The ASEAN Venture Council (AVC), an umbrella organisation consisting of venture associations was formed to boost Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem. The Council is spearheaded by Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (SVCA).
SVCA invited both countries’ representatives to officiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed in Singapore on October 11, which will create a major milestone in the growth of member countries in the AVC.
Dr. Jeffrey Chi, Chairman, Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association said,
It is heartening to see the memberships of two strong markets to join the AVC. The purpose of creating this coalition is to bolster inter-country relations and to enable each of our markets to leverage each other’s strengths and innate potential.
In particular, AVC aims to assist its member associations and their members promote venture capital across the region. This was set considering such an industry which has witnessed phenomenal growth in the past few years with the bulk of deals being cross-border in nature.
It is intended to enable its member associations to promote and develop the venture capital industry in a more concerted effort across the region leveraging each other’s strengths and capabilities – particularly in the areas of events, advocacy, research, education and deal flow. The bright future awaits a rapidly growing venture capital landscape for the region with the accession of Indonesia, in August, and now Thailand as both countries formally enter the ASEAN Venture Council (AVC).
Mr. Jefri Sirait, the Chairman of AMVESINDO said,
So far there are only a handful of local startups from the ASEAN countries that are able to succeed on a regional level. We hope that, together with the other members of the AVC, we will be able to support promising local startups from all the ASEAN countries to succeed regionally as a first step, before eventually achieving success on a global scale.
Three countries have signed the MoU officiating membership to the AVC yet, namely Singapore, with Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (SVCA), Indonesia’s Asosiasi Modal Ventura Untuk Startup Indonesia (AMVESIND) and Thailand through Thai Venture Capital Association (TVCA). Thanapong Na Ranong, President of the Thai Venture Capital Association, said,
TVCA is proud to be part of the ASEAN Venture Council and looks forward to supporting the Council and other members in all aspects. It is truly an exciting time for the ASEAN and Thailand startup ecosystems which have been developing rapidly.
The addition of the new member countries will strengthen each country’s associations to collaborate and leverage their individual capabilities, synergies and best practices which in turn will support the regional entrepreneurial and financial ecosystem across the ASEAN region.
