Singapore firm to raise US$70 mln for Asean debt venture fund

SINGAPORE: Genesis Alternative Ventures, a private lender backed by Singapore-based family office Sassoon Investment Corp, is set to raise $50-$70 million by early 2021 for its first debt fund to finance Southeast Asian start-ups, its top executives said.

A record number of start-ups have sprouted up in the region's key hubs of Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam over the past five years but venture debt is still in its infancy as firms mainly depend on equity financing.