Beacon Venture Capital, the corporate VC arm of Kasikornbank (KBank), expects its investment in technology startups to surpass targets this year amid greater opportunities.
The number of startups in which the company holds a stake could beat its target of 4-5 a year after investing in two firms and with another deal in the pipeline, said managing director Thanapong Na Ranong.
Investment in the third firm is expected to be completed next quarter, he said.
Given the limited number of local tech startups but high demand from several corporate ventures, Beacon must make brisk investment decisions when it finds potential targets, Mr Thanapong said.
Beacon has enough funding to support both direct investment and fund-of-fund investment.
Some US$67.5 million in funding is left over, and Beacon plans to invest in a seed financing round of Horganice, a management platform for rental properties in Thailand, with an 18% holding in the startup.
Mr Thanapong said the time is right for Beacon to investing in seed financing because of the strong business potential of Horganice.
Beacon normally focuses on Series A funding in tech startups.
"We concentrate on investment in tech-based startups, with a focus on data analytics and AI, rather than the business sector," Mr Thanapong said. "With this strategy, we would support both startups and KBank's financial service development."
In normal practice, a corporate VC arm's investment in a startup averages five years. But Beacon doesn't set a specific investment period in which to fully support startups.
Beacon was set up in 2017 with initial funding of $30 million or nearly 1 billion baht.
KBank pumped a further $50 million into Beacon's recapitalisation for investment in Grab Thailand last year. Moreover, K-Vision, a joint venture under KBank, injected an additional $55 million in fresh funds into Beacon.
