Cisco commits $10M to fund for Asean startups

Cisco Systems' investment arm has unveiled plans to invest $10 million into Monk's Hill Ventures' innovation fund for Asean startups.

The fund supports early-stage startups that offer tools in cloud, the Internet of Everything (IoE), big data and analytics, mobility, and enterprise applications, said Cisco Investments in a statement on Wednesday.

Monk's Hill Ventures focuses on technology startups with operations in Southeast Asia, as well as global tech startups looking to expand into this region.

Apart from offering financial help, Cisco said it also would be looking to provide its technology and go-to-market expertise with the selected startups. The networking vendor's Asean president Saleh M. Haji Munshi said: "Asean continues to be one of the most diverse, fast-moving, and competitive regions in the world with countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

"In addition to attracting multinationals, Asean has become a launching pad for new companies; the region now accounts for 38 percent of Asia's market for initial public offerings," he said, citing figures from McKinsey.

Cisco's Asia-Pacific and Japan director for corporate development, Pratik Bose, added that the region was transforming rapidly through digitalisation and local entrepreneurs were developing new technologies and applications for not only Asean, but also the rest of the world.