KKR has completed its initial investment worth about $44.5 million in Philippine higher education group PHINMA Education, while Gobi Partners has invested in Malaysian robotics edtech startup JAZRO.
KKR completes initial investment in PHINMA Education
Private equity major KKR has completed its initial investment in PHINMA Education, a higher education group based in the Philippines, according to an announcement.
The initial investment, made through Phoenix Investments II Pte Ltd, was completed after PHINMA Education, a subsidiary of PHINMA Corporation, received 2.52 billion pesos ($44.5 million), representing 70.22% of KKR’s total investment amount.
Additionally, KKR acquired all the shares in PHINMA Education owned, directly or indirectly, by Asian Development Bank (ADB), FMO, and Kaizen Private Equity II Pte. Ltd. (Kaizenvest II), who all invested in the company in 2019.
“We are leveraging KKR’s global experience and networks to help us improve our completion rates, refine growth strategies, and reach more underserved students,” said Chito B Salazar, President and CEO of PHINMA Education.
PHINMA Education started in 2004 with a single school serving 5,000 students. It is now a fast-growing network of 10 educational institutions, including nine in the Philippines and one in Indonesia, serving over 150,000 students.
Gobi Partners invests in robotics edtech startup JAZRO
JAZRO Robotic Academy (JAZRO), a robotics education startup in Malaysia, has announced raising 1.2 million ringgit (about $0.28 million) from Asia-focused venture capital investor Gobi Partners.
Gobi invested in the startup, which was incubated by Petronas Innovation Garage, through the Khazanah Nasional Berhard-backed Gobi Dana Impak Ventures funds.
JAZRO, founded in 2020 by Dzulfarqeish Bin Zainuddin, seeks to enable inclusive education for all children through its specially curated robotic education programme.
The startup said its inception was inspired by the lack of robotics programmes available when Dzulfarqeish sought to enrol his son while working as an engineer.
“We believe that every child deserves the opportunity to learn, discover, and explore the exciting world of robotics,” said Dzulfarqeish.
AZRO is one of the four employee startups incubated under PETRONAS Innovation Garage, PETRONAS’ internal incubator for employees to develop ideas into investible startups.
