Articles by Justin Niessner
SeaTown invests $50m in Vietnam e-commerce enabler
SeaTown Holdings International, an alternatives manager owned by Temasek Holdings, has provided a USD 50m Series B round for Vietnamese e-commerce enabler OnPoint.
Asia Partners leads $80m round for Singapore's ShopBack
Singapore’s Asia Partners has led a USD 80m growth round for local e-commerce and retail rewards platform ShopBack.
India's Fundamental VC launches debut fund
Fundamental VC, an early-stage investor set up by two Indian angel investors and start-up ecosystem professionals, has launched its debut fund with a target of USD 130m.
NewQuest, Prosus lead $90m Series E for India's Cashify
NewQuest Capital Partners and Prosus Ventures have led a USD 90m Series E round for India’s Cashify, a marketplace for used smart phones and gadgets.
Matrix seeks $450m for fourth India fund
Matrix Partners has launched its fourth India venture capital fund with a target of USD 450m.
Openspace, VI Group lead $25m round for Vietnam's Finhay
Openspace Ventures and VI Group have led a USD 25m Series B round for Vietnamese digital investment platform Finhay.
Malaysia's RPG Commerce raises $29m Series B
East Ventures has led a USD 29m Series B round for Malaysia-based direct-to-consumer (DTC) social e-commerce company RPG Commerce.
India's LeadSquared raises $153m Series C
Indian customer relationship management software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider LeadSquared has raised a USD 153m Series C round led by WestBridge Capital at a post-money valuation of USD 1bn.
Singapore e-commerce aggregator gets $45m
Singapore’s Rainforest, an aggregator of Amazon marketplace sellers, has raised a USD 45m round led by Southern Capital, which provided USD 15m.
Placement agents: Asian entries
Asia’s sparse placement agent scene is fleshing itself out despite macro headwinds, but the model is being revised to adapt to a changing market. This appears irreversible
LP interview: Hywin Holdings
US-listed Hywin Holdings is plugging China’s rich into private asset classes one handshake at a time despite increasing digitisation in this wealth migration theme. PE is a fast-growing slice of the pie
Indonesia blockchain player Ekta raises $60m
Indonesia’s Ekta, a blockchain ecosystem operator with a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace and eponymous cryptocurrency, has raised USD 60m from US-based Global Emerging Markets (GEM).
Australia's Infomedia entertains three buyout offers
Australia-listed automotive software supplier Infomedia has received its third buyout offer in the past two months, with PE-backed counterpart Solera proposing to acquire the business at a valuation of AUD 638.8m (USD 445m).
Alpha Wave backs India e-sports platform FanClash
Alpha Wave Global has led a USD 40m Series B round for Indian e-sports platform FanClash with support from Sequoia Capital India, Info Edge Ventures, and web3 platform Polygon Technology.
India's ShareChat closes $520m round, hits $5b valuation
Indian social media platform ShareChat has raised USD 255m from Google, Times Group, and Temasek Holdings, capping a USD 520m Series G round at a valuation of USD 5bn.
Japan's WiL raises USD 1bn
US-Japan cross-border investor World Innovation Lab (WiL) has raised USD 1bn across its third flagship fund and several other vehicles.
Vulcan leads $10.5m Series A for Singapore's Amili
Vulcan Capital, an investment vehicle established by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, has led a USD 10.5m Series A round for Singapore-based microbe analytics start-up Amili.
India's 8i Ventures gets 36x return on M2P Fintech
Indian early-stage investor 8i Ventures has made a partial exit of its seed shares in local banking software supplier M2P Fintech, generating a 36x multiple and an IRR of 415% after two years.
Australia's Potentia closes Fund II on $438m
Australian technology-focused private equity firm Potentia Capital has achieved a first and final close of AUD 635m (USD 438m) on its second fund, hitting the hard cap and beating a target of AUD 500m.
Deal focus: Singapore biotech start-up generates US buzz
Singapore’s Tessa Therapeutics has developed a cancer drug that appears to be twice as effective as other treatments in its class. It has raised USD 126m with eyes on a near-term US IPO
Deal focus: VCs back steppingstones to immortality
Japan’s Alt is quicky commercialising a suite of learning voice recognition products as part of a plan to capture individuals’ personalities and values in a process it calls digital cloning
Silicon Valley-based Scale Asia Ventures raises $30m fund
Scale Asia Ventures (SAV), a Silicon Valley-based investor that aims to bridge the US and Asia start-up ecosystems, has raised USD 30m for its latest early-stage fund.
India payments player Kissht closes $80m Series E
Indian payments start-up Kissht has raised a USD 80m Series E round led by Temasek Holdings-owned Vertex Ventures and Brunei Investment Agency.
Singapore cancer treatment start-up gets $126m Series A
Singapore’s Tessa Therapeutics, a biotech developer with a Hodgkin's lymphoma treatment in phase-two trials, has raised a USD 126m Series A round led by US healthcare specialist Polaris Partners.