Kazakhstan investor backs TVM SE Asia healthcare fund
Qazaqstan Investment Corporation (QIC), a private equity fund-of-funds set up by the Kazakhstan government, has invested in a Southeast Asia fund managed by TVM Capital Healthcare.
The size of the LP commitment was not disclosed; the fund is targeting USD 200m. TVM, a healthcare specialist based in Dubai and Singapore, is also in the market with a Middle East and North Africa (MENA) fund called Aflyah, which is targeting USD 250m.
QIC, previously known as Kazyna Capital Management (KCM), was established in 2007 to develop private equity infrastructure in Kazakhstan and promote the national economy by attracting foreign investment and expertise in priority sectors.
It claims KZT 230bn (USD 513m) in assets, including a wholly owned GP called BV Management. Transport and infrastructure are favoured sectors, and resources are avoided. Support for the TVM fund was described as a pilot effort to build out a local healthcare start-up ecosystem through cross-country investment.
“One goal of the cooperation for QIC is to build an attractive ecosystem of funds and partners to create a private equity healthcare fund focused on Kazakhstan and Central Asia region in the near future,” QIC said in a statement.
TVM Capital Healthcare was launched in Germany in 2007. Its parent, TCM Capital, was set up in Germany in 1983 as Techno Venture Management and is regarded as one of the country’s oldest VC investors.
The healthcare-focused GP is domiciled in Dubai in 2009 and expanded to Singapore in late 2018, with the two cities now serving as co-headquarters. There are also bases in Ho Chi Minh City, Munich, Boston, and Riyadh. Intra-regional activity between Southeast Asia and MENA, including shariah-compliant investment, is core to the overall mandate.
Areas of interest span digital health, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and diagnostics. This includes a significant focus on single-speciality businesses such as IVF clinics, as well as oncology, cardiology, orthopaedics, and imaging services providers.
Recent investment in Southeast Asia includes participation in a USD 10.5m Series A round for Singapore-based microbe analysis start-up Amili. East Ventures led a follow-up round for Amili last week via its second growth-stage fund.
QIC’s historical activity in Asia includes various infrastructure funds managed by the likes of CITIC Group and CapAsia. In technology specifically, in 2020 it made a USD 10m LP commitment to the second fund from Singapore’s Quest Ventures via QIC’s Baiterek National Management subsidiary. The Quest fund is anchored by Temasek Holdings-owned Pavilion Capital and had targeted USD 50m.
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