Beacon VC is looking to deploy its current pool of capital this year, said managing director Thanapong Na Ranong.
The fund was founded in 2017 with an initial US$30 million before expanding to US$185 million in 2021, according to Beacon VC’s website.
Ranong said this is a good time to invest as deals are decently priced.
“Corporate VCs invest for the synergy, so they will still invest even in downturns,” he said. “But they will also invest more carefully, and not give high valuations as in the past.”
Beacon VC focuses on strategic investments in early to growth-stage start-ups covering financial technology, the consumer Internet and enterprise technology.
It has backed regional unicorns such as Grab, Nium and Carro as well as Thai companies like Builk, a cloud-based software service for the construction industry; Okbee, a digital magazine platform; Primo, an omnichannel marketing platform; Cryptomind, a digital asset advisory and investment business; and FoodStory, a point of sale and restaurant management system start-up.
Beacon VC also invests in other tech funds, having participated in Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia, Singapore-based Integra Partners and two US managers – Nyca Partners and Pantera Capital.
“We often select a fund that is focused on fintech or has a certain proportion for fintech investments,” Ranong said.
By investing in other funds, Beacon hopes to leverage those managers’ connections.
“For example, in 2017, we invested in Integra Partners and Vertex Ventures. We wanted to learn about the industry, and they could refer the deals to us. Last year, when we started to explore more about the blockchain space, we invested in Pantera Capital,” Ranong told DealStreetAsia
The VC firm does not currently plan to invest in more funds, but Ranong said it might look at other fund investments if it ventures into a new sector.
Ranong believes technology will help Kbank sustain profitability over the long term.
“Today, competition in the banking industry is really tough,” he said.
One part of that is banks are reducing their transaction fees.
“So we have to look for new segments,” Ranong said. “In the past, we could not provide financial services to certain segments because we didn’t have the data for them.”
Ranong added that by investing in Grab, KBank can now learn more about the financial status of taxi drivers and better tailor services to them. Through its partnership with Line, KBank has broadened its customer base by tapping the popular messaging app’s users. Line BK, the joint venture between KBank and Line, celebrated its first anniversary last year with over 3.4 million users.
“These are the new segments that we would not have access to if we were still a conventional bank,” Ranong said.