MARS Growth Capital Announces First Equity Fund and Capital Extension of Debt Funds

By: Mars Growth Capital via Business Wire

September 28, 2023 at 22:00 PM EDT

New equity fund will make growth equity investments in tech and tech-enabled mid to late-stage technology companies.

Mars Growth Capital today announced the initial closing of its first equity fund, Dragon Fund I, with an initial LP commitment by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (“MUFG”) of up to US$500mm. The fund is targeting final close next year.

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.”

“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.”

About MARS Growth Capital

Founded in 2021 and with $1.5B AUM, MARS Growth Capital is a joint venture between MUFG and Liquidity Group. Using machine learning and decision science technology, MARS Growth Capital deploys both non-dilutive, as well as equity financing solutions in the range of $3-100M in as little as 48 hours, to mid-market, late-stage, and pre-IPO technology companies in APAC, Japan, and Europe. For more information, visit www.marsgrowth.com.

About Liquidity Group

Liquidity Group is the largest AI-based financial asset management firm in the world. With $2.7b AUM across funds focused on North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East, Liquidity Group operates globally with offices in Tel-Aviv, Abu Dhabi, New York, London, Singapore, Tokyo, Mumbai, Boston & San Francisco. The firm’s patented machine learning and decision science technology enables it to deploy more capital through more deals faster than any firm in capital markets history, establishing it as the fastest-growing provider of non-dilutive and equity financing to mid-market and late-stage companies. Liquidity Group is backed by leading global financial institutions including Japan’s largest bank, MUFG, Spark Capital and Apollo Asset Management. For more information, visit www.liquiditygroup.com

About MUFG

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) is one of the world’s leading financial groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with over 360 years of history, MUFG has a global network with approximately 2,000 locations in more than 50 countries. The Group has about 160,000 employees and offers services including commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing.

The Group aims to “be the world’s most trusted financial group” through close collaboration among our operating companies and flexibly respond to all of the financial needs of our customers, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world. MUFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York stock exchanges. For more information, visit https://www.mufg.jp/english.