Early-stage
Deal focus: India's AppsForBharat inspires VC devotees
AppsForBharat aims to be the first mobile player to create a product that sticks in the hard-to-monetize spirituality services space. Sequoia Capital India and Matrix Partners India are among the faithful
Thailand insurtech player Sunday gets $45m Series B
Thailand-based insurance technology start-up Sunday has received $45 million in Series B funding from a group of investors including Tencent Holdings.
KKR leads Series B for Vietnam MSME digitalization platform
KKR has led a $45 million Series B funding round for KiotViet, a sales management software developer that serves Vietnam’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) community.
China-focused NFT marketplace Cybertino raises $10m
A group of Chinese investors including Sky9 Capital, Ince Capital, and Draper Dragon have joined a $10 million round for non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Cybertino Lab.
WestBridge leads Series B for India voice AI start-up
WestBridge Capital has led a $23 million Series B round for India’s Skit, a voice recognition artificial intelligence (AI) supplier for the call center industry.
Thai bank joins $41m round for local crypto platform
Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya has joined a $41 million Series B round for local cryptocurrency exchange operator Zipmex.
Australia insurance start-up raises $31m Series B
New Zealand venture capital firm Movac has led a $31 million Series B round for Australian insurance technology provider Open.
Deal focus: EmergeVest turns to Lucy for financial inclusion
EmergeVest has made a seed investment in Lucy, a Singapore-based neobank that focuses on home-based micro-entrepreneurs and Southeast Asia’s legions of foreign domestic workers
China's Geely raises $500m for Zeekr EV unit
Zeekr, the electric vehicle (EV) business of Chinese carmaker Geely, has raised $500 million in a pre-Series A round from Intel Capital, Boyu Capital, battery manufacturer CATL, Cathay Fortune Corporation, and online entertainment platform Bilibili.
VCs commit $55m to China CRM player Xiaoke
Xiaoke, a China-based provider of customer relationship management (CRM) software, has raised $55 million in a Series A funding round from Hong Kong-listed Weimob, Sequoia Capital China, Welight Capital, and Creo Capital.
LAV leads $50m Series B for China's Lynk Pharma
Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) has led a $50 million Series B round for Lynk Pharmaceuticals, a China-based drug developer that focuses on small-molecule treatments for autoimmune disease, inflammation, and cancer.
Bazaar secures Pakistan's largest-ever Series A round
Online B2B marketplace Bazaar has completed what it claims is Pakistan’s largest-ever Series A round with a $30 million commitment led by Wavemaker Partners and US-based Defy Partners.
CDIB leads round for Taiwan crypto-fiat start-up
CDIB Capital Group has led a $17 million pre-Series A round for Xrex, a Taiwan-based financial technology player that uses blockchain to facilitate cross-border payments by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Australia's Blackbird leads Series B for education start-up
Blackbird Ventures has led a $25 million Series B funding round for Forage, an Australia-founded but now US-based provider of virtual training courses aimed at students.
Pakistan's Airlift raises $85m Series B
Airlift, a Pakistani last-mile delivery app, has raised an $85 million Series B round in what is being called the largest-ever start-up investment in Pakistan and the Middle East and North Africa region.
China vaccine developer Abogen raises $700m
Suzhou Abogen Biosciences, a Chinese vaccine developer targeting COVID-19, has raised $700 million in Series C funding featuring Temasek Holdings, Loyal Valley Capital, and Lilly Asia Ventures.
Asia fintech: Platform plays
Expansion is the dominant theme in financial technology as start-ups leverage existing assets to enter new verticals, typically in lending. Which ones will become Asia’s preeminent platforms?
Corporate VC: Appetite for disruption
Banks across Asia are leveraging their capital and domain expertise to stay ahead of the curve on financial technology. Each aspect of the corporate VC ecosystem engages with start-ups in different ways
Lightspeed leads $35m round for Indonesia crypto player
Lightspeed Venture Partners has led a $35 million Series A extension for Pintu, one of Indonesia’s leading cryptocurrency wallets and trading platforms. It follows a $6 million tranche in May.
Australia's V2Food gets $53m Series B extension
Australian vegetarian meat brand V2Food has raised A$72 million ($53 million) in a Series B extension featuring Belgium-based impact investor Astanor Ventures.
Deal focus: GA backs VNLife's two-pronged fintech play
VNLife is not alone in trying to build value-added services onto a payment platform in Vietnam, but it is unusual in being able to rely on a profitable B2B digital banking business while figuring out monetization
China cancer screening specialist raises $99m
China Merchants Capital has led a $99.5 million funding round for Berry Oncology Corporation, an early cancer screening spin-out from China-based genetic testing specialist Berry Genomics.
Japan's iSpace raises $46m Series C
Japan’s Incubate Fund has led a JPY5.1 billion ($46.5 million) Series C round for iSpace, a local lunar exploration technology developer firming up an ambitious calendar of missions.
China AI drug developer BioMap raises $100m
GGV Capital has led a $100 million Series A round for BioMap, a China-based biological computing platform. It marks the first time the company has sought external funding.