New equity fund will make growth equity investments in tech and tech-enabled mid to late-stage technology companies.
Mars Growth Capital announced the initial closing of its first equity fund, Dragon Fund I, with an initial LP commitment by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, (“MUFG”) of up to US$500mm. The fund is targeting final close next year.
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“We look forward to providing enhanced support, tailored financial solutions, and continued direct access to our global network of resources to be a long-term growth partner for the companies we partner with.”
Dragon Fund I which marks MARS Growth Capital’s entry into equity investing, will make growth equity investments in private, mid to late-stage tech and tech-enabled companies. Initially focusing on the Asia-Pacific region, deal sizes will range from US$20mm to US$100mm with flexibility to make primary and secondary investments.
Founded in 2021, MARS Growth Capital is a joint venture between Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (“MUFG”) and Liquidity Group, combining the financial might of MUFG with the decision-science ML platform of Liquidity to invest capital at scale. For the past 2 years, MARS Growth Capital through two venture debt funds, has been providing non-dilutive venture debt to tech and tech-enabled companies in the Asia-Pacific and EMEA regions and has built a portfolio of 30+ companies, with an AUM of US$750mm. MUFG as a sole LP provider of the funds decided to increase the LP commitments to those two venture debt funds by US$250mm to US$1.0Bn to continuously support promising startups both in Asia-Pacific and Europe. Together with the new Dragon Fund I, the aggregate AUM reaches to U$1.5Bn to be invested through both debt and equity.
“With the initial close of Dragon Fund I and upsize of the debt funds, MARS Growth Capital is building upon our dedication to providing unprecedented financial flexibility and certainty for companies with high growth potential,” said Fumitaka Nakahama, Group Head of Global Corporate and Investment Banking at MUFG. “We look forward to providing enhanced support, tailored financial solutions, and continued direct access to our global network of resources to be a long-term growth partner for the companies we partner with.”
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“The new Dragon Fund is another significant step in our partnership with MUFG through MARS Growth Capital and embodies our vision to provide holistic financial growth solutions to mid-market and pre-IPO technology companies across the globe,” said Ron Daniel, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Liquidity Group. “Our ability to extend our non-dilutive financial solutions through equity financing is a direct result of Liquidity Group’s technology’s ability to quickly analyze and deliver tailored financial solutions to successful technology companies across both their immediate and future capital needs.”
“With flexibility to make primary and secondary investments, Dragon Fund will look to invest in companies with exceptional management teams, strong execution track record and high growth potential,” said Ridhi Chaudhary, Managing Director and a GP Partner of Dragon Fund I. “With the power of Liquidity Group’s ML platform, the investment teams will be able to evaluate investment opportunities comprehensively and at a faster pace while investing in the most attractive ones to generate superior returns for the LPs. The technology will also allow for automated and real time monitoring of the portfolio investments.”
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