ICCP SBI Venture Partners invests in Southeast Asia by participating in a Philippine Series B and leading a Series A in Singapore
![[FI]-ICCP SBI Venture Partners invests in Southeast Asia by participating in a Series B in the Philippines and leading a Series A in Singapore](https://www.iccpventurepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ICCP-SBI-Venture-Partners-invests-in-Southeast-Asia-by-participating-in-a-Series-B-in-the-Philippines-and-leading-a-Series-A-in-Singapore.jpg "ICCP SBI Venture Partners invests in Southeast Asia by participating in a Series B in the Philippines and leading a Series A in Singapore")
In 2021, ICCP SBI Venture Partners (ISVP) reaffirmed its commitment to invest into and support the fastest growing technology companies in Southeast Asia, in addition to its existing portfolio in the United States.
In February, ISVP started the year by participating in the Series B funding round of GrowSari, a tech-enabled business-to-business platform that helps Filipino neighborhood stores (sari-sari stores) with access to improved pricing, better service level, inclusive financing, and new products and services. GrowSari has raised over $30 million (around P1.53 billion) from global marquee investors and large venture capitalists including Singapore-based Temasek Holdings’ private equity unit Pavilion Capital, China’s technology company Tencent, Philippines-based Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. and JG Digital Equity Ventures from the Gokongwei group and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
In December, ISVP capped off the year by leading the Series A funding round of Xopa, a Singapore-based Software as a Service (SaaS) platform powered by Artificial Intelligence that enhances recruitment and hiring processes through predictive analytics on big data. Xopa’s patented algorithms, machine learning and robotic process automation are at the core of an end-to-end suite of powerful products that enable sourcing, screening and interviewing of candidates at scale. The $4.2 million (around P214 million) funding round included participation from Enterprise Singapore’s investment arm SEEDS Capital, US-based AI8 Ventures, Taiwan’s XCEL NEXT Ventures and SASV Investments.
ISVP is a joint fund between two of the oldest operating venture capital firms in Asia: ICCP Venture Partners from the Philippines and SBI Holdings from Japan. After its 1998 debut fund achieved top quartile status globally, ICCP Venture Partners built a VC portfolio of over 50 direct and indirect investments. Now on its 6th fund, ICCP Venture Partners is further bolstered by the partnership with SBI Holdings, a Japanese financial conglomerate, which operates one of Japan's largest VC practices. SBI has invested in more than 1,700 direct and indirect portfolio companies since 1999.
ISVP’s seasoned investment team from the Philippines, Japan and Silicon Valley invests in rapidly growing technology companies in the United States and the next generation of Southeast Asian market leaders. ISVP is headed by Managing Director Miguel Encarnacion, who has 9 years of experience in venture capital and private equity investing in the Philippines and Europe, where he was based in Germany for 4 years.
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