Articles by Justin Niessner
AVCJ daily bulletin returns June 10
AVCJ's daily bulletin will not be published on Friday June 7 due to the public holiday in Hong Kong.
GP profile: Chiratae Ventures
Patient, culture-oriented Chiratae Ventures has grown and diversified in step with India’s gradually blossoming VC market. Its latest expansions suggest this trajectory is set to accelerate
EQT terminates $2.6b Vocus acquisition
EQT infrastructure has abandoned a bid it extended less than two weeks ago to acquire Australian broadband internet provider Vocus Group for about A$3.3 billion ($2.3 billion).
ComfortDelGro backs Singapore logistics start-ups
Singapore land transport services company ComfortDelGro has backed two local logistics start-ups via its recently launched venture capital arm.
Australian wi-fi chipmaker Morse Micro secures $17m
A group of Australian VCs including Blackbird Ventures has invested about A$24 million ($17 million) in local wi-fi and internet-of-things (IoT) chipmaker Morse Micro.
Temasek launches Asia impact fund
Singapore’s Temasek Holdings has set up a private equity fund that will make impact investments, primarily in developing Asia.
Singapore's EV Growth closes debut fund at $200m
Singapore-based EV Growth, a joint venture between East Ventures, Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Digital Ventures (SMDV) and Japan’s YJ Capital, has closed its first fund at $200 million.
Flipkart's Bansal leads $51m round for India EV player
Sachin Bansal, co-founder of Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart, has led a $51 million investment in local electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Ather Energy.
China's Alphamab Oncology gets $60m Series B
Chinese biopharmaceutical developer Alphamab Oncology has completed a $60 million Series B round led by US and UK-based investor Hudson Bay Capital Management.
Openspace backs Indonesian agtech start-up
Openspace Ventures has led a $10 million Series A round for Indonesian agricultural technology start-up TaniGroup.
Food tech: Irresistible recipes
Food technology is a virtually endless horizon of profound and unignorable investment imperatives mistaken as a niche category. Alternative protein is the first opportunity set to gain serious traction
EQT Infrastructure offers $2.6b for Australia's Vocus
EQT Infrastructure has offered to acquire all the shares in Australia-listed broadband internet provider Vocus Group in a deal that values the company at about A$3.3 billion ($2.3 billion).
Japanese food tech start-up secures Series A round
Japan’s Base Food, a company that produces packaged meals that are said to be nutritionally complete, has raised JPY400 million ($3.7 million) in Series A funding from a group including Global Brain.
Singapore's VisVires launches $150m food tech fund
VisVires New Protein, a Singapore-based VC firm specializing in food technology, has launched its second fund with a target of $150 million. Fund I closed at $40 million in 2016.
SBI joins $35m Series B for Japan's Pixie Dust
SBI Investment, the VC arm of Japan’s SBI Holdings, has joined a JPY3.8 billion $35 million Series B round for Pixie Dust Technologies, a local company developing novel uses for ultrasonic waves.
LP interview: Natixis
Natixis Investment Managers is leveraging a novel affiliate-manager structure to grow fund exposure in Asia in a sustainable way. Alternatives, and increasingly private equity, are driving much of the progress
Hong Kong's KaiOS gets $50m Series B
Hong Kong-based smart phone operating system provider KaiOs Technologies has raised a $50 million Series B round led by Cathay Innovation, a VC affiliate of Cathay Capital Private Equity.
Deal focus: Clearing up Southeast Asia’s currency chaos
Investors see opportunity in bringing a promising currency exchange-focused fintech model from Europe into Southeast Asia. Singapore-focused YouTrip is the region’s first mover in this niche
Endiya reaches $40m first close of second India VC fund
Endiya Partners, an early-stage VC investor based in India, has achieved a first close of $40 million for its second fund. The target is $70 million.
PE-backed ESR closes Japan logistics fund at $1.8b
ESR, a pan-Asian logistics and fund management platform that was seeded by Warburg Pincus, has closed its latest Japan-focused fund at JPY200 billion ($1.8 billion).
Australia’s Canva raises $70m at $2.5b valuation
Australian graphic design start-up Canva has raised $70 million from investors including US-based General Catalyst and Bond Capital, the new vehicle of Silicon Valley veteran Mary Meeker. It values Canva at $2.5 billion.
EMR launches third fund with $1.3b target
Australian resources-focused private equity firm EMR Capital has launched its third fund with a target of $1.3 billion.
New Zealand agtech player gets $6.7m
BioLumic, a New Zealand-based start-up that develops ultraviolet (UV) crop yield enhancement systems, has raised a $6.7 million Series A led by US agricultural technology VC firm Finistere Ventures.
Japan's PE-backed Sansan files for IPO
Sansan, a PE-backed company that specializes in cloud-based business card digitization, has filed for a domestic IPO that is expected to generate around JPY35.2 billion ($321 million).