Silicon Valley-headquartered Fenox Venture Capital has made its investment debut in Vietnam by backing Hanoi-based mobile top-up service firm OnOnPay.
OnOnPay’s existing investor Captii Venture also participated in this round, according to an announcement from Fenox.
Fenox VC Southeast Asia Regional Manager Retno Dewati earlier told DEALSTREETASIA that the VC firm would make the first investment in Vietnam this year by investing in a leading company.
“The investment in OnOnPay is a milestone to Fenox as it opens up more avenues of opportunities for us to tap into the potential of large Vietnam market,” said Dewati. “We are seeking to partner with other institutions to back Vietnamese entrepreneurs grow their business globally and we are ready to invest more in this country.”
Founded in 2015 as a mobile wallet operator, OnOnPay secured a six-digit amount in seed funding from Captii Ventures in 2015. The round marked the first ever investment by the Singapore-based venture capital fund in Vietnam.
A year later, OnOnPay landed an $800,000 pre-Series A funding led by Shanghai-headquartered VC firm Gobi Partners through its MAVCAP’s ASEAN SuperSeed Fund vehicle.
In an exclusive interview with the portal, Fenox Venture had said that it will relaunch its India-focused $50-million fund by the end of the current year. The India fund was put on hold in 2016 following the departure of a general partner hired to lead the fund.
Fenox, which raises capital only from corporate limited partners, is also looking at launching special investment funds in China. It has already established an accelerator in cooperation with the Chengdu government to invest $50,000 in each participating startup and provide mentoring for a few months.
In Vietnam, Fenox is also exploring tieups with local corporations to set up a dedicated private fund for the country. “We are targeting to close at least a couple of million dollars dedicated for Vietnamese companies,” Dewati said.
By Quynh Nguyen
Source: Dealstreetasia
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