Venture
HK's Nest appoints ex-Intel executive to set up accelerator franchise
Hong Kong-based seed investor Nest has appointed Peter Dingle, formerly of Intel Corporation, to lead its newly-established Branded Accelerators program.
Australia's VentureCrowd partners with Sydney Angels
VentureCrowd - an Australian equity crowdfunding platform - has formed a partnership with angel investor group Sydney Angels in order to allow start-ups to tap new sources of capital.
Indonesia start-ups: Growth inflection
Indonesia has relatively incubators, angels and entrepreneurs with businesses of investible quality. Does the recent large investment in Tokopedia suggest the start-up ecosystem is now coming of age?
India Value Fund commits $50m to taxi firm Meru
India Value Fund Advisors (IVFA) has injected a fresh $50 million in radio taxi service Meru Cab, and is understood to be in talks to invest an additional $100 million in the next two months.
China P2P car-sharing site uuzuche raises $10m
Uuzuche.com, a Chinese peer-to-peer (P2P) car-sharing platform backed by Lightspeed China Partners, has raised $10 million in a Series A+ round of funding from Bitauto, a Chinese auto information web portal.
Japanese restaurant app Retty raises $8.2m
Fidelity Growth Partners Japan has led a JPY1 billion ($8.24 million) Series C investment in Retty, a Japanese social restaurant guide. Existing investors also took part.
Indian game developer Moonfrog raises Series A round
Indian mobile gaming start-up Moonfrog has raised $15 million in a Series A round of funding led by Tiger Global and existing investor Sequoia Capital.
China interior design site To8to raises $200m
To8to, a Chinese interior decoration service platform, has raised $200 million in a Series C round of funding from Sequoia Capital, Matrix Partners China and classifieds online marketplace 58.com.
Japan's Rakuten leads $530m Series E round for Lyft
Japanese e-commerce player Rakuten has led a $530 million Series E round of funding for US ride sharing app Lyft - valuing the business at $2.5 billion. Fortress Investment Group also participated.
South Korea's Memebox raises $17.5m from VCs
Beauty-focused e-commerce start-up Memebox has raised a $17.5 million Series B round of funding from a consortium of VC backers.
Matrix leads $15m round for China CRM platform Xiaoshouyi
Matrix Partners has led a $15 million Series C round of funding for Xiaoshouyi, a Chinese customer relationship management (CRM) platform, alongside Sequoia Capital.
Tiger Global, Accel commit $5m to India's ChargeBee
US-based Tiger Global has led a $5 million Series B round for India-based subscription billing system developer ChargeBee. Existing backer Accel also participated.
Lightspeed backs China's DaoCloud
Lightspeed China Partners has invested in DaoCloud, a Chinese cloud computing start-up.
Indonesia's IndoTrading receives $1.5m in Series A funding
Indonesian e-commerce portal IndoTrading has raised $1.5 million in a Series A round of funding led by OPT SEA, the Southeast Asian investment arm of Japanese e-marketing firm OPT.
VC-backed Flipkart acquires India's AdIQuity
Indian VC-backed e-commerce giant Flipkart has acquired AdIQuity, a domestic mobile ad network. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
China car-washing app raises $20m from Ping An VC
Ping An Ventures, a venture capital arm under Ping An Insurance, has provided $20 million in Series A funding for Exc118.com, a Chinese car-washing service mobile app.
Ola and TaxiForSure share a ride
Car ownership in India is very low; according to the country’s 2011 census, passenger vehicle penetration is just 4.9% overall and a mere 9% for urban areas. For a country of 1.3 billion, suffering from poor public transport, it means the demand for taxis...
The C2B segue: China used-car trading platforms
While private equity capital is pouring into China’s B2B online car-trading platforms, some investors claim to see more value in smaller scale but less-penetrated and higher-margin C2B space
Kalaari invests $2.5m in India-based Codigami
Kalaari Capital has committed $2.5 million to Codigami, parent company of Indian social media manager app Crowdfire, in a Series A round of funding.
Biopharma venture raises $7.3m from Korean investors
Korean healthcare-focused VC firm InterVest and tech-focused E&Investment have together invested $7.28 million in G-treeBNT, a Seoul-based diversified bio pharmaceutical business.
Mainland Chinese investors barred from owning Taiwan start-ups
Chinese groups are free to make venture capital investments in Taiwan but they will not be able to gain control over local start-ups, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
Alibaba leads $60 million Series C1 round for Quixey
Alibaba Group has led a Series C1 round of funding worth $60 million for US app search engine Quixey, as the Chinese e-commerce giant continues to ramp up its presence in the US tech sector.
Qiming leads Series A for China medical research, translation provider
Qiming Venture Partners has led a Series A round of funding for MedSci, a Chinese clinical research and academic translation services online platform.
Korean education social network raises $3.2m
Classting, a South Korean social networking site for students and teachers, has raised a KRW3.5 billion ($3.17 million) Series B round of funding led by Partner Investment, a tech-focused PE firm based in Seoul.