Frequently asked questions
What does Cento Ventures invest in?
We specialise in stage and geography. We are interested in meeting entrepreneurs from Southeast Asia looking for a Series A investor. Companies we invest in have the following characteristics:
- Have at least 1-2 years of operating experience in Southeast Asia’s emerging markets;
- Use technology to transform an existing industry and have a business model that is defensible against global competition;
- Have achieved product-market fit, and are generating repeatable, real revenue from its customers (we typically look out for >US$50K monthly net revenue as a sign of this);
- Are ready to take in US$1-2M to scale their business development, marketing, operations, or product/technology processes.
We like to develop a strong relationship with entrepreneurs before we are ready to invest, so feel free to get in touch with us, but please be aware that we may not be able to invest or engage immediately.
What is your normal investment size?
Our initial investment size is usually US$1-2M, which is normal for Series A rounds in Southeast Asia. We will consider larger Series B investments on an occasional basis. Unfortunately, we are unable to fund pre-launch and pre-revenue companies. There is a community of smart angel investors and incubators that can support companies at this stage much better than we can.
Can you sign an NDA?
We do not sign NDAs as a general rule. There is a good deal of discussion on the internet about why VCs tend not to sign NDAs, such as here. In summary, we look at many deals, some of which overlap – so it would be impossibly hard to have an NDA with each company we interacted with. Cento Ventures will treat any information provided as confidential. A good way of verifying whether we behave responsibly is to investigate our reputation amongst the startup/investment community.
How do you help your investments?
We help founders accelerate the growth of their company. We have supported our founders with fundraising (e.g. raising later-stage financing); making strategic decisions; attracting great talent; expanding their operations to new countries; and building successful corporate partnerships.
What should I prepare to pitch my company?
It’s important to hear the story of how a company has evolved from the founding team members. It helps if you have relevant research on your market ready to share with us. We would like to see your company’s dashboards – to see how you track the financial and operational parts of your business and their growth. We ask that you are prepared with the definitions of metrics and that you are honest about them. And finally, a business plan that shows us how you view your company’s development in the next 2-3 years – based on a set of assumptions that can be understood and explained
Do you invest in a global technology solutions?
We would potentially be interested in your product; however, if you intend to focus your business on global clients from the start, it would likely end up outside our geographical scope. We tend to look for companies that have a solution designed for a specific business case for either Southeast Asia or sometimes Asia-wide.
Do you invest in companies seeking to expand or relocate to Southeast Asia?
We mostly focus on companies built in Southeast Asia. We believe that venture firms based in your current markets would be better suited to assess and support your business with its expansion plans.
What should I do if I receive an unsolicited investment/loan/job opportunity from Cento on WhatsApp?
Do not respond to such offers. Cento will not use WhatsApp or other messaging platforms to contact you. All communication will be conducted using our official email domain address: @cento.vc. If you have received such offers, email us here: alerts@cento.vc.
More information here.