Tokyo-based GREE Ventures has announced the final close of its second fund, AT-II Investment Limited Partnership. The fund was targeting to raise $60 million, however, it was oversubscribed at $67 million. GREE will be focusing on companies based out of India, Southeast Asia, and Japan. It will particularly fuel capital into firms operating from seed to Series A stage, with the investment size ranging from $500K to $3 million.
The fund was incorporated in April 2016, and had hit its first close in May at $37 million. The previous fund, AT-I sought investment opportunities in Southeast Asia and Japan, hence India as the target market was a new addition to the second fund. It has invested in 10 startups till date, including Ayopop, an Indonesian mobile payments platform, and recently pumped money into Delhi-based PopXO.
In an interview to DealStreetAsia, Nikhil Kapur, Senior Investment Manager, said they are looking to invest in not more than 30 companies. He went on to say,
Our fund philosophy is pretty simple. Invest in founders and companies that will be the next set of large internet businesses in Asia, while encouraging cross-border collaboration within the region.
He mentioned they will execute this by playing an active role with the team from an early stage of the business and help shape the company towards its goal. Nikhil further added,
So in the end the criteria for investment becomes simple: Is this one of the top 10 teams from the region we can invest in? Is this business one of the largest that can be built in the region? Is there going to be a way for us to help the company connect the dots between various parts of the region? How can we help the team reach its vision? Finding companies that fit the criteria is a much tougher task though.
GREE Ventures has invested in over 40 companies since its inception. It counts various Japanese corporate and financial institutions as its backers including Japan’s Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, GREE, and members of the Mizuho Financial Group.
