Global private equity powerhouse KKR is raising up to $1.5 billion for its debut technology growth fund that will focus on Asia, according to an AVCJ report.
The fund, KKR Asia Next Generation Technology Growth Fund, will likely follow KKR’s Next Generation Technology (NGT) strategy where it invests in majority or minority stakes in private companies as well as minority stakes in public companies.
KKR’s tech investment business seeks emerging, high-growth companies across different sub-segments including software, security, semiconductors, consumer electronics, IoT, information services, business services, Internet, digital media, content, and communications.
The report comes five months after KKR said it planned to raise funds for five Asia-focused strategies outside private equity this year, including infrastructure, real estate, credit, and growth businesses which cover both impact and next-gen tech.
The private equity giant also said in an investor presentation in September 2021 that it was considering a new Asia-focused NGT strategy that will target earlier-stage investments.
KKR has declined to comment on the reported launch of KKR Asia Next Generation Technology Growth Fund.
Louis Casey, a member of KKR’s Next Generation Technology team, said at DealStreetAsia’s Indonesia PE-VC Summit 2022 in March that the firm invested in an earlier stage in Southeast Asia because it saw some valuable businesses will be built out of the region over the next decade, enabled by technology.
Early this month, KKR raised $1.16 billion so far for its third technology growth fund, KKR Next Generation Technology Growth Fund III (NGT III), per a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
NGT III raised the capital from 66 investors. Its predecessor vehicle was closed at $2.2 billion in 2020 while the first fund raised $711 million in December 2016.
Last year, KKR closed its pan-regional private equity vehicle, Asia Fund IV, at $15 billion, which is the biggest fund dedicated to the region.
Its third Asia fund was closed in 2017 at $9.3 billion, while the second fund was a 2013-vintage $5.8 billion fund. It launched its debut Asia fund in 2007 with $4 billion in capital commitments.