Bain & Company to acquire Rainmaking APAC

COPENHAGEN — July 7, 2023 — Rainmaking today announced the expected sale of the Asia Pacific arm of its global venture-building and startup development operations to Bain & Company. The sale is subject to, and contingent upon, several conditions precedent to completion and is expected to close at the end of July 2023. Rainmaking will continue their successful operations in Europe, South America, USA and MENA.

Rainmaking builds new startup companies that leverage the advantages and scale strengths of corporate partners and co-founders. It has built and scaled ventures across many industries, including agriculture, energy, natural resources & cleantech, engineering, real estate & commercial property, retail and financial services. 

“Over a number of years we have built one of the leading venture studios in Europe and Asia. We work across the startup lifecycle and are proud to have built the complementary capability to both build new companies and to take growth-stage companies to scale. Our distinct entrepreneurial culture and pioneering approach to equity co-investment and risk-sharing with our corporate partners have allowed us to stand out in the market”, said Samuel Hall, CEO of Rainmaking APAC.

“We are very excited to continue our growth trajectory with Bain”, said Samuel Hall, CEO of Rainmaking APAC. “Bain will supercharge our corporate connectivity and investment capability. With Bain as our backer, we will  be able to launch more studios and ventures; benefit from a greater volume of deeper partnerships with corporations and industry leaders; and drive greater opportunity and upside for the people that work with us, build with us, and launch new ventures with us.”

Rainmaking Global will continue to own and operate its corporate venture-building and startup businesses outside APAC and Carsten Kølbek, the CEO of Rainmaking Global, expands on the deal and the future for Rainmaking’s global operations:

“We take exceptional pride in our APAC business being acquired by a world-class brand such as Bain. This is a testament to the outstanding team we have assembled and the skills they have developed, the rapidly scaling business we have created, and the innovative business models we have developed. We are going to miss our great colleagues and friends, but we are confident that Bain is the ideal owner of the APAC business going forward and we trust the team and the business will enjoy opportunities for further growth”.

“Since 2007 we have helped build and scale over 1,000 technology companies – some on our own, some with amazing corporate partners and some with co-founders. We are going to continue this work outside of APAC with a relentless focus on delivering impact to clients”.

Through the proposed acquisition of Rainmaking APAC, which comprises 50 entrepreneurial talents across key markets in Singapore, Japan and South Korea, Bain intends to accelerate and expand its business-building offering in Asia. 

Following completion of the deal, Rainmaking APAC will retain its brand and will continue to work with its partners while operating independently as a branded service line within Bain’s Innovation & Design ecosystem.

Bain shares their perspective on the deal.

“The region, especially Singapore, is a thriving innovation hub that has continued to attract talent and multinational companies to set up new businesses,” said Satish Shankar, Bain’s Asia Pacific regional managing partner. 

“Building new engines of growth will continue to be a top priority for our clients. Our offering has delivered strong results in innovation and business-building for our clients, and our acquisition of Rainmaking APAC marks the next critical step in scaling our Innovation & Design capabilities to create market-leading results for clients.”

“Our vision is to be the leading venture-building studio in Asia Pacific,” said Florian Hoppe, Asia Pacific leader in Vector^SM, Bain’s digital delivery platform. “By joining forces with Rainmaking APAC, we can help clients validate, build, and scale new businesses during a time when companies are forced to innovate, especially as we see disruptions through emerging technologies.”

###

Media contacts

To arrange an interview or for any questions, please contact:

Rainmaking APAC:

Joe Tanner – Email: jt@rainmaking.io 

Rainmaking Global:

Carsten Kølbek – Email: ck@afrainmaking.io

About Rainmaking Global

Rainmaking is a global corporate venture-building and startup program business. The business was founded in 2007 in Copenhagen and has since then expanded to 10 offices on 4 continents.

We exist to build the next generation of world-changing companies and services, bringing together ambitious corporate partners, founders, big ideas, and investment capital. 

About Rainmaking APAC

Founded in 2017 Rainmaking APAC has emerged as a leading venture development company in the Asia Pacific region. It has successfully pioneered a range of equity-share models of corporate venture building, whereby Rainmaking takes equity alongside its corporate partners, each as founding shareholders in the new company.

Rainmaking APAC’s work focuses on co-founding new startups in partnership with corporate partners and entrepreneurial founders, and powering the growth of Series A+ startups by supporting them to scale and expand to new markets. Until now, the companies that Rainmaking APAC has built and scaled have generated SGD 880m in funding and hold a combined equity value of more than SGD 9bn.

Rainmaking APAC works with:

• Corporations to design, launch and scale new corporate ventures and corporate venture studios

• Entrepreneurs to identify, validate and launch new startups

• Growth-stage startups to expand internationally to new markets

• Governments to power the development of local startup ecosystems, and to support local startups to grow and expand to new markets

Rainmaking has built a team of ~50 venture builders in APAC, led by CEO Samuel Hall, COO Virginie Hello and CCO Joe Tanner. It has dedicated offices in Singapore, Japan and South Korea, and has built and scaled ventures with some of the world’s leading businesses and brands. By building and scaling ventures in these markets and in others such as Australia, Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand, Rainmaking APAC has developed a truly pan-APAC perspective on venture development.

About Bain & Company 

Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps the world’s most ambitious change makers define the future. 

Across 65 cities in 40 countries, Bain & Company works alongside their clients as one team with a shared ambition to achieve extraordinary results, outperform the competition, and redefine industries. Bain & Company complement their tailored, integrated expertise with a vibrant ecosystem of digital innovators to deliver better, faster, and more enduring outcomes. Bain & Company’s 10-year commitment to invest more than $1 billion in pro bono services brings their talent, expertise, and insight to organizations tackling today’s urgent challenges in education, racial equity, social justice, economic development, and the environment. They earned a platinum rating from EcoVadis, the leading platform for environmental, social, and ethical performance ratings for global supply chains, putting us in the top 1% of all companies. Since Bain & Company’s founding in 1973, they have measured their success by the success of their clients, and they proudly maintain the highest level of client advocacy in the industry.