The latest in funds and investments across Asia-Pacific.

Lioncrest Global, an Asian investment advisor serving ultra-high net worth individuals, has merged with Beijing-based firm Venturous to create a combined organisation, Venturous Group.

Venturous Group is building a $1.0 billion capital pool, consisting of Venturous Hero Fund LP, which is a $200 million fund, and $800 million of future co-investment opportunities. 

The fund is designed to put money into “smart town” property development and tech firms, according to a statement from the organisations this week. 

Venturous was founded by Benson Tam in 2013 and he has 25 years’ experience in the venture capital and private equity space. Investments under his belt include AsiaInfo, Alibaba and WuXi App Tec. Prior to forming Venturous, he co-founded and built Fidelity Asia Ventures. (That organisation is now called Eight Roads Ventures.)

Lioncrest Global was founded in 2016 by a group of three individuals from UBS Wealth Management: Peter Tung, Head of UHNW Greater China, Valerie Chou, Head of Global Family Office for Asia Pacific, and Johan Riddergard, Head of APAC CEO Office.

“China is about to enter its second big transformation, which will be much faster and bigger than the first one. The perfect time to invest into China is now given the unstoppable trends of urbanisation and technology advancements,” Tam said. Venturous Group has offices in Beijing, Hangzhou, Hong Kong and Singapore.