Investments
Global dealmakers highlight private credit, continuation funds – AVCJ Forum
Private credit and secondary continuation funds have emerged as popular themes globally as high interest rates, geopolitical tensions, and macro uncertainty persist, GPs told the AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Forum Japan 2023.
Q&A: Soul Capital’s Herry Han
Lightspeed China spinout Soul Capital is pursuing an early-stage dual-currency strategy in China. Herry Han, the firm’s founding partner and CEO, explains how and why he’s staying relevant
Deal focus: L Catterton sees value in the Drools recipe
Indian pet food producer Drools is the runaway leader among local brands, trailing only multinational mainstay Mars. The challenge for L Catterton was persuading a profitable company to take its money
China ride hailing platform Ruqi Mobility secures $117m
Ruqi Mobility, a ride-hailing platform incubated by Chinese state-backed automaker GAC Group, has raised CNY 842m (USD 117m) in a Series B funding round led by Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group.
Japan's Terra Motors raises $28m
Japanese electric vehicle (EV) start-up Terra Motors has raised JPY 40bn (USD 28m) in Series C funding featuring Silicon Valley-based Pegasus Tech Ventures.
Japan SME fintech player raises $17m
Japan’s Olta, a financial technology provider for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has raised JPY 2.5bn (USD 17.6m) in Series B funding featuring SBI Investment, Spiral Capital, and DG Ventures.
Japan's Integral buys UPT from Advantage, sells BTC to Capgemini
Japanese middle market private equity firm Integral Corporation has acquired United Precision Technologies (UPT), which supplies components used in smart devices, from Advantage Partners and sold IT consulting business BTC to Capgemini.
Japan advertising AI start-up Flux raises $32m Series B
DNX Ventures has led a JPY 4.4bn (USD 32m) Series B round for Japan’s Flux, which helps businesses manage advertising strategies via a no-code artificial intelligence (AI) platform.
China UAV developer United Aircraft raises $167m
United Aircraft, a Chinese start-up specialising in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), has raised CNY 1.2bn (USD 167m) in Series D funding from several local investors.
China Micro LED developer Jade Bird gets new funding
Jade Bird Display (JBD), a Shanghai-based developer of micro LEDs used in artificial reality (AR) devices, has raised several hundred million renminbi through two tranches of Series A funding.
L Catterton extends pet food focus to India
L Catterton’s interest in Asia-based pet food businesses has extended from China to India with a commitment of approximately USD 60m to Drools Pet Food, which claims to be the country’s leading local pet food supplier.
Deal focus: How to go global as a neighbourhood shop
Singapore’s Madly, a tech-enabled but e-commerce-averse jeweller, knows that future family heirlooms must be sold with a personal touch. In East Ventures, it felt a rare simpatico
Deal focus: PCG brings light to industrial use cases
Incubated by property developers and backed by a string of specialist investors, distributed power start-up PCG Power is looking to instal solar panels on the rooftops of China’s factories
China fundraising: Zombie apocalypse?
A pullback by US investors is exacerbating difficult fundraising conditions in China. Most managers are either delaying their return to the market or pulling every lever to secure commitments
Profile: Zayn Venture Capital's Faisal Aftab
Weaving geopolitical analysis into the grassroots trenches of seed-stage investment, Faisal Aftab led the deployment of Pakistan’s first VC fund having never previously invested in the country’s start-ups
Marcy, Bessemer back New Zealand-founded Chinese tuition platform
Marcy Venture Partners, an investment firm co-founded by US rap artist Jay-Z, and Bessemer Venture Partners have led a Series B round for Wukong Education, a New Zealand-founded teaching platform specialising in Chinese language training.
BPEA EQT, ChrysCapital buy HDFC's India education finance unit
BPEA EQT and ChrysCapital have agreed to acquire a 90% stake in India-based HDFC’s education finance business at a valuation of INR 103.5bn (USD 1.26bn). It has been described as the largest-ever private equity buyout in the country’s financial services...
Indonesia microfinance player Amartha raises $100m
Indonesia’s Amartha, a small business lender focused on rural women entrepreneurs, has raised USD 100m in debt financing from US impact investor Community Investment Management (CIM).
China semiconductor player Eswin raises $420m
Beijing Eswin Technology Group, a semiconductor products and services supplier, has raised a CNY 3bn (USD 420m) Series D round led by Beijing Financial Street Operation Center.
India's HomeLane raises $9m bridge round
India’s HomeLane, an interior design start-up backed by several venture capital firms, has raised a INR 750m (USD 9.1m) bridge round from unspecified existing backers.
Advantage Partners SPAC agrees recycling merger
A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) affiliated with Japan’s Advantage Partners has agreed to merge with Jeplan, a local recycling business specialising in plastic waste.
Hildrics Capital backs Malaysian rubber producer
Singapore-based private equity firm Hildrics Capital has acquired an 8.2% stake in Malaysia-listed GIIB Rubber, a supplier of gloves and industrial rubber-based components.
GGV, Soul Capital lead Series B for China's Yunmanman
Yunmanman, a cold-chain logistics start-up incubated by trucking platform Manbang, has raised a Series B round of several hundred million renminbi led by GGV Capital and Soul Capital. Xiang He Capital also took part.
Australia's Blackbird backs virtual football league
Blackbird Ventures has led a AUD 3m (USD 2m) pre-seed round for One Future Football (1FF), a Melbourne-based start-up that has launched an entirely virtual global football league.