May 3: An investment management company, One to Watch (OTW), has set up a fund of 20 million euros in a joint venture with True North Associates (TNA), a private equity firm, for early-stage growth of companies.

The joint venture was announced by Willem Grimminck, chairman and managing director at OTW and Suman Joshi, founder and managing partner of TNA amidst a programme in Lalitpur on Wednesday, May 2.

 Issuing a press statement, the company said that the fund is aimed at amplifying access to finance, build expertise and expanding services for early stage growth of companies in Nepal. “The partners aim to accelerate access to finance for innovative companies in Nepal by building the largest private equity fund in the country for early stage growth of companies,” said the statement, adding that Nepal Impact Investment Community-2 (NIIC-2) targets to invest in 15-20 growth stage small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nepal, that can provide 100 jobs for every 400,000 euros invested.   

“We want to go beyond finance in our support to Nepali companies working in the field of health, agriculture and infrastructure that can contribute to the growth of Nepal,” read the statement.

The collaboration is expected to help Nepali SMEs on their growth path by promoting international-local co-investments, enabling follow-up investments and exits.