Investments
Bain to acquire Kantar Australia division for $114m
Bain Capital has agreed to buy the Australia and New Zealand businesses of market research and consulting company Kantar from the local branch of UK-based media conglomerate WPP Group for A$168 million ($114 million).
Chiratae backs Indian robotics developer Miko
Chiratae Ventures has led a $7.5 million Series A round for Miko, an India-based developer of robots for children.
VinaCapital invests in Vietnam logistics tech start-up
The venture capital arm of Vietnam’s VinaCapital has invested an undisclosed sum in local logistics technology start-up An Vui.
Twitter leads $100m round for India's ShareChat
Twitter has led a $100 million round for Indian social networking platform ShareChat with support from private equity investor Trustbridge Partners.
Korean biotech player gets $137m Series B
D&D Pharmatech, a South Korean biotechnology company, has raised a $137 million Series B round from a group of Korean and US investors.
GIC to invest in China data centers
Singapore’s GIC Private has agreed to acquire an unspecified number of data centers in China through a partnership with specialist developer GDS Holdings.
KKR's China digital marketing platform gets expansion round
Cue, a China-focused digital marketing platform created last year by KKR, has raised its first round of expansion funding led by Anchor Equity Partners.
SSG targets wider array of distressed sellers for Fund V
SSG Capital Partners expects to source distressed assets from a wider variety of sellers – including other alternative investment firms and investment banks – during the life of its fifth Asia fund, which is on track to exceed its target of $1.5 billion.
Korea's Pavilion to pay $54m for firefighting business
Korea’s Pavilion Private Equity has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in domestic firefighting equipment maker Paratech for about KRW65 billion ($54 million).
India, US-based speech AI player Uniphore raises $51m
Asian VCs have backed a $51 million Series C round for Uniphore, an India and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) developer focused on speech recognition.
Sequoia, Matrix join $20m round for Chinese fintech player
Sequoia Capital China and Matrix Partners have joined a $20 million round for Chinese financial technology provider QFPay.
China's PE-backed Zhihu raises $434m Series F round
Zhihu, a Chinese question-and-answer platform, has raised a $434 million Series F round led by domestic search engine Baidu and short video site Beijing Kuaishou Technology.
Kotak closes India distressed asset fund at $1b
The Kotak Special Situations Fund, which is sponsored by an alternative assets arm of Kotak Mahindra Group focused on Indian non-performing loans (NPLs), has reached a final close of $1 billion.
Bertelsmann leads $30m round for India fintech start-up
Bertelsmann India Investments has led a $30 million funding round for Rupeek, an India-based online gold loan marketplace.
Naspers leads $125m round for India's Meesho
Naspers has led a $125 million round for Indian e-commerce platform Meesho with support from Facebook and a number of existing VC investors.
Chinese smart city platform developer raises $283m
China Everbright has led the first phase of Series C round – worth RMB2 billion ($283 million) – for Terminus Technologies, a Chinese supplier of city-level internet of things (IoT) platforms.
KKR to acquire China business of Hong Kong-listed NVC
KKR has announced a strategic partnership with Hong Kong-listed lighting solutions company NVC Lighting in which the GP will acquire a controlling stake in NVC’s mainland China business.
India's Lendingkart raises $30m Series D
Indian financial technology platform Lendingkart has raised a INR2.1 billion ($29.9 million) Series D round from existing investors Fullerton Financial Holdings, Bertelsmann India Investment, and India Quotient.
Kleiner Perkins, Aspex lead $64m round for Korea's Viva Republica
Kleiner Perkins and Aspex Management, a pan-Asia investor founded in Hong Kong last year, have led a $64 million round for Korean financial technology start-up Viva Republica.
China's Biocytogen gets $78m Series D
Chinese contract research organization (CRO) Biocytogen has raised a RMB543 million ($78 million) Series D round led by China Life Insurance and SDIC Venture Capital, a VC arm of the State Development & Investment Corporation (SDIC).
Carbon recycling specialist raises $72m Series E
Novo Holdings, a Danish venture and growth equity investor focused on life sciences, has provided $72 million in Series E funding to LanzaTech, a US carbon recycling specialist with a significant Asia presence.
Integral agrees carve-out of Japanese refrigerator supplier
Integral Corporation has agreed a JPY50 billion ($471 million) carve-out of a subsidiary of Tokyo-listed Sanden Holdings Corporation that supplies refrigerators for use in convenience stores and vending machines.
Lazard's Nick Miles take on Asia-Europe role
Nick Miles, leader of the Asia private capital advisory team at Lazard, has taken on a newly created role intended to enhance collaboration between the firm’s operations in Asia and Europe.
CDC leads $21m round for Indian fintech player
UK government-backed development finance institution CDC Group has led a $21 million round for Indifi Technologies, a company that facilitates loans for small to medium-sized enterprises (SME) in India.
