Axis Capital Partners

Growth capital from a Hong Kong base

Axis Capital Partners was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Hong Kong, although it invests across the world. It describes itself as an investor in young companies that are looking for growth capital, and it presents its role as a long-term partnership rather than a single injection of money. The aim, as the firm puts it, is to support a company starting at late seed and continuing past the point where the business turns a profit.

Where it looks and what it backs

The firm says it draws on its established presence and long experience in the Asia-Pacific region to find investments. The firm's investments sit in the United States, Hong Kong, mainland China, India and South-East Asia. Rather than spreading itself across every sector, Axis says it concentrates on select areas of expertise and looks for business models that can scale. Its investing is organised around three core businesses: technology, sustainable energy and real estate.

Alliances and co-investment

Axis states that it has alliances with leading venture capital funds in Asia. According to the firm, these relationships allow knowledge to be shared, ideas to travel between the countries of the region and co-investment opportunities to arise. The news items on its site show the pattern in practice: the firm appears as an existing or participating investor next to other backers in funding rounds for an online learning platform in India, an online furniture rental business, an online marketplace for cars, a fashion commerce platform, a legal software provider, a recruitment start-up in Thailand and a delivery service in Hong Kong.

Help with later rounds

Axis describes a hands-on approach to its portfolio companies and strategic partners, especially when they go back to the market to raise further capital. A company that has taken early money from the firm can expect support as it prepares for its next stage of financing, instead of being left to manage the process alone.

Environmental, social and governance commitment

Beyond the traditional investment approach, the firm says it holds a strong commitment to environmental, social and governance factors. It points out that many of its portfolio companies support the communities in which they operate, and that some support the environment more widely through cleaner forms of energy. That position sits naturally beside the sustainable energy business that forms one of its three core areas.

Axis Capital Partners is an investment firm headquartered in Hong Kong that invests around the world. It provides growth capital to young companies and stays involved as they develop.

What Axis Capital Partners does

• Technology investment: one of its three core businesses, focused on scalable business models.
• Sustainable energy investment: a second core business, tied to its interest in cleaner forms of energy.
• Real estate investment: the third core business.
• Follow-on fundraising help: hands-on assistance for portfolio companies when they raise later rounds.

Customers and markets

The firm supports companies from the late-seed stage through to profitability. Its portfolio spans Hong Kong, China, India, South-East Asia and the United States. It also holds alliances with venture funds across Asia, which allow shared knowledge and co-investment.

Key facts

• Based in: Hong Kong
• Founded: 2006
• Approach: Long-term partnership with attention to environmental, social and governance factors