Reefknot Investments, a Singapore-based joint venture between Temasek and Kuehne + Nagel launched a USD 50 million global fund targeting Series A and B startups in the supply chain and logistics industry, according to an official statement.
The fund will be used to invest in six to eight high-growth startups around the world. Reefknot Investments is looking specifically at startups within the artificial intelligence/deep tech, digital logistics, and trade finance sectors.
Reefknot is headed by Marc Dragon who is active in the supply chain and startup space in ASEAN and China along with a team of investment professionals formerly from Temasek, a government-owned investment company with a portfolio value of SGD 313 billion (USD 225.8 billion) and Kuehne + Nagel, a global provider of freight logistics and supply chain management services.
Portfolio companies will have access to the business insights of Temasek and the expertise of Keuhne + Nagel in the logistics space.
Reefknot also works with notable ecosystem partners like global Asian-based investors EDBI, SGInnovate, Atlantic Bridge, Vertex Ventures, PSA unBoXed, Unilever Foundry, and NUS Enterprise to help the companies accelerate their business growth.
Southeast Asia’s logistics sector is largely dominated by third-party logistics service providers and has traditionally been characterized as asset heavy and labor intensive.
Over the years, there have been an increasing amount of venture capital investments into this space to transform the industry. The total amount of investment increased from USD 3.3 billion in 2017 to USD 7.8 billion in 2018, according to Reefknot.
Some of the startups in this region that have raised funds include Malaysia-headquartered parcel delivery startup EasyParcel, Ritase, Sicepat Ekspres, and Waresix from Indonesia, as well as Chinese startup providing cross-border logistics services from China to Southeast Asia, AllSome.