Early-stage
China flying vehicle developer HT Aero raises $500m
HT Aero, an urban air mobility (UAM) company affiliated with Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Xpeng, has raised a $500 million Series A round led by Xpeng, IDG Capital, and 5Y Capital.
Q&A: 500 Global's Christine Tsai
Christine Tsai, co-founder of 500 Global, formerly 500 Startups, reflects on how a planetary approach to seed-stage VC has changed the asset class, the developing world, and the firm itself
Korea GPs invest $40m in Singapore biotech player
A group of Korean private equity investors has committed $40 million in funding to Cerecin, a Singapore-based biotech developer focused on neurotherapeutics.
Singapore drone services player gets $26m Series B
H3 Dynamics, a Singapore-based autonomous drone data services and hydrogen air logistics start-up, has raised a $26 million Series B round led by Japan’s Sparx Asset Management.
Deal focus: Whale takes a bite of big data
China-focused digital marketing start-up Whale has secured $50 million in Series B funding to hone a product offering that helps companies optimize customer engagement by analyzing traffic flows
WestBridge leads $50m round for India's Fraazo
WestBridge Capital has led a $50 million round, comprised of a mix of debt and equity, for direct-to-consumer fresh produce delivery service Fraazo.
China digital marketing platform gets $50m Series B
Whale, a China-focused digital marketing platform, has raised a Series B round of $50 million led by Temasek Holdings. Existing investors Nio Capital, Linear Capital, and Alpha Startups Fund re-upped.
Lightspeed joins $125m round for India virtual events platform
Lightspeed Venture Partners has joined a $125 million Series B round for India-based virtual events platform Hubilo.
Deal focus: Digital brokerage Ajaib finds the right fit
Ajaib grew from nothing to become Indonesia’s fifth-largest stockbroker by volume in the space of six months. The newly appointed unicorn is now raising capital just as quickly
East, Vulcan lead $15m Series A for Singapore's Qapita
Qapita, a Singapore-based provider of software used by start-ups to manage cap tables and employee stock ownership plans (ESOP), has raised $15 million in Series A funding.
India's Coinswitch Kuber raises $260m
Indian crypto exchange Coinswitch Kuber is claiming to be the largest app of its kind locally following a $260 million Series C round featuring Andreessen Horowitz at a $1.9 billion valuation.
India bus-tracking app Chalo raises $40m
India bus-tracking app Chalo has raised a $40 million round led by Filter Capital and Lightrock India with support from WaterBridge Ventures and US-based Raine Ventures.
Vietnam NFT start-up Axie Infinity raises $152m
Andreessen Horowitz has led a $152 million Series B round for Vietnam-based non-fungible token (NFT) gaming start-up Axie Infinity, also known as Sky Mavis.
China biotech: Going global
A gradual shift in focus from sourcing assets from overseas for application in China to bringing China-made treatments to the world is challenging the notion of what constitutes a local biotech start-up
China SaaS: Path to profitability
COVID-19 has driven enterprise uptake of software-as-a-service solutions in China, but paying customers are still relatively few. Other markets offer some pointers on monetization
Thailand's Ascend Money raises $150m
Bangkok-based Ascend Money has raised $150 million from a group of investors including Ant Group, at a valuation of $1.5 billion. It claims to be Thailand’s first financial technology unicorn.
Singapore online banking player Aspire raises $158m
Singapore-based online banking platform Aspire has raised a $158 million Series B round with support from the likes of B Capital Group.
Asia crypto asset management platform raises $40m
Cobo, a Singapore-based crypto asset management platform and blockchain infrastructure provider, has secured a $40 million Series B round led by DST Global, A&T Capital, and IMO Ventures.
Pacific Century's insurtech business extends Series A to $210m
Pacific Century Group’s insurance technology business, Bolttech, has extended a recent $180 million Series A round to $210 million in total.
Warburg Pincus leads $93m round for China's Terminus
Warburg Pincus has led a RMB600 million ($93 million) Series B round for Hangzhou-based enterprise software company Terminus.
Deal focus: ShopUp champions the iron triangle
As a first mover in Bangladesh’s B2B e-commerce space, ShopUp moved quickly into services, logistics, and finance. This inadvertent super app now has $75 million in Series B funding to show for its efforts
Square Peg leads $55m round for Indonesia's Pluang
Square Peg Capital has led a $55 million Series B round for Indonesian micro-savings and micro-investment app Pluang.
Bangladesh's ShopUp raises $75m Series B
Valar Ventures, a firm set up by PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel, has led a $75 million Series B round for Bangladeshi B2B platform ShopUp.
DST leads Series B for China cross-border brand Cider
Guangzhou-based cross-border fashion brand Cider has raised a $130 million Series B round led by DST Global with support from Greenoaks Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.