Ex-Citi Eexecutive and KaHa Founder Launch USD 150 Mn Private Equity Fund Frontier Tech Capital to invest in growth-stage technology companies in India and Southeast Asia with cheques above USD 10 million.
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Frontier Tech Capital, a newly launched private equity firm, is raising a USD 150 million maiden fund to back growth-stage technology and tech-enabled businesses across Southeast Asia and India.
The fund has been co-founded by Pawan Gandhi, founder of Singapore-based IoT startup KaHa that was acquired by consumer electronics brand boAt in 2022, along with former Citi executive Brijesh Pande and Texas-based Plainview chief executive Razat Gaurav.
In a recent interaction with YourStory, Gandhi revealed that the fund has already secured commitments amounting to nearly half of the proposed corpus. The firm is preparing to write its first cheques of upwards of USD 10 million each and expects to invest in 10 to 15 companies over the life of the fund.
The focus will be on companies with annual revenues of at least USD 50 million. Gandhi stressed that the team is looking beyond top-line figures, examining profitability, scalability, and long-term growth prospects. "We also look at the quality of revenue. We are very keen to understand if the company is now operationally kind of profitable? What are the growth prospects? Is the technology something that can be scaled to other parts of the world?" he said.
The fund has a planned tenure of eight years to ensure patient deployment of capital. Its investor base comprises a mix of global family offices and institutions, including commitments from Japan-based institutions, Singapore family offices, and a pool of limited partners from the United Arab Emirates. Interest has also come from Indian family offices.
To strengthen its regional presence, Frontier Tech has established teams across key Southeast Asian markets. Former SoftBank India head Manoj Kohli is leading its Indian investment strategy. Gandhi highlighted that the fund's approach is not to follow rigid country allocations but to make merit-based investments. However, he acknowledged that Indian startups form a significant portion of the current pipeline.
Frontier Tech is eyeing specific strengths in different geographies. Vietnam, Gandhi said, has developed a strong base in manufacturing technology and operationally efficient solutions, while Thailand is making strides in creative technology, including gaming and animation.
In India, agritech has emerged as a promising sector. Gandhi noted that agritech companies in the country are unique as they remain profitability-driven and aim for large-scale impact rather than being driven by "urban metrics." He added that these ventures operate on a broader canvas, with the potential to transform rural economies in meaningful ways.
