MassMutual establishes second VC fund for Southeast Asia
US-based Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) has established a second venture capital fund for Southeast Asia with a corpus of $100 million.
MassMutual Ventures created its first fund focused on the region in 2018 with a $50 million mandate. The firm now claims $350 million in total capital under management across four funds, including two global funds of $100 million each.
The new vehicle will continue its predecessor’s strategy of investing in early and growth-stage companies in the digital health, financial technology, and enterprise software sectors. Deal targeting will widen by geography, however, to include Hong Kong, India, Australia, and New Zealand.
MassMutual Ventures’ Singapore team is led by Ryan Collins, formerly an executive director at Goldman Sachs, and Anvesh Ramineni, previously head of investments at Openspace Ventures. They are expected to make 15-20 investments from the new fund.
“As a vibrant and growing ecosystem, Southeast Asia offers tremendous opportunities,” Collins said in a statement. “The substantial increase to our investment capital reinforces our commitment and focus, as we continue to believe in both the local opportunity and in the potential for globally successful companies to emerge from this region.”
MassMutual Ventures claims to have backed about 40 companies across Southeast Asia, North America, Europe, and Israel since it was launched in 2014. It invests as part of MassMutual’s allocation to alternatives, rather than as a strategic or corporate development mandate. Portfolio companies receive access to the parent company network, including a US-based data science team.
Recent activity in Southeast Asia includes participating in a seed round for data analytics player Milieu Insight and co-leading a $35 million Series B for health analytics platform operator Biofourmis. In August last year, MassMutual Ventures led a $32.5 million round for Aspire, a Singapore-based lending platform.
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