KKR & Co. Inc. (KKR) announced Tuesday that it's putting $220 million into Premialab, a global provider of data, analytics, and risk management solutions tailored for quantitative investing. If you're wondering what quantitative investing is, think algorithms and models making trading decisions based on data rather than gut feelings.
The investment flows primarily through KKR's Next Generation Technology Growth Fund III, representing the NGT platform's inaugural investment in the Gulf region. It's a strategic move into a market that's seeing explosive growth as more investors embrace data-driven strategies.
So what's KKR's money going to do? The capital will fund Premialab's global expansion, beef up its core operational infrastructure, and help scale a new execution product developed alongside Eurex. The goal is expanding access to QIS (Quantitative Investment Strategies) for a broader range of market participants.
Elliot Bell, Principal at KKR, explained the rationale: "QIS strategies are rapidly being adopted across customer segments, and Premialab has established itself as the category defining data and analytics platform that is uniquely enabling this ecosystem. The company delivers critical and differentiated data to blue-chip clients globally, with a durable, high value proposition."
This isn't KKR's first rodeo in the tech growth space. Through its Technology Growth Equity platform, the firm has backed technology-focused growth companies with roughly $24 billion invested since 2016.
KKR's Recent Deal Activity
The Premialab investment comes on the heels of another major commitment. On Monday, KKR and HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc. (HASI) each pledged an additional $500 million to CarbonCount Holdings 1 LLC (CCH1), creating $1 billion in fresh investment capacity.
When you factor in the expanded capital commitments alongside existing leverage targets, CCH1's total investment capacity is expected to climb to nearly $5 billion. The investment period for the vehicle has been extended to the earlier of the end of 2027 or when all commitments are fully deployed.
KKR shares traded up 0.32% at $135.24 on Tuesday following the announcement.