Loxbit, the IT services subsidiary of Thailand headquartered trading conglomerate Loxley, has formed a partnership with private equity fund TIH to invest in Thailand-based startups, the Bangkok Post has reported.
The joint venture, K2 Venture Capital, will invest out of a ฿150m ($4.3m) pool of capital but intends to increase that to ฿700m by the end of 2017, Loxley vice-chairman Vasant Chatikavanij told the Post. Loxley owns 51% of the fund and TIH 49%.
K2 will operate independently to Loxbit but portfolio companies will be able to access marketing and digital infrastructure resources from its parent company. It will provide up to ฿30m for each company, investing at seed and series A stage.
The fund will target the broader financial technology sector, including electronic trading platforms, blockchain applications, big data and analytics, machine learning, precision agriculture, vehicle telematics, insurance and internet-of-things technology.
K2’s first portfolio company is MoneyTable, a peer-to-peer lending platform that uses advanced credit scoring technology to assess prospective borrowers.
MoneyTable raised $1.5m on Monday from K2, Kejora Ventures and angel investors Chatchaval Jiaravanon and Chualapayap Srikarnchana, according to E27.