P2P-backer KK Fund’s key investments include tech, digital adoption

By NUR HAZIQAH A MALEK

A SINGAPORE-BASED venture capital (VC) firm KK Fund plans to focus on digital transformation in South-East Asia and tap into underserved markets following its funding for a homegrown peer-to-peer (P2P) financing platform.

KK Fund founder and general partner Koichi Saito said moving forward in the pandemic era, digital adoption and transformation both hold the key to enabling countries and companies to emerge stronger.

“Key investments that deserve attention include health technology, logistics, travel and financial technology, as they will be redefined with technological interventions, ensuring better outcomes for their target audiences,” he told The Malaysian Reserve.

On the topic of the underserved market, he said while the fund does not directly support small and medium enterprises (SMEs), it is backing start-ups with tech solutions to help SMEs go digital.

“The key reason is the huge opportunities in their potential to grow and generate returns.

“In markets like Malaysia, SMEs have yet to fully adopt digital transformation and start-ups supporting them have a long, but fruitful road ahead,” he said.

KK Fund had recently backed US$20 million (RM80.87 million) for a Malaysian multi-bank supply chain finance and P2P financing platform CapBay, marking one of its major portfolio announcements for the year.

CapBay itself has facilitated over RM800 million across 10,000 transactions for SMEs, looking to further strengthen its technological and funding capabilities, and enable more efficient financing and market expansion to reach out to investors and under-served SMEs.