Malaysian Investment Firm Catcha Sets Aside $150M For Asean Startups

Catcha Group, a Malaysia-based investment firm has announced it will invest up to $150 million in Asean-based online businesses over the next five years. The funds will come both from the top as well as through the Catcha Group’s subsidiaries.

The Asean region refers to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The company’s online assets are worth over $300 million together, according to reports. Catcha’s CEO, Patrick Grove, said the decision to carve out the funding is because the company is seeing a rise in ideas and entrepreneurs in the region, and is keen to make successful exists from these investments.

One of Catcha’s crowning investments was its $300,000 investment into the iProperty portal in 2007, which today is worth $170 million.

Catcha has its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and offices in Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Its digital and print publishing arm, Catcha Media, is listed on the Malaysian stock exchange’s junior board. The company’s iProperty and iCarAsia site are both listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

(via e27)