MassMutual Ventures closes $300M fund to back Asia and Europe startups

MassMutual Ventures (MMV) has launched a $300 million new fund to back early-stage companies in Asia and Europe.

The MMV Asia and Europe team’s third vehicle will invest in startups across digital health, financial technology, enterprise SaaS and cybersecurity, managing director of MMV Ryan Collins said in an interview with TechCrunch.

The third fund will write checks pre-Series A through Series B across Asia countries like India, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia (but excluding China) and Europe countries, including the U.K, Germany, France and Sweden, Collins said adding that the third fund can also invest in South Korea and Japan opportunistically.

“This fund reinforces MMV’s commitment to the Asia-Pacific region and building a global platform as we look to capitalize on attractive opportunities in Europe,” said Doug Russell, managing director and head of MassMutual Ventures. “MMV’s overall investment capital has more than doubled in size in just two years, underscoring the significant opportunity we see in backing strong founders building great businesses.”

Collins and Anvesh Ramineni, managing directors at MMV, have led the Asia and Europe team since 2018. Collins, who joined MMV four years ago to launch the first fund in Asia, returned to the U.K. to set up a European team last year.

MMV’s two Asia-focused funds have invested in 20 companies, with MMV leading or co-leading 17 of those investments. Its first Asia fund, which was launched in 2018 at $50 million, backed eight startups in Southeast Asia, and the 100 million second fund made investments in Southeast Asia, India, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, Collins told TechCrunch.

“With this additional capital, we look forward to backing even more exceptional founders and supporting them as they scale over time,” said Ramineni. “Over the past three and a half years, we have led investments in companies fundamentally transforming the digital health, fintech and SaaS sectors in APAC, where we continue to see tremendous opportunity. Moreover, we are very excited about expanding our team and reaching Europe’s thriving tech and startup ecosystem — making MMV a truly global platform.”

Its sole limited partner of the third fund is Mass Mutual Life Insurance, Collins noted.

The third fund has made more than two investments including HelloBetter, a Berlin-based digital mental health company, marking its first investment in Europe; and Treehouse Finance, a Singapore-based DeFi analytics platform that delivers data and risk management to DeFi users.

The venture capital firm has backed 65 portfolio companies globally since its inception in 2014. The Boston-headquartered firm says MMV’s total assets under management, which stood at $460 million as of December 2021, is now $750 million to date.

Some of the Asia teams portfolio companies include Biofourmis, a digital therapeutics company that uses AI-powered data analytics and biosensors to monitor the treatment of chronic conditions; Aspire, a Singaporean neobank that focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises; Qure.ai, an AI-based diagnostics company that assists radiologists; Zluri, a Mumbai-based SaaS management platform; and Microsec, a Singapore-based cybersecurity firm.

MMV, which has offices in Singapore, London and Boston, has four APAC and Europe team members and is actively hiring in both regions. MMV has a team of eight members in Boston.

“Through our team’s presence in the U.S., Europe and Asia, we offer portfolio companies insights into global markets, and access to significant networks, expertise and later stage, growth capital — allowing us to support them over the long term,” said Ryan Collins, managing director of MassMutual Ventures.