi Partners Sign MoU to Support Businesses | Khazanah Impact Innovation Challenge 2023

Gobi Partners Sustainability Report 2022 | Chibo Tang of Gobi Partners on AI, Entrepreneurship, and The GBA | Tatler’s 2023 Gen.T List

ORA Raises $10 Million | Four Gobi GBA Founders Recognised in Forbes 30 Under 30 2023 List | Pakistan’s Abhi Issues First Sukuk Bond

For the first time since Covid-19, Gobi Partners brought together colleagues, portfolio companies, and investors from 15 of its key markets across Asia for the BEYOND Expo 2023, which…

Featured news this month: Hong Kong’s BioMed Raised US$2 million in Oversubscribed Seed Round | Indonesia’s Bukalapak Acquires Majority Stake in Malaysian Shopping Aggregator iPrice | Gobi Recognised as One of the Most Active Investors in Southeast Asia | Three Gobi Companies Featured as 50 Rising Startups in Indonesia | Khazanah Nasional: ‘All Malaysia’ Approach for Startups

Gobi Partners Appointed as Partner by Khazanah Nasional | Gobi’s International Women’s Month | Asia Gender-Smart Investing Workshop 2023

Gobi Partners Onboards Four More Promising Malaysian Startups to its Gobi Superseed II Fund | Funding, Talent Poser in the Making of Unicorns

Gobi Partners 2022: A Year in Review | Ushering into an Uncertain 2023: Here’s What VCs and Experts Think | FGV 2022: A Year in Review

Carlo Chen-Delantar to Spearhead Gobi’s Sustainability Goals as New ESG Head | Gobi Partners Bags Three Awards in December! | From Singapore to Silicon Valley, Female Founders Fight for Funds | Identifying Opportunities and Addressing Gaps in Troubled Times

Gobi-Core Philippine Fund Reveals the State of Talent in Tech 2022 Report | Eight Gobi Portfolios Recognized as Tatler Asia Group’s Most Influential 2022 | Our Co-founder, Thomas G. Tsao discusses why Gobi continues to double down on China especially when it comes to the #GreaterBayArea

Gobi celebrates 20 Years of Impact Across Asia | Singapore-based staffing platform Workmate acquired by PERSOL Asia Pacific | EasyParcel and iStore iSend join forces to empower micro & social sellers | AERODYNE GROUP, #Malaysia’s “Soonicorn?”

Here’s a compilation of exciting news from us and our portfolios for September!

Here’s a compilation of exciting news from us and our portfolios for August!

Here’s a compilation of exciting news from us and our portfolios last month! Indonesian Conglomerate Set to Pour US$259 million Into WeLab-backed Digibank | SuperAtom Raised US$22 Million in Series C Round | DealCart Raises US$4.5 Million to Focus on Price-conscious Pakistani Consumers | Carsome Appoints King Cantona as Brand Ambassador | Deliveree’s Tom Kim on Solving Logistics Industry Challenges Through Big Data and Predictive Analysis

Our inaugural Sustainability Report chronicles our accomplishments and our ongoing efforts in promoting economic development; environmental restoration; and social equality and justice through our ESG practices and sustainability initiatives.

Prenetics Becomes First Hong Kong Unicorn on Nasdaq After SPAC Deal.
The merger values Prenetics at US$1.3 billion. It will raise upward of US$260 million in proceeds from the business combination in cash and trade receivables.

Focusing on health tech, e-commerce/social commerce, future of work/education, prop tech, enterprise/SME tech and fintech, the Ratu Nusa Fund will be dedicated to supporting women-led seed-stage and pre-Series A companies in Indonesia.

Los Angeles and Hong Kong-based sneaker and apparel platform, Kicks Crew sees potential in expanding into the untapped Southeast Asian athletic footwear markets.

Financial services firm Credit Saison invested US$30 million in Julo’s Series B2 shares, and was issued options to acquire Series B3 shares for another US$30 million.

In 2021, the Gobi portfolio raised $2.5 billion, almost doubling our number of unicorns to 9 (2021: 4 new unicorns) and saw 4 exits resulting in US$28 million returned to LPs. 34 startups joined Gobi, including the female-founded CloudEats, PolicyStreet and Udhaar Book.

As part of the global Beyond the Billion consortium of investors pledging $1 billion into women founders from 2018 to 2020, Gobi has met its own $50 million commitment and continues to invest in and ensure diversity in voices and inclusive management teams in the startup ecosystem. Separately, Gobi and UN Women’s highly successful Asia Gender-Smart Investing Forum drew 557 registrants and 34 speakers across 48 countries.

The Philippine startup scene is thriving, and the best is yet to come. The Gobi-Core Philippine Startup Ecosystem Report is required reading for global investors.

Save your seats to the inaugural Asia Gender-Smart Investing Forum, co-organized by Gobi and UN Women on Nov 2-3. The webinar will discuss investing in women for a more inclusive, sustainable world and feature heavyweights such as Sarah Tong, Peggy Choi, Norma Chu, Vanessa Hendriadi Li, and Lucy Liu. Gobi also welcomes Kimberly Yao to our cohort of female founders, while Recommend — led by Jes Min Lua — raises US$4 million.

September was a banner month for Fatima Gobi Ventures (FGV) and Gobi’s Taqwatech portfolio in Pakistan: investees TAG (now valued at US$100 million) and Truck It In raised new rounds, while FGV added a new investee (edtech Maqsad) and new LP (U.K.’s CDC Group).

The Series D2 round is the largest equity investment in Carsome’s history and brings their total valuation to US$1.3 billion; it includes the participation of one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the region and a pool of new international investors as well as existing shareholders including Gobi Partners.

Bloomberg covered Carsome’s share-swap deal with ASX-listed iCarAsia. Carsome founder Eric Cheng explained to CNBC Asia how the integrated used car e-marketplace positions itself as a “one-stop solution” and how it deals with competition in Southeast Asia.