Japan’s MUFG Bank to Invest in Growth & Late Stage Startups. Announces $300 Mn India Specific Fund. The fund is named ‘Ganesha’.
MUFG Bank committed to this, shortly after the financial services giant renewed its debt venture fund, Mars Growth Capital – its joint venture with Liquidity Capital. This makes it the second fund of the JV. This fund intends to deploy $300 Mn in debt financing to late-stage pre-unicorn and unicorn, public listing-ready companies. There will be a special focus on late-stage pre-unicorn and unicorn, public listing-ready companies from the Asian-Pacific region.
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The fund backs startups with an average ticket size of $2 Mn to $30 Mn. The fund will primarily concentrate on the Asia-Pacific region to identify potential Unicorns. Notable Indian startups that have raised debt funding from MUFG’s Mars Growth Capital include Zetwerk, Dispirz, Hiver, Bizongo, among others.
Talking about the Ganesha Fund, MUFG Bank said, “We will further contribute to the development of new industries and the sustainable development of local communities by financially supporting the growth of startups in India. Through the fund, MUFG will also drive collaboration with promising companies in the areas of tech and IT, and explore new business opportunities.”
The terms of the fund are yet to be announced. MUFG will look to back growth to late-stage tech startups. MUFG bank to invest in growth, generally focussing on fintech, environmental sustainability and renewable energy sectors, it hinted in the release.
With this fund, MUFG aims to provide a wider range of financial services to its portfolio firms. The company intends to provide diversified services, mostly moving beyond traditional banking, providing loans and finances, trust banking, securities, credit cards and leasing and even corporate services such as stock listing, mergers and acquisitions and the development of business in overseas markets.
The company’s move to back Indian startups comes at the heels of fears of a world war. This speculation has spooked VCs and startup investors in India and globally. This has resulted in a steep sell-off in December 2021 and January 2022, which wiped off billions in market cap for listed tech companies.
With this, MUFG Bank’s investment arm joins other Japanese investors such as Akatsuki Entertainment Technology (AET) Fund, Incubate Fund, Mistletoe and SoftBank, who have been actively investing in India’s startup economy.
About MUFG
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) is one of the world’s leading financial
groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with over 360 years of history, MUFG has a global
network with approximately 2,500 locations in more than 50 countries. The Group has
about 170,000 employees and offers services including commercial banking, trust
banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing.
The Group aims to “be the world’s most trusted financial group” through close
collaboration among our operating companies and flexibly respond to all of the financial
needs of our customers, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for
a better world. MUFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York stock
exchanges.