Articles by Tim Burroughs
CDIB leads round for Taiwan crypto-fiat start-up
CDIB Capital Group has led a $17 million pre-Series A round for Xrex, a Taiwan-based financial technology player that uses blockchain to facilitate cross-border payments by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
BGH-owned Abano to buy Australia dentistry business
Abano Healthcare, a New Zealand dentistry chain owned by BGH Capital and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), has agreed to acquire Australian peer 1300 Smiles for an enterprise valuation of A$165 million ($120 million).
ChrysCapital, True North join $150m Quest Global deal
ChrysCapital and True North Managers have participated in a $150 million investment for a minority stake in Quest Global, an Indian engineering services outsourcing company.
Chinese investors join $400m round for Nigeria's Opay
Several Chinese investors have re-upped in a $400 million round – at a valuation of $2 billion – for Nigeria-based logistics and payments technology company Opay.
Kedaara, Partners Group complete Aavas sell-downs
Kedaara Capital and Partners Group have made partial exits from Aavas Financiers, the mortgage business they carved out from Indian non-banking finance company Au Financiers in 2016 and took public two years later.
KKR, OTPP, PSP to buy Australia's Spark Infrastructure for $7.2b
KKR, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), PSP Investments have agreed to buy Australia-listed Spark Infrastructure, which has extensive interests in electricity transmission and distribution, for an enterprise valuation of A$10.1 billion ($7.2 billion).
India's 3one4 names new partner
Indian venture capital firm 3one4 Capital has elevated Anurag Ramdasan to partner level, alongside a rush of more junior promotions.
Australia's Blackbird leads Series B for education start-up
Blackbird Ventures has led a $25 million Series B funding round for Forage, an Australia-founded but now US-based provider of virtual training courses aimed at students.
Baring buys enterprise tech player Straive from Partners Group
Baring Private Equity Asia is poised to add to its enterprise technology portfolio with the acquisition of Straive – a Philippines-based outsourcing business previously known as SPi Global – from Partners Group.
Affirma invests $100m in Korea cloud services provider
Affirma Capital has secured a third deal for its latest Korea fund, with an agreement to invest $100 million in Metanet T Platform, a local cloud managed service provider (MSP).
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
Asia fintech: Platform plays
Expansion is the dominant theme in financial technology as start-ups leverage existing assets to enter new verticals, typically in lending. Which ones will become Asia’s preeminent platforms?
Corporate VC: Appetite for disruption
Banks across Asia are leveraging their capital and domain expertise to stay ahead of the curve on financial technology. Each aspect of the corporate VC ecosystem engages with start-ups in different ways
Q&A: Airwallex’s Jack Zhang
Hong Kong-headquartered Airwallex has grown from nothing to a $2.6 billion valuation in the space of six years. Co-founder and CEO Jack Zhang details his plans to build a global financial technology stack
Ascendent founder's SPAC to merge with Tim Hortons China
A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by Liang Meng, founding managing partner of China’s Ascendent Capital Partners, has agreed to merge with PE-backed Tim Hortons China at a valuation of $1.8 billion.
Affinity backs Singapore financial SaaS platform
Affinity Equity Partners has taken a joint controlling stake alongside management in Singapore-based technology-enabled financial services provider M-Daq, following an investment of approximately S$200 million ($148 million).
Partners Group buys India broadband provider for $1.2b
Partners Group has agreed to buy India-based broadband provider Atria Convergence Technologies for an enterprise valuation of nearly $1.2 billion, facilitating a full exit for True North and a partial exit for TA Associates.
India's Dream Sports launches $250m corporate VC fund
Dream Sports, operator of India’s largest fantasy sports platform, has established a $250 million venture capital unit that will invest in sports, gaming, and fitness-tech start-ups nationwide.
Lazard makes senior private capital advisory hire in Asia
Lazard has recruited Patrick No, formerly head of Asia financial sponsors coverage at Credit Suisse, as a managing director in its private capital advisory group.
DSG recruits ex-Singha executive as Southeast Asia head
DSG Consumer Partners, which focuses on early-stage consumer investments in India and Southeast Asia, has appointed Sameer Mehta as an investment director and head of Southeast Asia.
Taiwan's AppWorks raises $150m for Fund III
AppWorks, a Taiwan-based venture capital firm and accelerator that also covers Southeast Asia, has closed its third fund at the hard cap of $150 million, taking its total assets under management to $212 million.
Kedaara surpasses $1b for third India fund
India-focused middle-market private equity firm Kedaara Capital has closed its third fund at just under $1.1 billion, spurred by strong performance from its debut vehicle.