U.K.-based private equity firm Apis Partners LLP raised total commitments of US$563 million at the final close of Apis Growth Fund II LP, exceeding the initial target fund size of US$400 million and reaching the fund's increased hard cap of US$550 million.

The fund will back companies that address a large portion of the unbanked or underbanked populations. It will invest between US$30 million and US$50 million of equity into financial services and financial technology companies, including the sub-verticals of payments, credit and savings, insurance, technology enablers and service providers, and capital markets, across Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

The fund has already invested in two companies, including independent issuer processor Tutuka and Southeast Asian multichannel payment gateway Coda Payments Pte Ltd. It has also signed a commitment to invest in L&T Infra Debt Fund Ltd., a nonbank financial company focused on infrastructure refinancing in India.