Siemer Ventures raises $45 mln, changes name to Wavemaker

Siemer Ventures, an early-stage technology VC with offices in Singapore and Southern California, has raised a $45 million third fund and is changing its name to Wavemaker Partners.

The firm, based in Santa Monica, California, said it plans to continue with its existing strategy of targeting “late seed stage” rounds for business- and consumer-facing startups, with a geographic focus on Southern California and Southeast Asia. However, it will be putting more capital to work. The firm’s new fund is more than 50 percent larger than its last one, a $28 million vehicle raised in 2011.

The new fund will invest on average 25 to 30 new investments worldwide per year in the Internet, mobile and software sectors. Wavemaker Partners’ strategy focuses on investments ranging between $150,000 and $1,000,000 in late seed or early-stage rounds. The firm typically co-invests with other VCs.

The firm added Paul Santos as a General Partner in 2011, and the following year he led the launch of Wavemaker Labs, a Singapore-based incubator. With the new fund, Santos will also be managing partner of the firm’s sub-fund, Wavemaker Pacific, focused in the Asia-Pacific region.

Wavemaker has also made a practice of investing in other funds and incubators, including six U.S.-based funds and incubators in Tokyo, Seoul, Bangkok, Shanghai and Sydney, which can serve as feeders for portfolio investments. About 20 percent of Siemer Ventures II is invested in Southeast Asia and the firm anticipates that increasing to approximately 33 percent for the new fund.

The firm has invested in over 130 companies in the the last 12 years including Mindbody, Viagogo, Stylehaul, SurfAir, and SOA Software. Several portfolio companies have also gone on to be acquired, including mDialog (which sold to Google), Connexity (bought by Shopzilla), and GradientX (acquired by Amobee/Singtel).

The firm has two founders: David Siemer, managing Partner of Wavemaker Partners and founder of Siemer & Associates Investment Bank, and Eric Manlunas, who co-founded Siemer Ventures following its merger with Frontera Group, a early-stage boutique venture capital firm he started.

Also on Wedensday, Wavemaker Pacific, the firm’s Singapore-based arm, announced that it will join as the 15th member of the DFJ Global Network, an organization of independent venture funds operating on four continents that cooperate on diligence, market intelligence, corporate relationships and co-investments.

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