Articles by Justin Niessner
Australia insurance start-up raises $31m Series B
New Zealand venture capital firm Movac has led a $31 million Series B round for Australian insurance technology provider Open.
Deal focus: Singapore's Doctor Anywhere raises $65m Series C
Doctor Anywhere’s omnichannel approach to digitizing Southeast Asian healthcare is luring investors with eyes on the pandemic’s most logical trend. Preserving a first-mover advantage is the challenge
Tata VC fund to exit India thermal energy business
Tata Capital Innovations Fund is set to exit Indian industrial materials developer Pluss Advanced Technologies to a local conglomerate in a deal worth INR1.1 billion ($15.7 million).
Japan's Shiseido sells US makeup brands to Advent
Japan’s Shiseido has extended a program of non-core divestments with the sale of three of its US makeup brands to Advent International for $700 million.
Jafco leads $13m Series A for Taiwan cybersecurity player
Jafco Asia, a Singapore-based unit of Japanese VC firm Jafco, has led a $12.9 million Series A round for Taiwanese industrial cybersecurity provider TXOne Networks.
Postman becomes India’s top SaaS unicorn
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider Postman has closed a $225 million Series D round at a valuation of $5.6 billion, making it the most valuable start-up of its kind in India.
Faering leads $40m Series C for India fintech start-up
Indian private equity firm Faering Capital has led a $40 million Series C round for stock trading and thematic portfolio platform Smallcase, with support from Amazon and Premji Invest.
Korea's Danggeun Market raises $162m at $2.7b valuation
DST Global has led a $162 million Series D round for Danggeun Market, operator of Korean flea market app Karrot, at a valuation of $2.7 billion.
Pakistan's Airlift raises $85m Series B
Airlift, a Pakistani last-mile delivery app, has raised an $85 million Series B round in what is being called the largest-ever start-up investment in Pakistan and the Middle East and North Africa region.
Quadrant buys Australia sleepwear brand
Quadrant Private Equity has acquired Australian women’s sleepwear brand Papinelle for an undisclosed sum with plans for international expansion.
Vietnam's Mekong invests $10m in real estate portal
Mekong Capital has invested $10.2 million in Rever, a leading online-to-offline real estate brokerage business in Vietnam.
Start-up profiles: Digital banking, embedded finance, crypto banking
The Philippines’ Tonik breaks ground in neo-banking; India’s YAP finds new ways to connect banks with their customers; Singapore’s Matrixport scales fast with decentralized finance
Start-up profiles: Infrastructure, insurance, data, payments
Singapore’s Fireblocks tokenizes traditional banks; India’s PolicyBazaar mulls the future of insurance; China’s Rong360 diversifies through data; Cambodia’s Clik targets a payments frontier
Start-up profiles: Transfers, risk, marketplaces
Singapore’s Thunes rethinks remittances for an enterprise clientele; China’s IceKredit brings data privacy to credit scoring; India’s OfBusiness gravitates towards a healthy loans segment
Blockchain: Going mainstream
The most disruptive technology in financial services is also the most esoteric and misunderstood. As a long, speculative uptake phase unfolds, investors are coming to terms with the future
NFTs: Spirits in an invisible world
The use of blockchain to create digital assets has evolved from the mass circulation of ethereal, volatile, and interchangeable tokens into something that feels much more real
India motorcycle taxi platform raises $52m
Indian motorcycle taxi platform Rapido has raised $52 million in Series C funding featuring the corporate VC arm of Shell.
Singapore's Antler opens Korea office
Antler is extending an aggressive expansion with the opening of a Korean office. The Singapore-based incubator and VC investor has set up 11 overseas bases since its inception in 2017.
India's Dailyhunt raises $450m at $3b valuation
VerSe Innovation, operator of Indian news app Dailyhunt, has raised $450 million in Series I funding featuring The Carlyle Group at a valuation of about $3 billion.
India's Eruditus raises $650m at $3.2b valuation
India’s Eruditus Executive Education, operator of professional upskilling portal Emeritus, has raised a $650 million Series E round led by Accel and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 at a valuation of $3.2 billion.
Australia's Advent buys VR gaming business
Australian lower middle-market private equity firm Advent Partners has agreed to take a majority stake in Melbourne-based virtual reality gaming company Zero Latency VR.
CoinDCX raises $90m, becomes India’s first crypto unicorn
B Capital Group has led a $90 million Series C round for Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX at a valuation of $1.1 billion, making it the country’s first crypto unicorn.
Baring acquires Hinduja healthcare business for $1.2b
Baring Private Equity Asia has agreed to buy a healthcare services unit of Anglo-Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group at an enterprise valuation of $1.2 billion.
Lightspeed leads $35m round for Indonesia crypto player
Lightspeed Venture Partners has led a $35 million Series A extension for Pintu, one of Indonesia’s leading cryptocurrency wallets and trading platforms. It follows a $6 million tranche in May.