King River Capital announces first close of Fund 2

King River Capital (King River), the leading technology-focused venture capital firm with offices in Sydney and the US, today announces the successful first close of its second fund (KRC Fund 2), securing commitments of US$95million.

KRC Fund 2 investors include numerous technology entrepreneurs and leaders from companies such as Xero, AfterPay, Mirror, and Palantir, reflecting King River’s strong network of relationships across the industry in both Australia and the US. Other investors include leading institutions and family offices such as Ariadne Australia, Belfer Management and Marinya Capital. The firm is expecting full participation in Fund 2 from existing Fund 1 investors.

KRC Fund 2 will continue the firm’s strategy of working closely with exceptional entrepreneurs and management teams to build innovative, iconic technology companies in the US and Australia. King River provides founders with the capital, experience, and global networks to support expansion and scaling of their platforms and products across international markets.

King River primarily makes early through growth stage minority equity investments in the software sector, across a wide variety of applications and domains. King River’s first fund was committed across eleven companies spanning sectors such as fintech, digital health, logistics, industrial automation, gaming and enterprise software.

King River recently had its first exit in its debut fund, with Sentropy Technologies, the leading technology platform to help digital communities protect themselves from abuse and harassment, announcing a merger with Discord, the voice, video, and text communication service used by over 150 million people. King River led Sentropy's Series A capital raise in November 2019, with King River co-founder, Megan Guy, serving on the company's board since then.

King River has also just completed its first investment from the new fund, with its participation in Paystand’s $50M Series C raise, announced last week. Paystand is a California-based, blockchain-enabled payment network for business that is leading the movement for an open commercial finance system. Paystand breaks the traditional payment model by automating the entire cash lifecycle so businesses can unlock cashless, feeless, real-time payments.

Megan Guy, King River Capital Co-founder, commented:

“We love backing brilliant, diverse entrepreneurs across the US and Australia to reimagine the world we live in and create the next category-defining technology companies. Having a concentrated and focused portfolio enables our partnership to fully support our founders at every step of their journeys as they build and scale exceptional products and teams.”

King River Capital Co-founder, Zeb Rice said:

“King River Capital’s ability to provide our portfolio companies with a bridge to high quality networks in Silicon Valley and key global markets has continued to be a key differentiator for us, not only for the founders we work with, but also for our investors. We are delighted to have had strong support from our existing investor base and are delighted to also welcome new investors into the fund.”

King River Capital Co-founder, Chris Barter remarked:

“We are currently witnessing a once in a generation moment of world-leading tech innovation emanating from Australia. The flywheel moment has arrived with the plethora of capital, engineering talent, and successful exits embedded in a vibrant ecosystem. One could even say that Sydney is fast becoming the Palo Alto of Asia.”

About King River Capital:

King River Capital invests in post-revenue, high-growth software businesses that are solving critical problems within large markets.

Since its first fund launched in 2019, King River has committed capital into eleven companies across the US and Australia, including FinClear (fintech), Sendle (logistics), OSARO (industrial automation), Sentropy (cybersafety) and Lark (digital health).

The firm was founded by three partners, Chris Barter, Zeb Rice, and Megan Guy. All have a strong track record in early to mid-stage venture investing, with a legacy portfolio comprising over fifty companies across multiple markets.

King River’s Sydney offices are located in Surry Hills, an inner-city suburb that has become a focal point for leading tech start-ups and venture funds.

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