Singapore-based multi-family office Kamet Capital Partners has raised $50 million — half the target corpus — in the first close of its debut closed-end fund.
Officially launched in March, Kamet Capital was targeting to raise $100 million for Kamet Founders Fund 1 from existing family office clients and, in a first, external limited partners.
The bulk of the commitments in the first close came from Kamet Capital’s existing stable of family office clients. About a third of the funds were from two new family offices based in Singapore, and ultra high net worth individuals.
The firm is holding conversations with potential limited partners outside of Asia as well and is looking to bring in young founders into its network of family offices.
Meanwhile, funds have already been deployed into two investments, Kerry Goh, CEO and chief investment officer at Kamet Capital, told DealStreetAsia.
The first investment was into a Chinese semiconductor startup’s Series A round. The company, which Go declined to name, designs and sells data processing units, used in data centres.
The fund also invested in Pax8, as part of the cloud ecommerce marketplace’s recent $185 million fundraising led by Softbank Vision Fund 2. Kamet Capital first invested in the Denver-based Pax8 in 2018.
The firm is currently assessing a third investment, likely into an express delivery company in Southeast Asia.
While the fund has made its first close comparatively quickly, the target corpus is unlikely to be expanded, Goh says.
“It’s important to curate the right portfolio and be mindful of having enough deals in the pipeline to invest.”
Goh noted the headwinds in the macro environment, particularly inflationary pressures, although he remains confident of longer-term prospects in sectors such as quick commerce, new retail, and software-as-a-service.
Kamet Capital manages the assets of five Chinese tech and consumer company founders or co-founders. Founders Fund 1 follows the Kamet Long Term Capital Fund, about 40% of which was allocated to private and alternative investments via special purpose vehicles (SPVs).
The firm has made 16 other private investments over the last four years, focusing on growth-stage deals with a few earlier-stage investments.
In early 2018, Kamet Capital led a S$5.6 million Series A funding round for Singapore-headquartered telehealth startup Doctor Anywhere. It has continued to back the company through its subsequent funding rounds, Goh said. The startup last raised a $65.3 million Series C round in August 2021 for regional expansion.
Kamet Capital’s other portfolio companies include Singapore-based supply chain technology startup Tramés, and big data company Advance.AI; logistics startups Flash Express and J&T Express; and Chinese new retail company KK Group.
Written for Deal Street Asia by Michelle Teo
