South Korea's financial services provider KB Group on Wednesday said it will be investing around $100 million (around Rs 800 crore) in former Kae Capital partner Navin Honagudi-led Elev8 Venture Partners through its subsidiary, KB Investment.
KB Group has also joined hands with Elev8 as an anchor investor and Co-GP, it said in a statement.
“We have spent over a year with diligence and concluded that Elev8's management team is by far the best to invest at the growth stage. Their track record, portfolio pipeline and data algorithms have presented a proposition for us to join hands,” said Eric Yoo, executive managing director of KB Investment.
“Elev8 will help over 54% of our growth-stage portfolio companies to expand footprint across Southeast Asia,” the statement said.
An investor in Indian platforms like Pharmeasy, Spinny, Traxcn, Fareye, Rupeek and Vedantu, KB Group has assets under management (AUM) worth $432 billion across 13 countries. KB Investment, the PE and VC arm of KB Group claims to have an AUM of $1.5 billion across 1,000+ companies and 30 funds around the globe.
KB further said that it will be working closely with Elev8 in identifying investment opportunities and assisting in portfolio management.
“KB will also assist Elev8's portfolio companies to expand their global presence and strengthen their products in markets where the group has already established a strong network through partnerships and investments,” the statement added.
“We believe KB’s expertise in the SEA market will add value to growth-stage companies in our portfolio,” said Navin Honagudi, co-founder and managing director of Elev8.
In September, VCCircle reported that Elev8 had announced the launch of its maiden $200 million sector agnostic fund.
The maiden fund will be investing in growth-stage, technology-driven companies with a ticket size between $5-15 million. Elev8 will primarily enter at Series B and C rounds in growth stage tech companies.
Honagudi has previously worked as a partner at Kae Capital for over a decade. He has primarily backed companies in segments like consumer internet, enterprise, fintech, edtech and healthtech.
Before joining Kae Capital, Honagudi worked in the corporate venture of Reliance and has been part of early internet investments. Elev8 will also be backed by the early-stage investment platform Venture Catalysts.
