Frédéric H Proulx, founder and CEO of Hanuman Capital who is now the managing partner of Haystack Asia.
Haystack Canada, the North American venture capital firm, on March 17, acquired Hanuman Capital, a Cambodia-based creative studio and project developer, and will merge the companies to form Haystack Asia Capital Company Limited.
Haystack Canada and Hanuman Capital will integrate operations to better help start-up companies and emerging entrepreneurs in Canada and Cambodia. The deal for the entire Hanuman portfolio, including all real estate and digital holdings, have reached into millions of US dollars.
Haystack Canada is an up-and-coming investor in early-stage companies in technology, property development, sports, esports and food and beverages. Haystack Asia has reserved more than $2 million to dedicate to innovative ventures or digital projects in Cambodia.
“We see an excellent opportunity to align both entities and we see Cambodia as an excellent market in which to be creative and to hire emerging talents to overcome the challenges of this thriving economy,” said Frédéric H Proulx, founder and CEO of Hanuman Capital who is now the managing partner of Haystack Asia.
“We have experienced and talented investors and mentors who would love to teach and support young entrepreneurs in Canada, Cambodia and the rest of Southeast Asia,” said Proulx, who is also president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Cambodia (CanCham).
The new company, Haystack Asia, will share the same brand as Haystack Canada, which is based in Québec City, but will remain a separate legal entity. Haystack Canada has invested in Winter Farm, an agricultural hub, as well as a distillery and a range of cutting-edge tech companies.
Haystack Asia will operate all Hanuman projects, including Wonderpass, a smart-ticketing venture approved by the Ministry of Tourism set to launch this summer, and Bong Tees, a Phnom Penh-based clothing and design brand that will open on April 15.
Hanuman is also developing Huggr, a person-to-person activity-sharing platform scheduled to launch by the end of 2021 in a number of regional markets, including Cambodia and Vietnam.
Hanuman’s land development projects, including a coffee plantation and lodge in Mondulkiri province and a villa in Kep province, will now be managed by Haystack Asia Properties, a subsidiary of Haystack Asia.
Hanuman Capital was founded in 2019. In January, Hanuman became a 2021 Exclusive Associate Sponsor for CanCham. Haystack Asia will take over the sponsorship.
