Second-largest Thai bank creates $100-million AI fund

According to the press release published on Sept. 13, the fund will possess a $100 million investment budget with Krating Poonpol, a Chairman of KBank Business Technology Group, in charge of the enterprise. In Poonpol’s words:

Kasikornbank, or KBank, one of Thailand’s largest private banks, launched a flagship fund to invest in artificial intelligence (AI). The fund, named KXVC, will target AI, Web3, and Deep Tech startups with a focus on the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. 

“KXVC will be a stepping stone for global founders to drive their business expansion in APAC with strong synergy with KBank and our partners.”

More precisely, KXVC is going to invest in consumer-focused AI, cybersecurity, AI/ML tools such as deployment platforms, data annotation and model optimization, and problem-specific AI startups. Within Web3, its investments will aim at Web3 infrastructures, nodes validators, RPC providers, middlewares, modularity technologies, privacy, ZKP, wallets, alternative L1/L2s, shared securities, LsdFi and consumerization of NFTs. 

However, as the Thanaarmates Arriyavat, Venture Director at KX, explained to Cointelegraph, the fund will avoid the rigid limits on its investment areas:

We’re focusing at the infrastructure level mostly. It doesn’t have to be like pure Web3, decentralized product or service or platform to really serve the masses. Because like normal users, they just don’t actually care about what’s underneath the application they use. But they care about the benefits.

Related: Thailand’s next prime minister Srettha Thavisin has crypto history

The fund plans to invest in over 30 startups and funds globally with geographic focuses in the United States, European Union, Israel, and APAC.

Kbank is not new when it comes to the digital economy. In 2021, it began experimenting with decentralized finance (DeFi) services as part of its business expansion plan. And back in 2018, the bank joined Visa’s blockchain-based B2B solution for cross-border payment transactions.

Kbank is the second-largest bank in Thailand in assets evaluation. By 2023, it was holding 3.6 trillion Thai Bhat, which is roughly $100 billion.

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