US-based global impact investment firm Capria Ventures is investing up to $20 million in Southeast Asia in 2020 to further expand its emerging markets investment and network building footprint.
In a statement, Capria said it will invest in existing members and two new funds next year as part of its partnership with the Australian government to expand early-stage investing in Southeast Asia.
Founded in 2015, Capria already has three fund managers under its Asia network. It recently opened a Singapore office to welcome fund managers in its network from South and Southeast Asia.
Additionally, the firm announced that it will invest another $20 million in emerging markets – Asia, Africa, and Latin America – from its new $100-million Capria Emerging Managers Fund.
The plan is to invest in three to five additional emerging markets managers to beef up its global network, which already has 19 managers, the company said.
The investment firm announced in December 2018 that it has raised $40 million to achieve the first close of its $100-million emerging markets-focused fund.
The fund will make investments in fund management companies in emerging markets. It also seeks to make commitments into emerging market investment funds as a limited partner and direct investments into local businesses.
Seattle-based Capria Ventures, which invests in venture capital, private equity, and other debt and equity funds backing early-growth businesses through its network fund, has earmarked 33-40 per cent of the total $100 million for Asian markets.
“One particular area that we’re excited about in emerging markets is private consumption,” Dave Richards, co-founder and managing partner of Capria Ventures, said during the Asia PE-VC Summit 2019 in Singapore.
The firm’s increased focus on emerging markets comes as the International Finance Corporation reported that emerging markets and low-income countries need an additional investment of up to $2.6 trillion to achieve broadly-adopted sustainable development goals.
“This increased interest in the deployment of capital into emerging markets can be attributed to the rise in competition for assets in developed markets, attractive exit multiples, and lack of correlation with developed market assets,” the firm said.
