The early stage Japanese venture capital (VC) firm Incubate Fund Asia has announced the promotion of two of its Principals, Rajeev Ranka and Dave Kwong, to Partners in the fund.
In their new roles as Partners, Ranka and Kwong will continue to work closely with the founders and entrepreneurs in shaping the future of their startups. They will also play a key role in the fund’s investment strategy and portfolio management.
Rajeev Ranka and Dave Kwong have been with the fund for several years and have played a key role in identifying and nurturing promising startups in the India region.
Rajeev Ranka joined Incubate Fund Asia in early 2020 as a Principal for India investments. He is an IIT Bombay graduate and has been leading India investments for the fund. Dave Kwong is a Partner at the fund and has been with the fund for several years. He has been instrumental in investment and development of early-stage startups in Southeast Asia.
The move comes as the fund aims to build a portfolio of around 20 startups with its third fund, which has a target corpus of $50 Mn. The fund’s India-focused arm also went through a strategic rebranding and is now known as Incubate Fund Asia.
Nao Murakami, Founder and General Partner of Incubate Fund Asia, stressed the pivotal roles that both Ranka and Kwong have played in propelling the fund’s India-centric entity to success. He underscored their profound grasp of the regional startup landscape.
“Ranka and Kwong will undoubtedly maintain their crucial roles in spotting and fostering high-potential startups across India and Southeast Asia,” stated Murakami.
Incubate Fund Asia has the vision of nurturing innovation and catalysing the growth of startups, ultimately contributing to the development of a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem across Asia. The Japanese VC firm started investing in Indian startups in 2015 via its $91 Mn Incubate Fund III.
The fund has backed 27 Indian startups such as Captain Fresh, Yulu, ShopKirana and Plum across B2B, B2C, supply chain, and consumer tech segments across both tier 1 and tier 2 markets with $500K to $1.5 Mn average deal size. The fund’s strategy is to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage startups in India and Southeast Asia.
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