Investor Profile: Qualgro - Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Qualgro is a Singapore-based venture capital firm backing technology companies with strengths in data, artificial intelligence and business-to-business software across Southeast Asia and Australia. Founded in 2015, it looks for founders with regional or global ambition and backs them through the hardest part of scaling beyond their home market.

Thesis

Qualgro invests in what it calls quality and growth: companies with a genuine technology advantage, fast execution and the agility to survive uncertainty. Its sweet spot is data and AI, software and B2B models, and it takes a hands-on role in helping portfolio companies expand internationally, build organisations and hire strong talent pools. The firm also runs a deliberate founder-assessment process, benchmarking founders on a set of traits rather than pattern-matching on background alone, and it reports a team spanning eight nationalities with a 50-50 female-male ratio.

Sectors & Stages

Qualgro invests primarily at Series A and Series B, with earlier seed investments in its history. Its focus is B2B software, data analytics, data security, artificial intelligence and SaaS, across Southeast Asia and Australia. It has backed companies in Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and beyond, and says many of its portfolio companies have expanded internationally beyond their home country.

Fund & Cheque Size

Qualgro closed its second fund at US$100 million in 2018, following a first fund launched in 2015. Its current cheque size is not publicly disclosed. The firm reported 30 investments across its first two funds, with eight full exits including five acquisitions by international players and one initial public offering, and it was named VC Exit of the Year 2019 by the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.

Notable Portfolio

Qualgro's portfolio includes Appier, which went public, PatSnap, an innovation intelligence platform, Funding Societies, the SME financing platform, ShopBack, the cashback platform, Wavecell, Eyeota, Hevo, Accredify, Supermom and Indonesian SME platform Ralali. Three of its first fund's 18 investments became unicorns, according to the firm's own account, with three more described as soonicorns.

Partners & Programs

Qualgro was founded by Heang Chhor, a former senior partner at McKinsey & Company and member of its global board, and is co-led by partners including Weisheng Neo. Rather than running a public accelerator, the firm adds value through corporate connections, organisational building and international expansion support, for example helping Sydney-headquartered companies expand into Singapore and Asian companies expand into Australia. No credits or perks programme is published on its site.

How to apply for funding

Founders can contact Qualgro through its official website, qualgro.com, which carries a contact route. The firm looks for entrepreneurs with the mindset and capability to build regional or global companies, so a pitch should show a technology advantage, evidence of fast execution and a credible plan for expanding beyond the home market, not just a local opportunity.