Articles by Justin Niessner
PE-backed data center platform makes Asia investments
Princeton Digital Group, a Singapore-based data center developer backed by Warburg Pincus, has confirmed three project acquisitions across Asia as part of a $500 million regional expansion.
Sequoia leads $82m Series E for Australia’s Culture Amp
Sequoia Capital China has led an $82 million Series E round for Culture Amp, an Australian enterprise technology provider focused on human resources (HR).
Temasek, EV Growth lead $40m round for Indonesia's Social Bella
Temasek Holdings and EV Growth have led a $40 million Series D investment in Social Bella, an Indonesian online services provider for the beauty and lifestyle industry.
Australia’s CHAMP PE rebrands as CPE Capital
CHAMP Private Equity, which makes growth and buyout investments in middle-market companies across Australia and New Zealand, has been renamed CPE Capital.
Korea start-ups: The graduates
Korea’s start-ups are internationalizing and becoming more technically advanced as the ecosystem matures. A rapidly multiplying flock of local VCs will have to do the same to keep up with them
LGT acquires India impact investor
LGT Group has acquired a majority stake in Indian impact investor Aspada from an investment arm of Open Society Foundations, a George Soros-founded charitable institute.
Q&A: Choson Exchange's Geoffrey See
Geoffrey See is an advisor on Korean Peninsula affairs to the World Economic Forum and a serial tech entrepreneur who helps incubate start-ups in North Korea through his organization Choson Exchange
Grab commits $500m to Vietnam tech ecosystem
Grab, a Southeast Asia-focused ride-hailing app operator backed by a number of PE and VC firms, has committed to invest $500 million in Vietnam’s technology ecosystem in the next five years.
India payments player BharatPe raises $50m Series B
US-based Ribbit Capital and UK-based Steadview Capital have co-led a $50 million Series B round for BharatPe, a digital payment services provider for Indian offline businesses.
Japan's JPIC backs $33m round for Atonarp
Japan Post Investment Corporation (JPIC) has backed a $33 million Series C round for Atonarp, a Tokyo-based molecular diagnostics systems developer that uses artificial intelligence (AI).
US fintech player Tala targets India with $110m Series D
Tala, a US financial technology provider looking to expand its microlending operations in India, has raised a $110 million Series D round from a group including PayPal Ventures.
Deal focus: India AI player Uniphore eyes post-call center world
Fresh from raising a $51 million Series C round, Uniphore's founder argues that artificial intelligence will become as much about quality of engagement as back-end efficiency
Japan edge computing specialist gets $7.8m
Global Brain has led a $7.8 million round for Idein, a Japanese technology developer focused on systems for device-level data processing, also known as edge computing.
East Ventures closes sixth fund at $75m
East Ventures has closed its sixth fund for early-stage Southeast Asian start-ups at $75 million. It had initially targeted $30 million.
China's Ping An joins $72m round for US AI player
China’s Ping An Insurance has co-led a $72.5 million Series D round alongside Goldman Sachs for US artificial intelligence (AI) developer H2O with a view to expanding its Asian operations.
Vulcan Capital expands into Asia
Vulcan Capital, a US-based venture investor set up by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, has opened a Singapore office and earmarked $100 million for investment in Southeast Asia.
Sovereign investors and technology: Smart nations
Conservative sovereign wealth investors are increasingly comfortable making direct commitments to venture-oriented technology companies. The strategy appears to suit them but remains to be validated
Singapore's RedDoorz raises $70m
Singapore hotel management and booking platform RedDoorz has raised $70 million in Series C funding less than a month after closing a $45 million Series B.
PEP to acquire APAC business of US-based Horizon
Australia’s Private Equity Partners (PEP) has agreed to pay A$340 million ($230 million) for the Asia Pacific division of US automotive industry equipment supplier Horizon Global.
VinaCapital invests in Vietnam logistics tech start-up
The venture capital arm of Vietnam’s VinaCapital has invested an undisclosed sum in local logistics technology start-up An Vui.
Twitter leads $100m round for India's ShareChat
Twitter has led a $100 million round for Indian social networking platform ShareChat with support from private equity investor Trustbridge Partners.
GIC to invest in China data centers
Singapore’s GIC Private has agreed to acquire an unspecified number of data centers in China through a partnership with specialist developer GDS Holdings.
Korea's Pavilion to pay $54m for firefighting business
Korea’s Pavilion Private Equity has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in domestic firefighting equipment maker Paratech for about KRW65 billion ($54 million).
India, US-based speech AI player Uniphore raises $51m
Asian VCs have backed a $51 million Series C round for Uniphore, an India and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) developer focused on speech recognition.