Kaizen Private Equity II Pte. Ltd., a 79 million US dollar private equity fund specializing in education, will be investing in small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the education sector in South and Southeast Asia, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

ADB said it will invest US $5 million in the fund, managed by Kaizen Private Equity in eight mostly profitable businesses in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

KPE-II is a targeted $79 million regional education-sector-focused private equity fund that intends to invest in a portfolio of up to eight mostly profitable education businesses across ADB's developing member countries.

Targeted subsectors include K 12 education, test preparation, preschools, online education and vocational training.

The proposed investment is consistent with ADB's Strategy 2030 in supporting two of the seven key operations priorities: addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities, and accelerating progress in gender equality.

The project further contributes to ADB's objectives under Strategy 2030: expanding private sector operations to reach one-third of its total operations by 2024, and diversifying private sector operations beyond the infrastructure sector.