SBI Holdings
SBI backs $18m round for Japan bio-robotics start-up
SBI Investment has joined a $17.7 million funding round for Meltin, a Japanese company focused on combining robotics with bio-signal processing.
GMR reaches settlement with investors in airport business
Private equity investors in India’s GMR Airports (GAL) will receive INR35.6 billion ($481.3 million) in cash plus additional equity in compensation after the company failed to deliver a liquidity event within an agreed timeframe.
Japan payments player Origami raises $60m Series C
Origami, a Tokyo-based mobile payments platform, has raised JPY6.6 billion ($60 million) in Series C funding from investors including SBI Investment, Union Pay International, Mitsui Sumitomo Card, and Credit Saison.
Japan hotel-booking start-up raises $6.3m
Metro Engines, a Tokyo-based start-up that provides pricing tools for online hotel booking sites, has raised JPY700 million ($6.3 million) from a group of Japanese venture capital and strategic investors.
Deal focus: Vietnam’s Sendo embraces B2C
A number of Japanese investors are supporting Vietnamese C2C e-commerce player Sendo as it diversifies operations with a B2C marketplace and mobile payments platform
Vietnam e-commerce player Sendo gets $51m Series B
Sen Do Technology (Sendo), a Vietnamese e-commerce company that operates a C2C platform and payment service, has secured $51 million in Series B funding led by Japan’s SBI Group.
SBI leads $15m Series A for Singapore's AntWorks
SBI Investment has led a $15 million Series A funding round for AntWorks, a Singapore-based supplier of enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) and smart automation products.
Malaysia’s Jirnexu receives $11m Series B
Malaysia-based financial technology start-up Jirnexu has received an $11 million Series B funding round led by Japan’s SBI Group.
Deal focus: SBI helps Japan AI player smarten up the road
SBI Investments backs a Japanese start-up focused on improving decision-making technology in self-driving cars
SBI backs Japan autonomous driving start-up Ascent
SBI Investment has made the first investment from its artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology fund, leading a JPY1.1 billion ($10.3 million) round for Japan’s Ascent Robotics.
Atinum leads $9m round for Korean fintech player
Korean venture capital firm Atinum Investment has led a KRW10 billion ($9.4 million) funding round for domestic financial technology company Tera Funding.
Japan's SBI sets up $450m AI-blockchain fund
SBI Investment, the VC arm of Japan’s SBI Holdings, has launched a JPY50 billion ($450 million) fund that will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology.
Philippines confidence endures political strife – AVCJ Forum
The Philippines was praised for its political stability as investor wariness around President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on drugs became a recurring talking point at the AVCJ Philippines Forum.
Token sales: Cryptic beginnings
The sale of digitized contracts known as tokens has become a dominating force in early-stage start-up funding. Venture capitalists are beginning to cautiously participate as the phenomenon matures
SBI invests Indian fintech player
Indian payments technology service Innoviti Embedded Solutions has raised a INR1.2 billion ($18.6 million) funding round led by SBI-FMO Fund.
Hong Kong's CompareAsiaGroup gets $50m Series B
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has led a number of venture capital firms in a $50 million Series B funding round for Hong Kong-based financial comparison platform CompareAsiaGroup.
Japan's Floadia closes $14m Series B
Floadia, a Japan-based company specializing in microchip memory technology, has closed a JPY1.6 billion ($14.1 million) Series B fund round from a number of Taiwanese, Japanese and US venture capital firms.
PE and Islamic finance: Underlying themes
Encouraging trends in population, social mobility, commodities, technology, and governance standards are converging on Islamic finance. PE plays a small role with strong upside in Asia
VCs back South Korean biopharma player ExoCoBio
South Korean biopharmaceutical developer ExoCoBio has raised an $11 million Series A round from investors including SBI Investment, Atinum Investment, ID Ventures, and Dt&Investment.
Beyond Next Ventures leads $3.4m round for Japan's CureApp
Japan-based investor Beyond Next Ventures has led a JPY380 million ($3.4 million) round for domestic healthcare software developer CureApp.
Japan VCs back domestic fintech start-up
Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), SBI Investment and Dentsu Digital Holdings have contributed to a JPY800 million ($7.1 million) funding round for Tokyo-based financial technology company Coiney.
Japan's Seven Dreamers receives $60m Series B round
Seven Dreamers Laboratories, a Japan-based manufacturer of personal-use devices, has raised a $60 million Series B round of funding from Panasonic, SBI Investment and construction company Daiwa House Industry.
Deal focus: VCs back Japan’s fintech underdog
As Japan's traditional financial institutions take time to address demand for online payment services, start-ups are trying to corner the market. Exchange Corporation's Series B round is intended to make sure it is one of them
Japan Industrial Partners buys Narumiya from SBI
Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) has acquired children’s clothing retailer Narumiya International from SBI Holdings for an undisclosed sum.