Bizongo investor Schroder Adveq raises nearly half of new Asia fund

By Joseph Rai

  • 30 Jan 2020
Credit: 123RF.com

Swiss hedge fund Schroder Adveq has raised nearly half of the amount it seeks to raise for its new Asia fund.

The fund, Schroder Adveq Asia VSCS, has raised $112.92 million so far as compared to its target corpus of $250 million, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fundraising is expected to get completed in more than a year, it added.

Founded in 1997, Schroder Adveq has $10 billion of private equity assets under management and over 120 employees, according to its website. It started investing in Asia since 2006. In 2017, British multinational asset management company Schroders acquired Swiss-based private equity firm Adveq Holding. Thereafter Adveq was renamed Schroder Adveq.

Earlier this week, Schroder Adveq led a Series C funding round in Bizongo, a business-to-business marketplace for packaging materials. It also has invested in online home rental startup NestAway. Prior to the acquisition, Adveq had also invested in online-to-offline eyewear retailer Lenskart and online baby products retailer FirstCry.

Schroder Adveq's founder Bruno Raschle has also been investing in India quite actively. Raschle's investments in the country include health and fitness startup Cure Fit and dockless scooter-sharing platform Bounce.

He has also invested in robotics startup Miko and grocery business-to-business (B2B) commerce platform Peel-Works.

Schroder Adveq joins a number of global venture capital firms that invest in India to have announced new funds or fundraising milestones.

Earlier this month, VCCircle reported that Falcon Edge Capital, a New York-based hedge fund and venture stage investor that has invested in cab-hailing firm Ola and online classifieds firm Quikr, marked the final close of its first India-dedicated fund.  

Tiger Global Management also closed a $3.75 billion global private investment vehicle earlier this month. India will be among the three key focus geographies for the new vehicle – Tiger Global Private Investment Partners XII – along with China and the US.

Last month, Accel raised $550 million for its new India fund. This came three years after its fifth fund, which had raised $450 million.

Sequoia Capital is planning to raise a record $1.25 billion for its new fund for India, The Times of India reported earlier this month.