Venture Firm K2 to Seek $200 Million After Backing Uber, Spotify

(Bloomberg) -- K2 Global, a firm that has invested in startups such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Spotify Ltd., plans to raise $200 million for a second venture capital fund after gathering just under that amount for its first such offering.

The investment firm, led by Ozi Amanat, will start seeking more money in the second quarter after raising $183 million from investors last year, according to an investor presentation obtained by Bloomberg News. The new fund will focus on technology, Internet and software firms, according to the presentation. Amanat, based in Singapore, declined to comment.

K2 was started in 2015 to help wealthy Asian families invest in startups before they raise money through initial public offerings. Amanat received a $35 million allocation in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. shares before its IPO in September 2014, a majority of which he placed with Asian families.

Through its first fund, K2 is currently invested in more than 15 companies, mostly in the technology sector, according to the presentation. Its annual return before fees has been 26 percent since its inception in 2015, the firm said in the presentation.

Among K2’s holdings is a stake in Stockholm-based music streaming startup Spotify, which aims to go public this year. The investment firm also owns shares in Magic Leap Inc., a U.S. startup working on a device that simulates reality, and car-hailing firm Uber., which has garnered more than $17 billion in cash and debt since its founding in 2009. K2 also acquired a stake in Twilio Inc., a maker of mobile and web applications, before its initial public offering in June. The shares have more than doubled since.

In Singapore, K2 recently led a $32.5 million funding round of Paktor, the region’s biggest online dating app. Paktor is also backed by Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd., the venture arm of Singapore’s state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte.

To contact the reporter on this story: Klaus Wille in Singapore at kwille@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam at sbhaktavatsa@bloomberg.net, Robert Olsen