Yesterday Kasikornbank (KBank) one of Thailand’s largest banks, launched a new tech venture fund, KXVC. The $100 million fund will target AI, web3 and deep tech startups.
“KXVC will be a stepping stone for global founders to drive their business expansion in APAC with strong synergy with KBank and our partners,” said Ruangroj Poonpol, Group Chairman, Kasikorn Business-Technology Group (KBTG).
Poonpol has a track record as a venture capitalist with 100 investments, of which 4 were unicorns.
In the web3 sector, the fund has broad targets. This includes backing validators, middleware firms, privacy tech, wallets, layer 1 and layer 2 blockchains, NFT infrastructure and more. It has already collaborated with other web3 funds.
Last year KX launched an NFT marketplace.
KBank is comparatively late to the party but also avoids the latest cryptocurrency fallout. Its competitor, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), created a digital asset and blockchain subsidiary SCB 10X in early 2021. A few months later it set up a $600 million joint venture fund, the Global Disruptive Technology Venture Capital Fund and renamed the holding company SCBx.
Plus SCB made a $537 million deal to buy a controlling stake in Thailand’s largest crypto exchange. However, it was forced to withdraw after the local regulator demanded changes from the exchange.
Meanwhile, KBank pegged the current Southeast Asian population at 680 million people. Its digital economy is forecast to reach $1 trillion in value by 2030 with over 400 million digital consumers.
