Global early-stage VC Antler has appointed Subir Lohani as partner and Indonesia country head. Meanwhile, private equity firm CVC Capital Partners (CVC) has roped in Brett Sutton as Chair of Australia as it is set to open an office in Sydney. In yet another development, Indosuez Wealth Management has appointed Ian Koo as the new head of asset management for its Hong Kong branch.
Antler appoints Indonesia country head
Global early-stage VC Antler has appointed Subir Lohani as partner and Indonesia country head, according to an announcement.
Antler plans to invest in companies through its Southeast Asia fund. In Indonesia, the target is approximately 10-15 startups in the first cohort with the goal of 100 startups in the next 4-5 years.
Lohani is part of the founding team of DigiAsia, a B2B focused fintech player, leading its growth across payments, lending and supply chain solutions. He helped to raise over $50 million in funding for the company.
Prior to DigiAsia, Subir ran the Rocket Internet-backed car classifieds Carmudi in Indonesia and the Philippines. He was instrumental in pivoting it into an O2O model by setting up the first chain of physical used car marketplaces in Indonesia.
Subir began his career in Investment Banking focusing on debt capital markets across South and Southeast Asia.
Headquartered in Singapore, Antler already has a global presence in 16 locations around the world and has invested in over 300 technology companies, making it one of the world’s largest early-stage investment platforms.
In June this year, Antler announced plans to launch in Vietnam. The VC firm, which plans to start operations in Ho Chi Minh City, will be led by Erik Jonsson, a serial entrepreneur, and the former co-founder and managing director of Zalora Vietnam. Jonsson will be joining as a partner.
CVC Capital appoints Chair of Australia office
Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners (CVC) has announced that it will open an office in Sydney, and has appointed Brett Sutton as Chair of Australia to oversee its expansion plans in the country.
Sutton has a proven track record in Australia’s private equity markets, built over 16 years at Affinity Equity Partners (Affinity), where he was responsible for founding their Australian operations in 2004.
“Australia has been one of the most active private equity markets in Asia Pacific and we believe that now is the right time to build our presence in the country,” said Sigit Prasetya, managing partner and head of CVC Asia.
CVC closed its fifth Asia Pacific investment fund at a hard cap of $4.5 billion last year, which exceeded an original target of $4 billion and is $1 billion larger than its predecessor.
To date, CVC has raised $15 billion of commitments to invest in the Asia Pacific, a region it has been active in since 1999. The firm operates eight offices in Greater China, Japan, Korea, India, and Southeast Asia, for its APAC strategy.
Indosuez names new head of asset management in HK
Indosuez Wealth Management has appointed Ian Koo as the new head of asset management for its Hong Kong branch.
In this role, Koo oversees the asset management sphere for the bank in Hong Kong, encompassing the distribution, marketing, and investor servicing of asset management-related products and offerings.
He will report to Grizelda Lee, head of asset management Asia, public markets solutions.
Koo has 15 years of experience in advising bespoke investment solutions and growing portfolios for ultra-high net worth clients in the region. Previously, he was head of portfolio management of Bank of New York Mellon (Hong Kong).
He also worked at several global banks, including HSBC International (Hong Kong) and ING (Hong Kong).