Early-stage
Japan's CyberAgent invests in Taiwanese start-up
CyberAgent Ventures has invested $500,000 in Polydice, the Taiwanese start-up behind recipe-themed social network iCook.tw
Japan's NTT DoCoMo to set up $125m venture fund
Japanese mobile giant NTT DoCoMo is to set up a venture fund and incubation program targeting mobile business models and technologies.
Dhingana raises $7m in Series B funding from VC players
Lightspeed Venture Partners has led a $7 million Series B funding round for Dhingana, a Indian social music streaming site. Existing investors Inventus Capital Partners and Helion Venture Partners also participated.
Mumbai Angels to launch $20m sidecar fund
Mumbai Angels, an Indian investment firm focusing on early stage companies, is to launch a maiden sidecar fund of INR1 billion ($20 million) next month.
Guanxi secures Series A funding from SingTel Innov8
SingTel Innov8, the corporate venture capital arm of SingTel Group, has led a Series A round of funding in Guanxi, a mobile social network services (SNS) spin-off from Chinese mobile search and marketer mInfo.
Mayfield backs Indian Incubator AngelPrime
Mayfield Fund will take a majority interest in AngelPrime, a Bangalore-based incubator. The investment will be used to support operations as well as seed capital for companies that AngelPrime plans to incubate over the next three years.
Asia's untapped VC market
Southeast Asia has potential as a venture capital market, but fragmentation and the absence of large, self-sustaining entrepreneur communities are obstacles to growth
Matrix, Lightspeed invest $5m in India's LimeRoad
Matrix Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners have invested $5 million in Series A funding for LimeRoad.com, a social commerce site aimed at women in India.
Japan's government to set up $500m VC drug fund
The Japanese government plans to set up a public-private fund to support research into drugs targeting cancer, hepatitis, diabetes and other difficult-to-treat diseases.
Motilal Oswal PE plans $59m impact investment fund
Motilal Oswal Private Equity plans to raise an impact investment fund with a corpus of INR2.5-3 billion ($47-59 million) that will target socially relevant businesses.
Aditya Birla PE invests $10m in Olive Bar & Kitchen
Aditya Birla Private Equity has invested $10 million in Olive Bar & Kitchen, a Mumbai-based hospitality firm that runs a chain of fine-dining restaurants across India.
Tech-focused US M&A advisor sets up in Seoul
J. Moore Partners, a technology-focused investment bank based in San Francisco, has opened an office in Seoul as part of plans to expand into Asia. It claims to be the first US technology M&A advisory firm to establish a presence in the city.
Jungle Ventures launches $10m 'super angel' fund
Jungle Ventures, a Singapore-based investment firm, has launched a new "super angel” fund, which has raised an initial $10 million to be invested in start-ups across Asia.
Start-up investment: Fallen angels
The scarcity of seed capital in most of Asia has left the region’s entrepreneurs crying out for angel investors. What’s stopping them from flooding in?
VCs invest $1.2m in Japanese website Retty
GREE ventures, NTT investment Partners and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital have jointly invested JPY100 million ($1.2 million) into Retty, a Japanese social restaurant guide.
Kaizen invests $4m in India's Ace Creative Learning
Kaizen Private Equity, an Indian private equity firm that focuses on the education sector, has led a $4.6 million round in Bangalore-based Ace Creative Learning.
500 Startups hires India investment professional
500 Startups, the US-based incubator founded by serial entrepreneur Dave McClure, has hired Pankaj Jain to head up its India operations. He was previously consulting for TLabs in New Delhi, focusing on deal sourcing and running the start-up accelerator...
Intel Capital invests in five Asian companies
Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of Intel Corp, has invested $40 million in 10 companies, half of which are from China, India, South Korea and Taiwan.
VenturEast hires ex-DFJ partner to run India seed fund
India-focused VC firm VenturEast has hired Sateesh Andra, formerly a partner at Draper Fisher Jurvestan, to head up its seed-stage technology fund. His remit is to create a Silicon Valley-like incubation ecosystem and help companies tap into global venture...
China's IPV Capital backs mobile protection solution provider
V-Key, a mobile applications security solutions provider, has secured a $4 million Series A funding round from China-based VC investor IPV Capital.
Wellington Partners leads $3.4m Series A for AyoxxA Biosystems
Wellington Partners Venture Capital has led a EUR2.6 million ($3.4 million) Series A round of financing in AyoxxA Biosystems, a biotech firm based in Singapore and Germany. The capital will provide AyoxxA with the resources to scale-up production of bead-based...
NVP injects another $5m in Appnomic Systems
Appnomic Systems, an Indian IT infrastructure management services company, has raised a $5 million Series C round from Norwest Venture Partners (NVP). The VC firm previously invested $4 million and $2.5 million in the company in 2009 and 2010, respectively....
Tsinghua's TEEC raises $1.4m for US-China angel fund
Tsinghua Entrepreneurs & Executive Club (TEEC), a group set up by VC-oriented alumni of China’s Tsinghua University, has raised $1.4 million for its second angel investment fund. The vehicle launched in June and has a final target of $8 million.
India's DesiCrew raises $1.3m from VC players
DesiCrew Solution, a rural business process outsourcing (BPO) service provider, has raised INR70 million ($1.3 million) in a Series B round from social investment manager responsAbility and Ventureast Fund Advisors India. The capital was channeled through...