SBI, Kyobo Life seek $75m for Asia VC fund
SBI Ven Capital (SBIVC), an ex-Japan VC arm of SBI Holdings, is seeking USD 75m for its latest fund in partnership with Korea’s Kyobo Life Insurance and Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
SBIVC will act as manager and general partner. Kyobo Securities, the securities brokerage arm of Kyobo Life, and NTUitive, a start-up support unit at Nanyang Technological University will be general partners.
The fund will invest primarily in seed and Series A-stage digital technology companies across Southeast and South Asia. The idea is to leverage the combined operational expertise and regional go-to-market connections of the sponsor entities.
“Southeast Asia is characterised by the rapid adoption of technology driven by the pandemic resultant shift from offline to online, rising middle class and a growing internet economy,” SBI said in a statement, pointing to market data from India’s Meticulous Research.
“This presents a large opportunity for digital technologies and platforms to unlock USD 220bn to USD 625bn of economic potential by 2030 in the region. As a result, the digital transformation market in Southeast Asia is expected to face 22.7% year-on-year growth until 2025.”
Kyobo Life claims significant experience in building successful businesses and nurturing the digital ecosystem in financial and retail domains in Korea. Hee Jin Shin, head of venture capital at Kyobo Securities, identified Southeast and South Asia as a priority expansion area for Kyobo Life and its various affiliates.
“Our partnership with Kyobo Securities and SBIVC opens up new frontiers and opportunities for promising tech start-ups in Singapore as well as for NTU,” David Toh, CEO of NTUitive, added.
“With the university poised to commercialise more technologies through spin-offs and licensing, the partnership will empower and accelerate translation efforts to bring impactful innovations to the market for the benefit of society.”
SBI has an on-the-ground presence in 10 countries across Southeast and South Asia, where it has been active for 15 years. The firm claims a track record of more than 270 exits across Asia more broadly. Globally, it had about USD 5.7bn in assets under management (AUM) as of end-2021 and 550 investee companies.
Singapore-based SBIVC had USD 550m in AUM as of end-2021. It is headed by Ryosuke Hayashi, who has 20 years of experience in financial services, entrepreneurship, and digital media. He launched and managed The Wall Street Journal’s Japanese language online edition.
More on Southeast Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.