Unfazed by COVID-19 uncertainties, German early-stage technology investment firm Picus Capital is looking to increase its exposure in Asia, particularly in India.
The Rocket Internet co-founder Alexander Samwer-led firm, which has backed about five startups in India and three in Singapore, is looking to expand its wings to other Southeast Asian markets, and also China.
“We would be allocating 25 per cent of our investments to markets in Asia going ahead. Apart from Singapore and India, other markets that we are keenly looking at are Indonesia, Thailand and China. We may look at doing direct investments in these markets or in companies in Singapore that have gone to expand in these markets. In all, we are looking at 10 investments in Asia next year,” Picus Capital partner Oliver Heinrich told DealStreetAsia in an exclusive interaction.
Founded in 2015, Munich-based Picus Capital typically invests from $250,000-750,000 in each startup. It also does follow-up investments involving larger cheques. In India, the firm has placed bets in fintech, healthtech and edtech sectors, and is also bullish on the B2B SaaS space as more and more workplaces are working remotely.
It last invested $500,000 as seed capital in BASIC Home Loan, a Gurugram-based startup developing a platform for automating home loans for middle and low-income households in India. Its other portfolio companies in India include Lido Learning, Meddo, and MoneyOnClick.
On the impact of COVID-19 on businesses this year, Heinrich said, “There was uncertainty during the beginning and middle of the year. Companies took a bit more conservative approach when it came to allocating their investments. But we see the situation improving now. Good companies with strong fundamentals will always find a way to capture and raise capital at a reasonable valuation.”
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