SBI, FMO launch $80m financial services fund

It already has 85% - or $50 million - of the cash required for the first close.

The new fund will be managed by Singapore-based SBI Ven Capital, a mid-market regional VC player affiliated with the eponymous financial conglomerate. Also based in Singapore, the vehicle will invest mainly in growth-stage companies, although it is restricted from participating in equities or equity-linked instruments. It plans to undertake 3-4 transactions per year and will consider co-investing with other GPs.

"High expected economic growth, ongoing structural reforms which may result in consolidation opportunities, socio-political intent to spur financial inclusion, as well as technological advances, all augur well for financial sector investments in emerging Asia," SBI Ven Capital's Brijesh Pande, who will be managing the fund, tells AVCJ.

The venture capital firm aims to capitalize on these trends by making attractive financial sector investments in the target countries of the fund - namely India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. "SBI Ven Capital will also leverage SBI Holdings' and FMO's extensive financial services platforms to add significant strategic value to the investee companies, which in turn is expected to positively impact the fund's performance," continues Pande.

In addition to Pande, the fund will be led by managing director Masaki Takayanagi, who is responsible for SBI's South East Asia operations. Before joining SBI, he was director for Investment Banking at Daiwa Securities SMBC in Tokyo and London, and executive director of Investment Banking at Nomura Securities in Australia. He has also worked at the strategy consulting firm AT Kearney, focusing on providing strategic advice for corporates, and KDD, Japan's largest international telecoms carrier, in Tokyo and London. Pande, meanwhile, hails from ANZ, the fourth largest bank in Australia, where he was head of corporate sales. Under the leadership of Takayanagi, he now heads a team of four senior and two junior investment professionals who will be responsible for raising and deploying funds.

Teaming up with another institution to launch an investment vehicle is a strategy which SBI has already pursued on two prior occasions this year. In February, it partnered with Mahindra Satyam to roll out a $50 million fund to invest in ICT companies globally, and in January .it set up a vehicle with Edelweiss Financial Services to focus on listed companies in India.

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• Topics
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• North Asia
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• Financial Services
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• SBI Holdings