January Capital Raises $85 Million for Private Credit Tech Fund

(Bloomberg) — January Capital Pte Ltd., a Singapore-based asset manager, has raised over $85 million in an initial round of investor commitments for its growth credit fund, the company said in a statement. 

The fund will provide loans to private equity-backed technology firms in the Asia Pacific region as it sees a growing gap in the funding needs of such companies.  

Companies at the growth stage have difficulty in accessing credit as they are either too big for lenders who provide funds to unprofitable technology firms or too small for those giving $50 million-plus, January’s co-founder Jason Edwards said in an interview. “There is that huge gap in the middle that really is the sweet spot.”

The January Capital Growth Credit Fund is offering loans of $5 million to $20 million to technology companies seeking capital to expand into new markets, develop product lines or make acquisitions. 

The investment firm is charging an interest rate between 12% and 16% plus upfront fees from borrowers, Edwards said. The loans also include warrants that allow January Capital to exercise at a later date when the owners exit the business. 

The $1.6 trillion private credit market is expanding beyond traditional direct lending to include trade financing, energy transition and asset-backed finance as managers seek new avenues to put capital to work. 

January Capital’s fund has received $20 million from the US International Development Finance Corp. and a similar amount from an European development finance institution that Edwards declined to name. 

Other investors include wealth managers, family offices and endowments. The firm is planning to raise as much as $150 million in total, with a final close planned for 2025.

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