Peak XV Partners is on the brink of one of the region’s biggest venture capital paydays at a time when Asia’s venture capital is still chasing DPI. Its long-standing investment in India’s Pine Labs is poised to deliver a billion-dollar-plus windfall.
Yet, Peak XV’s managing director, Shailendra Singh, said in an interview that the startup playbook is evolving again – this time, powered by AI.
“Because of AI, automation and intelligent applications, time to value has shrunk,” he said.
“When there’s a lot less money raised, everybody makes a much better return because there’s less dilution and the return on equity is likely much, much higher. Low capital intensity is a very powerful thing,” he added.
The AI-driven shift could reshape how VCs capture outsized returns in the next decades with lower dilution, faster value unlocks, and, in theory, better outcomes.
Moving on to other headlines that dominated this week.
LP-GP quarters
US pension fund ERS of Texas has committed $100 million to CBRE Investment Management’s latest Asia real estate vehicle. Logistics investments are the central focus of the fund’s strategy.
IFC has proposed an equity investment of up to $60 million in the Asia Environmental and Social Infrastructure Fund. The private debt fund is being launched by AEW and Natixis Investment Managers with a targeted fund size of $500 million.
The Japan Investment Corporation will make an LP investment of $22.5 million in Genesia Ventures’s fourth fund.
We have put together the agenda for the Private Equity and Investment Summit and the Limited Partners Summit. Consider joining us at the Asia PE-VC Summit 2025 to take away sharp insights from the region’s top investors.
Malaysian public service retirement fund KWAP has selected 12 global general partners, including Investcorp, Navis Capital Partners, Nexus Point, and The Vistria Group, for allocations under its Dana Pemacu initiative.
The Australian government has invested $33 million in a newly-launched fund to support investments in climate-related sectors in Indonesia. The fund will be managed by Affirma Capital.
Indonesia’s new SWF Danantara’s plan to raise a $10-billion multicurrency loan just five months after launch is expected to serve as a test for future debt and bond issuances. Earlier in the week, Danantara also announced a $10-billion partnership with ACWA Power to explore investments in Indonesia’s power and water sectors.
Vietnamese boutique advisory firm Koru Capital has launched an investment business, with the hope of cultivating investible SMEs for private equity firms.
IFC is planning to invest up to $150 million in a fund managed by Ares Management Asia that will target distressed assets and non-performing loans across Southeast Asia and India.
In a move that diversifies its Asia-focused fund’s portfolio beyond digital infrastructure, energy transition and transport & logistics, KKR has agreed to buy ProTen, one of Australia’s largest agricultural infrastructure businesses. The seller is the superannuation fund Aware Super, which has owned the company for seven years.
This week’s edition of Beyond the Buyout discusses the gains and woes of Asia’s private credit growth, Malaysia’s efforts in its financial centre ambitions, and much more.
Interviews and insights
In our series of interviews this week, we bring you investor perspectives from top executives at Quadria Capital, TVS Capital Funds, Hines, TR Capital and Green Bear.
Healthcare-focused investor Quadria Capital‘s pivot from mostly minority deals to more significant minority and majority ownership marks a clear strategic shift. “We are not winning these deals by being the biggest bidder at the table but by working closely with management teams and founders,” said managing partner Amit Varma.
India’s TVS Capital Funds, which has backed PhonePe and Vivriti Capital, is looking to pursue larger deal sizes from its fourth fund and is open to taking 40% or higher stakes in portfolio companies, signalling a move towards more influential ownership. “As India’s middle class expands, wealth management and distribution are emerging as strong themes…this will likely lead to consolidation, creating further investment opportunities for us,” said managing partner Krishna Ramachandran.
Asia accounts for only about 10% of global real estate investment manager Hines’s assets under management. “This could eventually rise to one-third, reflecting Asia’s role as a key growth engine globally. Having begun operations in China and India, we have spent the past five to six years actively building and expanding our platform across the region,” Chiang Ling Ng, co-head of investment management, said.
“India is probably more expensive than a few other markets…The point is not to buy cheap. The point is to buy at the right price and find a way to purchase assets at the right price while solving the problem,” Frederic Azemard, Managing Partner at TR Capital, said during an exclusive interaction following the acquisition of stakes in three prominent Indian startups.
With deeper capital pools, broader global networks and stronger scale, large pan-Asian funds are stepping up competition for direct deals in Southeast Asia, making it harder for regional and local firms to win transactions, Vishnu Amble, investment director & head of philanthropic initiatives at GreenBear, said.
Deal news from India, China and Southeast Asia
EDBI, the investment arm of Singapore’s Economic Development Board, has acquired a 35.12% stake in semiconductor firm Advanced Micro Foundry, according to regulatory filings. Following this, EDBI has emerged as the second-largest shareholder in Advanced Micro Foundry after A*STAR.
Singapore-based micromobility rivals Beam Mobility and Neuron Mobility are planning to merge their operations. Existing Neuron Mobility investors, including Square Peg Capital and GSR Ventures, along with Beam Mobility’s investors, including Affirma Capital, Hana Ventures, and Peak XV Partners, will all take a stake in the new company.
SBS Co. Ltd, a South Korean TV and radio production company, has agreed to invest $20.3 million in Indonesia’s MD Entertainment through a rights issue.
AI Hay, a Vietnamese AI-driven knowledge discovery platform backed by Square Peg, has secured a $10-million Series A round led by Argor Capital.
In deal updates from India, a slew of high-profile names have joined the race to invest in multi-speciality healthcare chain Surya Hospitals, as its promoters and existing investor SeaLink Capital Partners look to divest a significant stake. Those in the fray include LeapFrog Investments, Kedaara Capital and Novo Holdings.
Jumbotail, a B2B marketplace for food and grocery products, has raised $120 million in a funding round led by SC Ventures.
FMO has proposed issuing $40 million in debt to Mumbai-based Protium Finance.
MARS Growth Capital has infused an additional $50 million in India’s Infra.Market and extended the term of its existing financing of $100 million by five years as the building materials platform prepares for an IPO later this year.
From Greater China, Qiming-backed conversational AI solutions provider Unisound debuted on the main board of the HK stock exchange after raising a modest $40.8 million in its IPO.
Lastly, Zhipu AI, known as one of China’s “Six Tigers” in developing large language models, has secured yet another big-ticket investment of 1 billion yuan ($139.6 million) from two state capital investors in Shanghai as the company charges towards an IPO.
