M Venture Partners, a fund entity managed by M Capital Management Pte Ltd, has just announced that it has closed its maiden fund at $30.85 million, as reported by e27. The fund plans to invest in companies early on at their pre-Series A to Series A round of funding.

MVP was founded in 2019 by Mayank Parekh and Joachim Ackermann. Parekh brings in his experience from over 30 years of acting as Managing Director or Managing Partner for investment and consultancy firms. Ackermann, the company’s current Director and Operating Partner, has held positions such as VP for Strategy and Business Development at Dell, and Managing Director for APAC at Google.

Targeting to invest in around 40 companies, the fund intends to focus on tech-enabled B2B or B2B2C startups in their pre-Series A to Series A round of funding with an average investment of $500,000 per startup.

MVP Co-Founder Parekh discusses the company’s intention for its maiden fund: “We intend to remain sector-agnostic in this maiden fund. However, we are extremely focused on investing in seasoned talent. We seek to partner with entrepreneurs who have pedigree professional experience and strong academic backgrounds. While it may sound simplistic, at this early stage, it’s all about ensuring the talent has the mental acuity, maturity, and resilience to build to last.”

With the rapid migration to digital platforms due to restrictions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, tech-enabled startups across several verticals have become more appealing in the investment space. Southeast Asia has seen a sudden growth for VC firms targeting early-stage funding for startups as the demand increases. Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group, a Singapore-based VC firm, has just raised US$ 126.3 million in its Ascent Fund II that plans to invest in a similar space as MVP.

Ackermann said: “While maintaining Southeast Asian, broader regional and global aspirations, a majority of our portfolio companies will be Singapore headquartered. Singapore presents a fabulous venture ecosystem and support network for our entrepreneurs and an ideal springboard to launch innovative and disruptive technology start-ups across multiple markets.”

Featured image credit: Pixabay