KKR hires Asia growth equity head
KKR has appointed Mukul Chawla, formerly of Temasek Holdings, to the newly created position of partner and head of growth equity for Asia Pacific.
The move comes as Lucian Schönefelder, who relocated to Asia approximately 18 months ago as head of technology for the region, transitions to an advisory role. He has been with KKR since 2007 and previously focused on growth equity and technology investments across Europe and Israel.
Chawla will lead investments in emerging, high-growth companies in areas such as technology, healthcare, financial technology, and consumer. Based in Asia but also spending considerable time in KKR’s global offices, including its Menlo Park location, he starts work on December 9.
Chawla joined Temasek in 2010 and helped build the group’s technology, media, and telecom (TMT) and North America franchises out of New York and San Francisco. He sponsored 39 technology buyout and growth investments including Airbnb, Xiaomi, Doordash, Roblox, Ancestry, and Waymo.
Chawla’s early career was spent at Warburg Pincus in New York, Cisco Systems in Silicon Valley, and with the US Federal Communications Commission in Washington DC.
KKR’s fourth pan-Asian private equity fund has a portion earmarked for smaller-size growth deals, although the firm has also made larger bets on tech start-ups as well. Recent additions include Moody, a China-based cosmetic contact lens brand, Vietnam software developer KiotViet, and Lenskart, an Indian eyewear retailer, and China dairy player Adopt A Cow.
“We are seeing more homegrown innovation and start-ups originating in Asia than ever before, and the ideas that these companies and entrepreneurs introduce to our global economy have the potential to transform our daily lives and entire industries,” said Ming Lu, a partner and head of Asia at KKR, in a statement.
“Because of this, Asian growth equity is becoming an increasingly important part of the region’s broader investment landscape. As we continue to pursue these attractive investment opportunities, we are excited to welcome an experienced global growth equity investor of Mukul’s caliber to the KKR team.”
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