Early-stage
Accion backs Asian financial services start-ups
Non-profit microfinance pioneer Accion will provide funding to three Asian start-ups through its $10 million seed initiative, Venture Lab. Singapore-based Coda Payments, Demyst Data and Indian education access provider Varthana are among the five businesses...
BootstrapLabs, MAD incubator launch SE Asia start-up accelerator
Malaysia-based MAD incubator has partnered with Silicon Valley-based BootstrapLabs to create a Southeast Asia-focused start-up accelerator.
OneVentures leads $1.1m round for Australia mobile video spin-out
Australian venture capital group One Ventures has led a A$1.1 million ($1.1 million) round of seed investment in Incoming, a mobile video start-up spun out of NICTA, a government-funded information and communications technology research company.
Lightspeed, Charles River invest in big data firm Qubole
Qubole, a Bangalore-based big data firm, has raised $7 million in series A funding from Lightspeed Ventures, Charles River Ventures and angel investors Anand Rajaram, the head of WalmartLabs, and Cambrian Ventures founding partner Venky Harinarayan.
Kae Capital leads investment in Indian app building startup ShepHertz
Kae Capital, Blume Ventures and Mumbai Angels have invested an undisclosed amount in ShepHertz Technologies.
Electric Sheep Capital, DMP invest $3.2m in Singapore's AdzCentral
Electric Sheep Capital and Digital Media Partners have invested s$4 million ($3.2 million) of Series A funding in AdzCentral, an advertising technology company based in Singapore.
Singapore's Golden Gate Ventures eyes Series A fund
Singapore-based Golden Gate Ventures is planning to raise a second fund focusing on Series A investments in Southeast Asian tech companies. A source with knowledge of the matter said the fund would launch within 12 months, targeting around $40 million....
JAFCO invests $5.3m in group buying site Luxa
JAFCO has invested JPY500 million ($5.3 million) in Luxa, a Japanese group buying site, as part of a Series B round.
High-profile angel investors back Australian start-up Canva
Australian online design start-up Canva has attracted $3 million in seed funding from a group of high-profile angel investors, including Adrian MacKenzie, who left his position as head of CVC Capital Partners’ local operations late last year.
Triple C leads Series A round in Australia's Virtual Gaming Worlds
Australian boutique investment firm Triple C Consulting has led a A$2.5 million ($2.6 million) Series A round of funding for Perth-based gaming start-up Virtual Gaming Worlds.
AVCJ at 25: Finian Tan of Vickers Capital
Finian Tan, founder and chairman of Vickers Capital Group, identified Baidu as a start-up and guided the search engine provider all the way to IPO. It was the first in a string of post-tech bubble investments in Chinese internet companies
AVCJ at 25: Lip-Bu Tan of Walden International
Lip-Bu Tan, founder and chairman of Walden International, plotted the route by which foreign venture capital entered China’s internet sector, as well as guiding dozens of Asian companies from start-up to listing
Australia's Blackbird Ventures reaches first close on VC fund
Sydney-based VC firm Blackbird Ventures has reached a first close of A$20 million on its A$30 million ($31 million) internet-focused venture capital fund.
Li Ka-Shing's Horizon Ventures leads Nipendo round
Horizons Ventures, which manages VC investments for Hong Kong magnate Li Ka-Shing, has led an $8 million series B round of funding in Nipendo, a cloud-based trading community platform.
Bamboo Finance, DFIs back Philippines financial services start-up
Bamboo Finance has teamed up with a group of non-profit investors to commit $24 million to Bridge, a Philippines-based financial services start-up dedicated to improving rural banking. The participants include microfinance pioneer Accion and two development...
Fidelity Growth Japan leads Metaps series B round
Fidelity Growth Partners Japan has led a JPY1 billion ($10 million) Series B round of investment in Metaps, a Tokyo-based mobile software developer. Existing investors have also taken part in the round.
India to tax buyback exits by foreign investors
India plans to impose a 20% withholding tax on foreign investors in private companies who exit their holdings through a buyback of shares. Investments routed through jurisdictions such as Mauritius and Singapore to take advantage of double tax treaty...
JAFCO invests $5 million in HiringBoss
Japanese venture capital firm JAFCO has put $5 million into HR software provider HiringBoss in a Series A round of funding.
Korea's AmorePacific leads pharma firm's Series B round
AmorePacific Ventures, the VC arm of Korea's largest cosmetics group, has led a $7 million Series B round of investment in Miami-based Brickell Biotech, a pharma firm specializing in skin conditions. Further details of the deal were not disclosed.
Indonesian incubator Grupara invests in fashion site
Indonesian venture capital firm Grupara has invested in men's fashion e-commerce site Maskool.in for an undisclosed amount.
China e-commerce: End of the line
Burning through cash and with no public market exit in site, many of China’s e-commerce players are losing the confidence of their investors. New rounds of funding come at depressed valuations – if they come at all
Unilazer Ventures invests in Valyoo Technologies
Unilazer Ventures has joined IDG Ventures in investing INR530 million ($10 million) in Delhi-based Valyoo Technologies, which owns e-commerce sites LensKart, BagsKart, WatchKart and JewelKart.
Sequoia joins Series A round for personal search engine
Sequoia Capital India has joined Qualcomm Ventures in investing over $1 million in Dexetra, the maker of Friday, a personal search mobile application.
Softbank Ventures Korea invests $1.4m in KnowRE
Softbank Ventures Korea (SBVK), the venture capital unit of Japan's Softbank Corporation, has invested $1.4 million in KnowRe, an education technology company specializing in adaptive online learning services.