Early-stage
Matrix, HongShan back China's Qihan Biotech
Matrix Partners China and HongShan (formerly Sequioa Capital China) have joined a USD 16m pre-Series B round for Qihan Biotech, a genome editing player active in human and agricultural therapies.
India livestreaming platform Eloelo raises $22m
US investors Courtside Ventures and Griffin Gaming Partners have led a USD 22m pre-Series B round for Indian social gaming and livestreaming platform Eloelo.
Peak XV, Elevation, Andreessen back India visa platform
Peak XV Partners, formerly Sequoia Capital India, and Elevation Capital have led a USD 12m Series A round for Indian visa platform Atlys with support from Andreessen Horowitz.
Cybersecurity: PE urged to go post-quantum
Private equity firms with masses of information, long histories, and long futures will be vulnerable to code-cracking quantum computers perceived as lurking on an inevitable near-term horizon
China's Canton Biologics raises $41m Series C
Chinese pharmaceutical industry services provider Canton Biologics has completed a CNY 300m (USD 41m) Series C round led by state-owned SDIC Venture Capital.
Hong Kong virtual insurer Bowtie gets $35m Series B
Hong Kong digital life insurance company Bowtie has closed a USD 34.9m Series B round led by the local unit of Sun Life Financial.
Lion X, Vickers lead Series B for Singapore's Awak
Lion X Ventures and Vickers Venture Partners have led a Series B round of approximately USD 20m for Awak Technologies, a Singaporean start-up that makes wearable dialysis treatment devices.
China green-tech investors hunt for overlooked niches - AVCJ Forum
Investors targeting green technology in China are looking beyond saturated areas such as renewable energy projects to opportunities that target unaddressed industry pain points, the AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Forum China 2023 heard.
Fund focus: 500 Global scales up in Southeast Asia
By investing early and building a diversified portfolio, 500 Global emerged from the technology valuation corrections somewhat unscathed. This gave the firm impetus when raising its third Southeast Asia fund
Singapore student-run VC programme launches new fund
Protégé Ventures (PV), a student-run venture fund programme set up by the Singapore Management University Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SMU IIE) has launched a second fund of SGD 500,000 (USD 367,000).
CICC leads $60m Series B for China's Grit Biotechnology
CICC Capital had led a USD 60m Series B round for Grit Biotechnology, a Shanghai-based drug developer that is working on pioneering cancer treatments involving tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (LIT).
Global Brain, Globis lead $93m round for Japan's Josys
Global Brain and Globis Capital Partners have led a USD 93m Series B round for Josys, a Japan-based IT services provider specializing in helping companies manage devices.
Mitsui Sumitomo VC unit backs Israel fusion start-up
Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital (MSIVC) has joined a Series A round for Israel-based nuclear fusion start-up NT-Tao that had raised USD 22m as of February.
Japanese autonomous trucking start-up raises $24m
T2, a Japanese autonomous driving start-up that focuses on trucking, has raised JPY 3.5bn (USD 24.1m) in Series A funding from a combination of financial and strategic investors.
Qiming, Orbimed lead Series A for China's Epigenic
Qiming Venture Partners and OrbiMed Asia Partners have led a USD 32m Series A round for Chinese gene editing therapy start-up Epigenic Therapeutics.
Japan space robot maker Gitai raises $45m
Japanese space robotics start-up Gitai has lifted its Series B round to USD 45m with a new USD 15m tranche featuring Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital.
Generative AI in due diligence: Crunching new numbers
Private equity is rediscovering artificial intelligence as a due diligence tool in the wake of ChatGPT. Data security, legal, and technical risks have curbed uptake somewhat, less so for venture
China's HC Scientific gets $41m Series B extension
Lake Bleu Capital and Guotai Junan Innovation Investment have led a Series B extension of approximately CNY 300m (USD 41m) for HC Scientific, a manufacturer of DNA sequencing devices used in modern agriculture and healthcare.
Australia's Airtree leads round for space tech start-up
Australia’s Airtree Ventures has led a AUD 12m (USD 7.7m) Series A round for HEO Robotics, a local space start-up focused on non-Earth imaging.
Horizons leads $50m round for Indonesia EV player IMG
Horizons Ventures, a deep tech investment arm of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing, has led a USD 50m Series B round for Indonesian electric vehicle (EV) maker Ilectra Motor Group (IMG).
Matrix backs $139m round for China semiconductor start-up Echint
Matrix Partners China has co-led a CNY 1bn (USD 139m) Series B round for Echint, a Chinese chip packaging and testing start-up incubated by VC-backed semiconductor company Eswin.
Japan's PowerX raises $32m Series B
PowerX, a Japanese start-up developing a “battery tanker” for shipping stored renewable electricity across oceans, has raised a USD 32m Series B round featuring US-based Translink Capital.
CLP leads $21m Series B for China's Venturous Group
Venturous Group, a Chinese smart city platform, has raised USD 21m in Series B funding led by Hong Kong utility CLP Group. It follows a USD 131m Series A in June 2021.
UK VC firm leads $9.4m round for Australia's Pendula
UK-based Octopus Ventures has led a AUD 14.5m (USD 9.4m) round for Australia-based customer retention platform Pendula.
