The Investor Roundtable at DealStreetAsia Summit 2024, held on September 17, brought together leading limited partners (LPs) for an engaging session that focused on strategies for optimising venture capital (VC) portfolios in Southeast Asia. With key investors from across the region in attendance, the 60-minute session drew out valuable insights into the unique challenges and opportunities that exist in this rapidly evolving market.
Organised by Propelevate, with the support of Investing in Women (IW), this roundtable offered a unique opportunity for LPs to network and learn from each other, exchange ideas, and share insights—with the goal of helping LPs address their unique needs and challenges. The lunch also paved the way for Investing in Women, via its partnership with Propelevate, to build a broader platform for LP engagement, which will aim to encourage collaboration around common themes and their intersection with gender-lens investing (GLI).
The roundtable kicked off with opening remarks from Krisila Benson, Founder and Managing Director of Propelevate, who emphasised the value of strategic engagement and collaboration through a peer network. Her remarks set the tone for three focused discussions that followed, all of which explored critical aspects of VC investments in Southeast Asia.
Beginning with Market Trends, participants shared their insights on the sectors driving the most excitement, such as AI, Climate Tech, and Healthcare, and discussed any underserved markets or untapped talent pools in the Southeast Asian VC ecosystem that present promising opportunities. One participant noted that while these sectors offer high growth potential, they face challenges such as a lack of local talent and limited gender diversity in leadership, as businesses in these fields are found to be mostly male-led. The same participant highlighted the importance of developing local talent pipelines, particularly for women, through partnerships with educational institutions and industry initiatives to drive growth in these sectors.
Participants at the LP Roundtable engage in lively discussions on optimising venture capital portfolios in Southeast Asia’s dynamic market. The event fostered collaboration and exchange of insights among LPs to address unique challenges and opportunities in the region.
The second round explored risk management and opportunity assessment strategies, with LPs sharing insights into how they are balancing quantitative and qualitative metrics when evaluating fund managers. Participants emphasised that while returns and fund size are critical quantitative factors, track records of funds, country presence and relationships are also important qualitative factors that will balance the scale when assessing fund managers.
In the final round, which focused on the value of diverse perspectives in driving fund success, LPs discussed how diverse teams bring varied viewpoints that can prevent groupthink and improve decision-making and risk management. And while there has been some progress in fostering diverse nationalities and competencies across investment teams, there is still significant need and potential to advance an intentional focus on gender and other forms of diversity.
The roundtable concluded with a discussion on leveraging the opportunity to create an LP Network for shared learning, with a call to action for attendees to actively engage in ongoing conversations through the network’s activities. As LPs continue to explore opportunities in Southeast Asia, this network will serve as a valuable resource, offering insights into how peers are integrating gender considerations and uncovering unique opportunities, such as investing in women, to optimise VC portfolios in this dynamic market.