• Headline Asia closed its fifth fund at $145 million to invest in early-stage startups across Asia-Pacific.
  • The fund has already invested in 17 companies, including Newmo, Jenfi, and Pi-xcels.

Despite the challenging fundraising climate for startups in Asia, Headline Asia has successfully closed its fifth fund at $145 million, one of the largest in its history.

The Tokyo- and Taipei-based venture capital firm had initially targeted $180 million for Headline Asia Fund V.

With interest rates high, liquidity tight, and limited partner (LP) sentiment cautious, the venture capital market has entered what Akio Tanaka, co-founder and partner at Headline Asia, described as “one of its cyclical winters.”

Still, capital continues to be raised and deployed.

Backing Early-Stage Innovation Across Asia-Pacific

Headline Asia Fund V will focus on early-stage startups, from seed to Series A, in the Asia-Pacific region, with a spotlight on Japan, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, and selective investments in South Korea.

Investment sizes will range between $1 million and $5 million, primarily in sectors such as fintech, AI, logistics, e-commerce, and IP.

The firm’s latest fund has already backed 17 startups, including Newmo, a Japanese ride-hailing startup; Jenfi, a Singapore-based provider of revenue-based financing; and Pi-xcels, which operates in Tokyo and Singapore, offering NFC-enabled digital receipts.

A Push for Cross-Border Growth

According to Tanaka, Headline is especially enthusiastic about Japanese startups expanding internationally, a shift from previous years where many local startups preferred small-scale IPOs.

“We are very much interested in global startups coming out of Asia,” he noted.

The fund is supported by both public and private investors, including Japan Investment Corporation (JIC), Taiwan’s National Development Fund (NDF), Korea Venture Investment Corporation (KVIC), and SME Support Japan.

Headline Asia’s fund close follows recent activity from other Asia-focused VCs. Antler raised $72 million for its Southeast Asia fund in August, MindWorks Capital closed a $220 million fund in October, and Indonesia-based Intudo secured $125 million across two funds in November.

Edited by Annette George