Mars Growth Capital launches Asia tech fund
Singapore’s Mars Growth Capital, a tech investor set up in 2021 by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and Liquidity Group, has launched its maiden Asia equity fund with an initial USD 500m.
The commitment marks an initial close for Dragon Fund; the full target and whether third-party capital will be involved remains unclear. The fund will participate in deals of USD 20m to USD 100m for revenue-positive mid-market and pre-IPO technology companies. This will include flexibility to make primary and secondary investments.
Mars has historically focused on non-dilutive financing, and this will remain a core focus. As recently as last month, MUFG committed increased its LP commitment to the firm’s non-dilutive funds from USD 750m to USD 1bn. About 40 companies have been invested under this strategy to date.
The move into equity was framed as a vote of confidence in Liquidity Group’s predictive artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, which will be leveraged in deal sourcing. Liquidity, touted as the largest AI-based financial asset manager globally, claims its technology enables capital deployment faster and to more companies than at any time in the history of financial markets.
“[T]he investment teams will be able to evaluate investment opportunities comprehensively and at a faster pace while investing in the most attractive ones to generate superior returns for the LPs. The technology will also allow for automated and real-time monitoring of the portfolio investments,” Ridhi Chaudhary, a GP of Dragon Fund, said in a statement.
Mars’ first fund was set up in 2021 with USD 200m primarily focused on financial technology companies in Asia. Earlier this year, a Japan fund of JPY 20bn (USD 134m) targeting “pre-unicorn” companies was launched, followed by a Europe fund targeting USD 250m.
In addition to fintech, segments include software, e-commerce, consumer tech, B2B tech, and health-tech. Standout investees include B2B packaging marketplace Bizongo, fashion supply chain player Fashinza, and Zetwerk, a manufacturing jobs portal recently valued at USD 2.7bn. All are based in India.
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