Articles by Justin Niessner
Australia's SiteMinder secures $73m pre-IPO round
Australia-based hotel booking platform SiteMinder has raised a A$100 million ($73 million) pre-IPO round led by BlackRock and AustralianSuper.
India blue-collar HR start-up gets $24m
Indian blue-collar workforce management platform BetterPlace has raised a $24 million Series C round led by CX Partners and Jungle Ventures.
EQT extends Australia IT rollup play
EQT-owned Nexon Asia Pacific, an Australia-based IT services provider, has acquired local counterpart Veridian Solutions for an undisclosed sum. This is its third bolt-on in as many months.
Virtual reporting: Lost in translation
GP-LP reporting in the age of remote portfolio assessments and stilted video catchups leaves much to be desired. Both sides are trying to bridge the divide, but no best-practice approach has emerged
Square Peg leads $55m round for Indonesia's Pluang
Square Peg Capital has led a $55 million Series B round for Indonesian micro-savings and micro-investment app Pluang.
Jungle hits $225m first close on fourth SE Asia VC fund
Singapore-based Jungle Ventures has reached a first close of $225 million for its fourth Southeast Asia fund after four months in the market. The target is $350 million.
India home interiors player raises $50m Series E
IIFL Asset Management has led a $50 million Series E round for Indian interior design start-up HomeLane.
India's Leap Finance raises $55m Series C
US education technology specialist Owl Ventures has led a $55 million Series C round for Leap Finance, an Indian start-up that helps students pay for overseas studies.
Carlyle joins $221m round for Japan's Spiber
The Carlyle Group’s Japan team has completed its first minority deal, participating as a cornerstone investor in a JPY24.4 billion ($221 million) round for local biomaterials developer Spiber.
PayPal to acquire Japan's Paidy for $2.7b
PayPal has agreed to buy Japan’s Paidy, a specialist in deferred e-commerce payments backed by several private equity investors, for about JPY300 billion ($2.7 billion).
Baring Asia invests $150m in Singapore game developer
Baring Private Equity Asia has invested $150 million in Singapore-based game developer Virtuos, becoming the largest external shareholder.
Bangladesh’s ShopUp raises $75m Series B
Valar Ventures, a firm set up by PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel, has led a $75 million Series B round for Bangladeshi B2B platform ShopUp.
Intudo raises $115m for third Indonesia fund
Intudo Ventures has closed its third VC fund focused exclusively on Indonesia at $115 million after less than three months in the market.
Q&A: C Ventures’ Ben Cheng
Ben Cheng, a managing partner of C Ventures, mixes lifestyle trends and corporate VC as he helps Adrian Cheng, scion of Hong Kong’s New World Development, usher the family empire into a digital future
Deal focus: India’s AppsForBharat inspires VC devotees
AppsForBharat aims to be the first mobile player to create a product that sticks in the hard-to-monetize spirituality services space. Sequoia Capital India and Matrix Partners India are among the faithful
Kakao, KDB join $30m round for Japan's H2O Hospitality
Kakao Investment and Korea Development Bank (KDB) have joined a $30 million Series C round for H2O Hospitality, a Japan-based tourism operator expanding in Korea and Southeast Asia.
Thailand insurtech player Sunday gets $45m Series B
Thailand-based insurance technology start-up Sunday has received $45 million in Series B funding from a group of investors including Tencent Holdings.
Japan’s Coral Capital raises $127m for latest VC fund
Japan’s Coral Capital has confirmed a first and final close of JPY14 billion ($127.4 million) for its third venture capital fund. The vehicle is more than twice the size of its predecessor.
VIG makes partial exit from Korea funeral services business
Korea’s VIG Partners has sold a 10% stake in funeral services provider Preed Life to Mastern Partners, a local PE platform, for KRW50 billion ($43.2 million).
China-focused NFT marketplace Cybertino raises $10m
A group of Chinese investors including Sky9 Capital, Ince Capital, and Draper Dragon have joined a $10 million round for non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Cybertino Lab.
WestBridge leads Series B for India voice AI start-up
WestBridge Capital has led a $23 million Series B round for India’s Skit, a voice recognition artificial intelligence (AI) supplier for the call center industry.
Naspers-owned PayU to buy India's BillDesk for $4.7b
PayU, a payments provider owned by South African conglomerate Naspers, has agreed to acquire 100% of Indian payments app BillDesk for $4.7 billion, setting up several private equity exits.
VIG buys Korea waste-to-energy business
Korean private equity firm VIG Partners has acquired a controlling stake in waste-to-energy (WTE) facility operator BioEnergyFarmAsan for about $100 million.
Thai bank joins $41m round for local crypto platform
Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya has joined a $41 million Series B round for local cryptocurrency exchange operator Zipmex.