Ant Financial, China-based e-commerce group Alibaba’s financial services affiliate, is raising roughly $1bn for an investment fund that will operate elsewhere in Asia, DealStreetAsia reported today.
The vehicle, whose name can be translated as Ant Unicorn Fund, will focus on strategic investments in emerging markets like India and Southeast Asia, Ant Financial vice-president Ji Gang told DealStreetAsia.
Areas of interest for the fund will include Ant Financial’s ongoing interest on blockchain, artificial intelligence, security, internet-of-things and computing technologies connected to its businesses.
The company intends to also explore investments in digital financial services providers in other countries, as it seeks to expand the reach of services including digital payment platform Alipay and virtual credit card Huabei.
Ant Financial is already active in corporate venturing having built a portfolio that includes India-based mobile payment platform Paytm and food listings platform Zomato, as well as homegrown businesses like apartment rental marketplace Danke Apartment and ride hailing platform Didi Chuxing.
Ji said: “Ant Financial used to serve as a minority limited partner at many top-tier funds by picking up 5% to 10% stakes, but we found it far from enough for us to really understand the market and players.”
