AAA MassMutual Ventures assembles $300m fund

MassMutual Ventures assembles $300m fund

MassMutual Ventures, the strategic investment arm of US-headquartered insurance firm Massachusetts Mutual Life, launched a $300m fund today dedicated to deals in Europe and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

The fund will be overseen by managing directors Anvesh Ramineni (from Singapore) and Ryan Collins (from the UK). They will work with senior associate Carlos Jo-Loo and associate Cheryl Teo, and are currently recruiting additional staff in Asia and Europe.

Founded in 2014, MassMutual Ventures initially operated out of a $100m fund before adding a $100m second fund in 2017 and a $50m vehicle dedicated to Southeast Asia led by Collins and Ramineni the following year.

Ramineni said: “Over the past three and a half years, we have led investments in companies fundamentally transforming the digital health, fintech and [software-as-a-service] sectors in APAC, where we continue to see tremendous opportunity.

“Moreover, we are very excited about expanding our team and reach to Europe’s thriving tech and startup ecosystem – making MMV a truly global platform.”

Collins told Global Corporate Venturing the fund will typically invest $1m to $10m per deal and look to lead rounds, adding: “Both APAC and Europe present significant opportunities and we will employ the same strategy, with the same stage, sector focus and operating model in Europe as we have for the past three years in Asia-Pacific.

“Across both regions, we see significant investment opportunities in digital health, decentralised finance and artificial intelligence/machine learning applications.

The announcement marks the first time MassMutual Ventures has had a formal presence in Europe. Its first investment there involved it leading an $11m series A round for digital therapy provider HelloBetter last month that included existing backers HealthCap, Expon Capital and Sparrow Ventures.

Biofourmis, a medical data software provider headquartered in the US but founded in Hong Kong, is also part of the new fund’s portfolio. It raised $300m yesterday in a series D round backed by existing investors that may include the unit.

Collins said in a statement the team views digital health, decentralised finance, artificial intelligence and machine learning software as particularly exciting prospects. He told TechCrunch today it will also consider deals in South Korea and Japan alongside its core areas.

Photo of Anvesh Ramineni, Carlos Jo-Loo, Cheryl Teo and Ryan Collins courtesy of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. This article was amended to include remarks from Ryan Collins.

By Robert Lavine

Robert Lavine is special features editor for Global Venturing.