JAKARTA, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Jakarta-based venture capitalfirm East Ventures said on Wednesday it raised $75 million forits sixth fund, backed by prominent Asian businessmen, to investin early-stage startups in Southeast Asia's largest economy.
The list of investors included Facebook co-founderEduardo Saverin, family offices of Alibaba Group'sco-founder Eddie Wu, Chief Executive Officer of Meituan-DianpingWang Xing as well as Dianping founder Zhang Tao,according to the venture capital fund.
East Ventures also received financial backing fromSingaporean sovereign fund Temasek Holdings andIndonesian conglomerates Sinarmas and Emtek.
"The way we picked our LPs (limited partners) is strategicand based on geopolitcal arbitrage," East Ventures co-founderWillson Cuaca told Reuters, noting that investors would take aninvolved role in advising the fund.
The decade-old firm was an early backer of severalIndonesian "unicorns", or tech startups valued at more than $1billion, including online retailer Tokopedia and travel bookingsite Traveloka.
Funding by venture capital firms in Southeast Asia touched arecord high last year, with Indonesia's booming digital economybeing a prime destination.
(Reporting by Fanny Potkin, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)