Japan's KDDI buys majority stake in VC-backed Luxa
Japanese telecom giant KDDI has acquired a majority stake in VC-backed premium group-buying site Luxa.
Luxa is similar to sites like Groupon, with the distinction being that it offers luxury goods catering to a higher income demographic. Items featured on the site include cosmetics, meals at up-market restaurants, and spa sessions. The firm announced that it surpassed 1 million registered users late last year.
The site was first launched in 2010 by CEO Soichiro "Swimmy" Minami as a unit of BizReach, which runs a flagship executive search platform under the same name. It spun out the same year to raise JPY500 million ($5.3 million) from local venture capital firm and BizReach backer Jafco.
After Jafco returned in March 2013 to invest another JPY500 million, Global Brain and KDDI put in an additional JPY330 million via the KDDI Open Innovation Fund seven months later. The deal gave Luxa access to the 8 million users of KDDI's au Smartpass service, a subscription-based Android app marketplace for customers with au, the KDDI-owned mobile phone network.
More on Buyouts
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.