Financial Services
Japan SME fintech player raises $17m
Japan’s Olta, a financial technology provider for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has raised JPY 2.5bn (USD 17.6m) in Series B funding featuring SBI Investment, Spiral Capital, and DG Ventures.
BPEA EQT, ChrysCapital buy HDFC's India education finance unit
BPEA EQT and ChrysCapital have agreed to acquire a 90% stake in India-based HDFC’s education finance business at a valuation of INR 103.5bn (USD 1.26bn). It has been described as the largest-ever private equity buyout in the country’s financial services...
Indonesia microfinance player Amartha raises $100m
Indonesia’s Amartha, a small business lender focused on rural women entrepreneurs, has raised USD 100m in debt financing from US impact investor Community Investment Management (CIM).
Japan's LayerX lifts Series A to $59m
Japan’s LayerX, an enterprise billing and invoicing software provider, has lifted an ongoing Series A round to JPY 8.2bn (USD 59m) with support from several local VC firms.
India's Lok seeks $200m for Fund IV, gets AIIB support
Indian impact investor Lok Capital has secured USD 25m from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for its fourth private equity fund. The target is USD 200m.
Deal focus: Chalo thinks beyond the bus stop
India bus-tracking app Chalo is helping fleet operators eliminate fraud and improve efficiency while giving passengers greater visibility on services. It is keen to scale – geographically and vertically
Square Peg leads round for India payments start-up
Australia’s Square Peg Capital has led a USD 10.2m pre-Series A round for India-based payments technology provider XFlow.
PE-backed CompareAsiaGroup merges with US-listed SPAC
CompareAsiaGroup, an Asia-focused financial products comparison platform also known as MoneyHero Group, has agreed to merge with a US-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) at an enterprise value of approximately USD 342m.
General Atlantic raises exposure to India's PhonePe
General Atlantic has invested USD 100m in India’s PhonePe only four months after providing the payments platform with a USD 350m round at a pre-money valuation of USD 12bn.
Australia, US carbon reporting start-up raises $9m
Understory Ventures, an Australian environmental impact investor, has led a USD 9m Series A round for Australia and US-based carbon reporting technology provider Flintpro.
Singapore's Bolttech raises $196m
Singapore’s Bolttech, the insurance technology business of Pacific Century Group, has raised a USD 196m round led by Japanese insurer Tokio Marine at a valuation of USD 1.6bn.
Japan's SMBC, Incubate set up USD 200m Asia VC fund
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has established a USD 200m growth and late-stage pan-Asian VC fund in partnership with Japan’s Incubate Fund, which will co-manage the vehicle.
Portfolio: AIG
Advance Intelligence Group has developed a relatively narrow enterprise fintech business into one of the region’s leading digital lending operations with the help of several VC investors
Creador moves stake in Malaysia's CTOS between funds
Creador has rolled over a 14.7% stake in Malaysia-listed credit bureau CTOS Digital, one of its key investments, from its second fund to its fifth fund.
Warburg Pincus set to buy minority stake in Chinese fund house
Warburg Pincus has received regulatory approval to acquire a 23.3% stake in Zhong Ou Asset Management (Zhong Ou AMC), a Chinese mutual fund manager, from Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo Bank.
Indian NBFC Avanti Finance raises $24m
Avanti Finance, an Indian technology-led non-banking finance company (NBFC) has received USD 24m in equity funding from Rabo Partnerships and IDH Farmfit Fund, with re-ups from Oikocredit and NRJN Trust.
Deal focus: Kredivo cuts through SE Asia growth-stage gloom
Indonesian consumer credit operator Kredivo has punctuated the VC doldrums with an ecosystem-encouraging pre-IPO round. Investors point to low customer acquisition costs as key to the success
Indonesia’s Kredivo raises $270m Series D
Indonesian consumer credit company Kredivo, formerly known as FinAccel, has completed a USD 270m Series D round led by Mizuho Bank, which provided USD 125m.
Premji Invest leads $110m round for India's Mintifi
Premji Invest has led a USD 110m Series D round for Indian financial services platform Mintifi with support from Norwest Venture Partners, Elevation Capital and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Mekong backs $50m round for Vietnam microlending player
Vietnam’s Mekong Capital has backed a USD 50m Series C round for local financial microfinance provider F88 Investment, contributing USD 20m.
Japan enterprise blockchain supplier LayerX raises $40m
Japan’s LayerX, an enterprise technology supplier that incorporates blockchain into functions such as expense management, has raised JPY 5.5bn (USD 40m) from a mostly local VC syndicate.
Goldman Sachs, TVS lead $150m round for India's InsuranceDekho
Goldman Sachs and TVS Capital Funds have led a USD 150m Series A round for India’s InsuranceDekho, an online insurance policy comparison and brokerage service.
Singapore's Aspire closes Series C on $100m
Singapore-based B2B banking platform Aspire has closed an oversubscribed Series C round with USD 100m in commitments. Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia took the lead.
Sequoia leads $17m round for Singapore's Tazapay
Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia has led a USD 16.9m Series A round for Singaporean cross-border payments start-up Tazapay.