SEA Horizons
An Opportunity Brief for LPs Investing in SEA.
The Time for Venture in Southeast Asia!
August 2025
Southeast Asia: The Next Frontier in Venture
Southeast Asia’s (SEA) economic growth in 2025 is projected to surpass the global average - 4.1% v. 3%. This growth is fuelled by a rapidly growing middle class, infrastructure investment, and digitalization. More than 460 million people are now online, and the region’s digital economy is expected to exceed US$330 billion by 2025 and potentially US$1 trillion by 2030.
SEA is charting a path for regional transformation, led by a new, diverse generation of builders and investors. This wave includes female entrepreneurs innovating across technology-enabled sectors, gender-diverse fund managers and investors cultivating inclusive and locally grounded investment theses. Together, this ecosystem can contribute to SEA’s economic rise and reshape the foundations of how value is created, distributed, and scaled across the region.
Fund Managers to Watch
Fund managers across Southeast Asia creating value through inclusive investing
Vy Le
Co-Founder & General Partner
Do Ventures
Kaya Founders is a Makati, Philippines-based venture capital firm that seeks venture capital investments and supports industry-shaping digital companies with the potential to improve the lives of people across the Philippines and Southeast Asia. The firm targets a range of sectors including E-commerce, transportation & logistics, food, financial services, and education.
Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng
General Partner
Kaya Founders
Gobi Partners, in partnership with Indonesia-based Ozora VC, have launched the Ratu Nusa Fund — a US$10 million seed fund dedicated to investing in women-led start-ups in Indonesia. The fund is one of the few in the region intentionally structured to address gender capital gaps, and is supporting founders across consumer services, fintech, and SME enablement.
Thomas G. Tsao
Co-Founder and Chairperson
Gobi Partners
Do Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that focuses on making investments in fast-growing technology companies in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. They invest in pioneers with a desire to create disruptive products with a focus on start-ups that capture the emerging consumer base, empower SMEs in the digital economy, and have potential for regional expansion.
LP Pulse Check
As we track regional sentiment, we are eager to understand how LPs are positioning themselves in view of the current opportunities in Southeast Asia. Take the real-time poll and see how your peers are navigating this inflection point.
Take the real-time poll and see what your peers are doing.
The 2025 Investing in Women Award will celebrate institutional investors and family offices who play an outstanding role in supporting diverse fund managers. We will recognize LPs who invest in women-led or gender-balanced fund managers.
Awards will be announced 10 September 2025 at the DealStreetAsia PE-VC Summit
Meet the 2025 Investing in Women Awards Selection Committee
-
Angus Kathage
INVESTOR ENGAGMENT
Australia - DFAT -
Elaine Foo
FOUNDER & CEO
New Dimensions Capital -
Emily Chew
HEAD OF SUSTAINABILITY
GIC -
Haw Rer Au Yong
PARTNER
Pangaea Alternative Advisors -
Hemal Mirani
MANAGING DIRECTOR
HarbourVest Partners
Coming Soon…
We will be hosting an SEA LP Breakfast Roundtable at the DealstreetAsia PE-VC Summit.
This is an exclusive, Limited Partner-only event, focused on the unique needs and opportunities in venture in Southeast Asia.
📅 10 September 2025 | 8 am - 9 am
📍 Grand Copthorne Waterfront, Singapore
Register Now
GPCA is hosting the next Investor Training: Gender-Informed Decision Making as a Growth Strategy.
This in-person event will take a deep dive into the ways private capital can generate more value and growth when gender is integrated in investment strategies.
📅 19 August 2025 | 9 am - 5 pm,
followed by a Networking Reception
📍 Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre, Singapore
Register Now
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This publication has been funded by the Australian Government through the Investing in Women initiative. The views expressed in this publication are the author's alone and are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government.