Southeast Asia
Vietnam's FPT launches venture capital arm
Vietnamese tech group FPT Corporation has launched FPT Ventures, its new venture capital and accelerator unit, which will manage a $3 million fund targeting seed and Series A stage investments.
Ex-Macquarie Asia PE head Hugh Dyus joins Navis
Navis Capital Partners has appointed Hugh Dyus, who until last year was head of Asia private equity at Macquarie Funds Management, as a partner based in Hong Kong.
VIDEO: Danareksa Capital's Mohammad Afdal Pamilih
Danareksa Capital expects to see increased deal flow from Indonesian state-owned enterprises (SOE) as the government moves forward with privatization plans, said Mohammad Afdal Pamilih, the firm’s president director
Thailand’s aCommerce raises $5m from existing backers
Existing investors including Ardent Capital, Indonesian conglomerate Sinarmas and Inspire Ventures have committed $5 million to aCommerce, a Thailand-based e-commerce services provider.
Thailand payment services provider gets Series A round
Indonesian venture capital fund SMDV has a $2.6 million Series A round for Thailand-based payment solutions start-up Omise.
Deal focus: LeapFrog seals debut Indonesia deal
Indonesia's middle class is expected to jump from 70 million in 2012 to more than 140 million by 2020 – representing more than half of the country’s population – according to the Boston Consulting Group. Financial services should benefit from this...
Indonesia infrastructure: Proceed with caution
Having promised a massive increase in infrastructure spending, Indonesia’s government wants foreign investors to help move projects along. Private equity players see opportunities, but also risks
Anthem invests in Myanmar mobile data collection platform
Myanmar-focused investor Anthem Asia has provided funding to Xavey, a local mobile data collection platform that works with groups conducting research and surveys.
Deal focus: 2C2P plots regional expansion
Southeast Asia-focused payments provider 2C2P has made substantial progress in Myanmar over the last 12 months. It has introduced the country’s first mobile-based point-of-sale payment solution, issued prepaid cards that link to a mobile app, and launched...
KKR-owned MMI completes $580m refinancing
MMI, a Singapore-based hard disk drive components manufacturer owned by KKR, has secured a $520 million term loan and a $60 million five-year secured revolving credit facility to refinance its outstanding debt.
Indonesia's Kudo gets Gree Ventures, East Ventures backing
Japan's Gree Ventures and East Ventures have led a undisclosed Series A round investment in Indonesian online-to-offline (O2O) e-commerce start-up Kudo.
Rocket's FoodPanda raises a further $100m
Goldman Sachs has led the latest funding round for Rocket Internet's emerging markets-focused food delivery app FoodPanda, netting the company $100 million.
LeapFrog to invest in Indonesia's Reliance Capital Management
Microfinance-focused investor LeapFrog Investments will lead a $45 million commitment to Reliance Capital Management, an Indonesian financial services provider. This is its first investment in the country.
Scaling up in financial comparison
Moneysupermarket.com started out in 1993 as an offline provider of mortgage information to financial intermediaries. It went online six years later as a retail business, allowing UK consumers to search and compare different mortgage products. Credit cards,...
Singapore’s TradeGecko seals Series A round
When brothers Cameron and Bradley Priest, and Carl Thompson, arrived in Singapore from New Zealand to join start-up accelerator JFDI.Asia in 2012, the idea was to create a mobile app that would connect e-commerce companies with third-party platforms through...
Southeast Asia payment platforms: Who pays?
When Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) bought a 10% stake in e-commerce incubator Rocket Internet for $444 million last year, the agreement had a notable addendum: the companies would develop a payments and remittance infrastructure for Rocket’s...
Southeast Asia payments provider 2C2P gets Series C round
Southeast Asian payment services provider 2C2P has raised $7 million in Series C funding from investors including Amun Capital and GMO Venture Partners.
TPG Growth closes third global fund at $3b
TPG Capital has reached a final close of $3 billion on its third global middle market and growth equity fund. The initial target was $2.75 billion.
Southeast Asia Netflix clone gets $30m in funding
Iflix, a Southeast Asian video-on-demand platform with a similar business model to Netflix, has received $30 million from Catcha Group and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT).
Financial comparison site CompareAsiaGroup gets $40m round
CompareAsiaGroup, a primarily Southeast Asia-focused service that allows consumers to compare different financial products, has completed a $40 million round of funding that will be used to support further expansion.
Leveraged finance: Coming to America?
It has become increasingly costly for private equity firms to access borrower-friendly US financing for leveraged buyouts in Asia. The US markets are fickle and volatile, but Asian banks are also stepping up
Singapore's TradeGecko receives NSI, Jungle backing
Singapore-based inventory management platform TradeGecko has raised a $6.5 million Series A round of funding led by NSI Ventures and existing investor Jungle Ventures.
Everstone hires two new managing directors
India and Southeast Asia-focused Everstone Capital has appointed Roshini Bakshi and Rajev Shukla, formerly of Disney and Unilever, respectively, as managing directors on its operations team.
Q&A: Hera Capital's Thierry Panafieu
In six years of operation, Singapore’s Hera Capital has pursued a strategy focusing on small funds and quick deployment. Managing Partner Thierry Panafieu explains the virtues of staying small