Early-stage
China artificial heart developer raises $100m
China-based medical device manufacturer Evaheart has raised a Series A of close to USD 100m led by Chinese vaccine developer Sinovac.
Qiming, Ince invest in China, US biotech start-up
Qiming Venture Partners and Ince Capital have led a USD 50m Series B round for China and US-based oncology and autoimmune diseases treatments developer Allorion Therapeutics.
Korea audience engagement platform Bemyfriends gets $29m
Korea’s Bemyfriends, an audience engagement platform for brands and creators, has raised USD 29m in Series A funding, with the latest tranche provided by US-based VC firm Cleveland Avenue.
Deal focus: Qiming backs Chinese GPT pioneer
Frontis.ai is a Chinese start-up founded by local entrepreneur who helped lay the groundwork for ChatGPT in the US. Qiming Venture Partners was won over by its product conception capabilities
US, UK VCs invest Pakistan logistics start-up Trukkr
US-based Accion Venture Lab and Sturgeon Capital of the UK have led a USD 6.4m seed round for Pakistan’s Trukkr, a financial technology provider for the trucking industry.
Deal focus: Tiamat innovates around words and pictures
Tiamat originated from a Chinese college student’s experimentation with nascent text-to-image artificial intelligence technology. DCM China and VitalBridge Capital believe it will cut through the industry hype
Deal focus: Digital marketing piggybacks e-commerce boom
Malaysian digital marketing specialist Involve Asia is making hay as regional e-commerce shows no signs of slowing. Fresh VC support will guide inorganic expansion amidst erratically trendy user behaviour
Japan construction software supplier gets $8.5m
Japan’s Ballas, a software provider focused on metals procurement for the construction industry, has raised an approximately JPY 1.2bn (USD 8.5m) round led by Global Brain.
Qiming, Matrix back Chinese AI start-up Frontis
Chinese artificial intelligence generated content (AIGC) start-up Frontis.ai has raised a round of hundreds of millions of renminbi led by Qiming Venture Partners with support from Matrix Partners China.
Premji Invest leads $26m round for India's SpotDraft
India’s Premji Invest has led a USD 26m Series A round for local contract lifecycle management and legal work automation supplier SpotDraft.
China vaccine developer Immorna raises $100m
Immorna, a China-based biotech start-up focused on RNA-based therapeutics and vaccines, has raised about USD 100m across two Series A extensions.
China VCs back local automotive chip developer
SiEngine Technology, a China-based developer of chips for smart cars, has raised CNY 500m (USD 73m) in an extended Series A round featuring several local VC firms.
Northstar leads pre-Series C for Singapore's Una Brands
Northstar Group had led a USD 30m pre-Series C round for Una Brands, a Singapore-based brand agglomeration platform that operates across Asia.
Japan enterprise blockchain supplier LayerX raises $40m
Japan’s LayerX, an enterprise technology supplier that incorporates blockchain into functions such as expense management, has raised JPY 5.5bn (USD 40m) from a mostly local VC syndicate.
China's Oricell secures $45m Series B extension
Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and RTW Investments, a US-based healthcare investor, have led a Series B extension of USD 45m for Oricell Therapeutics, a China-based drug developer working on CAR-T cell therapies.
Deal focus: Going regional to fill the coding gap
NxtWave is helping India’s massive engineering community get up to snuff in much-needed software-related skillsets. This is most difficult and most rewarding in lower-tier cities
Q&A: Blackbird Ventures' Rick Baker
Rick Baker, co-founder of Australia’s Blackbird Ventures, on pricing adjustments in the tech space, fundraising and secondaries, valuing unicorns, and the rise of ChatGPT
Deal focus: Indian drone maker takes flight
Recently launched Indian VC firm SphitiCap is making a high-conviction investment in local industrial drone maker Garuda Aerospace. It hopes a sizeable debut fund will help carry the start-up to IPO
China edtech player Nowcoder raises $50m
Beijing-based Nowcoder Technology, a Chinese campus recruitment platform also known as Niuke, has raised USD 50m in Series B funding from Sequoia Capital China, Shunwei Capital, 5Y Capital, Tiger Global Management, and Pegasus Capital.
Cenova leads $40m Series B for China's Eluminex
China-based healthcare investor Cenova Capital has led a USD 40m Series B round for Eluminex Biosciences, which is developing drugs and regenerative tissue used to treat eye disease and other vision-threatening medical conditions.
Fengyuan leads Series A for China battery components maker
Fengyuang Capital has led a CNY 150m (USD 22m) Series A round for Haodyne Technology, a China-based battery materials supplier.
L Catterton re-ups in Australian kombucha brand
Remedy Drinks, an Australia-based healthy beverage brand, has raised a Series B round from existing investors L Catterton and Kin Group.
Greater Pacific Capital leads round for India's NxtWave
Greater Pacific Capital has led a USD 33m round for NxtWave, an India-based online training platform that looks to develop skilled professionals suitable for employment in the technology sector.
Hong Kong pledges more capital for local start-ups
The Hong Kong government is stepping up its investments in technology start-ups, pledging additional funding to programmes run by HKSTPC, an incubator under Hong Kong Science & Technology Park, and Cyberport.