Investments
India's Zolve raises $15m seed round
Accel and Lightspeed Venture Partners have led a $15 million seed round for Zolve, an India-based digital bank focused on cross-border services.
China's Regor Therapeutics raises $90m Series B
Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) has led a $90 million Series B round for Regor Therapeutics, a Chinese drug developer specializing in bioinformatics.
China self-driving truck player Plus raises $200m
Plus, a China-based autonomous driving technology developer that specializes in trucks, has completed a $200 million round of funding led by Guotai Junan International, CPE, and automotive partssupplier Wanxiang.
Carlyle to invest $200m in Korea's Kakao Mobility
The Carlyle Group has invested $200 million in Kakao Mobility, a transportation-focused spinout from Korea’s Kakao Corporation that offers taxi-hailing, designated driver, and other services.
Chinese virotherapy specialist Binhui Biotech raises $93m
Wuhan-based Binhui Biotech has raised RMB600 million ($93 million) in Series C funding led by Shenzhen-based Share Capital. Other investors include CICC Capital, Vertex Ventures China and Qianhai FOF under Shenzhen Capital Group.
Korean retailer Shinsegae invests in Southeast Asia's Grab
Korean retailer Shinsegae has invested in ride-hailing and online-to-offline services (O2O) platform Grab, as financial and strategic players from Korea and Japan continue their push into Southeast Asian technology unicorns.
Deal focus: Asia Green Fund secures DuPont carve-out
Asia Green Fund reunited with the team at special situations investor BroadPeak Global for the $510 million acquisition of DuPont's clean energy unit. Driving expansion in China is now the priority
Vintage update: India 2011-2013
A selection of India-based assets that remain in the portfolios of Accel Partners, Aditya Birla Private Equity, BanyanTree Finance Private, Faering Capital, and Helion Venture Partners
India's KreditBee secures $75m Series C
Premji Invest, Mirae Asset Capital, Alpine Capital and Arkam Ventures have contributed $75 million in Series C funding for Indian financial technology start-up KreditBee.
China EV maker WM Motor gets $1.7b in debt financing
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer WM Motor has secured RMB11.5 billion ($1.78 billion) in debt from domestic banks. It follows a RMB10 billion equity funding round featuring several government investors.
New Frontier to privatize US-listed China hospital business
The New Frontier Group-led consortium that acquired Chinese hospital operator United Family Healthcare (UFH) through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in 2019 is now looking to take the US-listed business private at a valuation of around $1.6...
Carlyle abandons pursuit of Japan Asia Group
The Carlyle Group and the chairman of Japan Asia Group (JAG) have abandoned their bid for the company after a tender offer failed to generate sufficient shareholder support.
China's Meishubao gets $40m Series D extension
Meishubao, a China-based online art education platform, has completed a Series D extension of more than $40 million that takes the overall funding round past $250 million.
India SaaS: Global first
India’s enterprise software start-ups have traditionally ceded the spotlight to their consumer-facing peers, primarily because of their outlook – and their VC backers – are US-oriented. That is now changing
Sequoia, Tencent lead Series E for China's Miaoshou Doctor
Beijing Yuanxin Technology, operator of China-based online healthcare services platform Miaoshou Doctor, has raised RMB3 billion ($466 million) in Series E funding led by Sequoia Capital China and Tencent Holdings.
Indian news app Dailyhunt raises $100m
Indian news app Dailyhunt has raised $100 million led by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Glade Brook Capital Partners. It extends a $102 million Series H round last year featuring Google.
Match buys VC-backed Korean social platform for $1.7b
Hyperconnect, a Korean social media platform backed by Altos Ventures and SoftBank Ventures Korea, has agreed to an acquisition by online dating giant Match Group for $1.73 billion in cash and stock.
MBK targets $639m acquisition of Japan aged care business
MBK Partners has joined the list of private equity firms pursuing deals in Japan’s aged care and healthcare space, having launched a tender offer for Tsukui Holdings Corporation at a valuation of JPY66.9 billion ($639 million).
Advent buys majority stake in India's ZCL, MSPEA exits
Advent International has agreed to acquire Indian pharmaceuticals supplier ZCL Chemicals, setting up a minority exit for Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA).
Brunei, CPE join Series C extension for China's Pony.ai
Chinese autonomous driving technology supplier Pony.ai has secured a Series C extension of $100 million featuring new investors Brunei Investment Agency and CPE. It takes the company’s total funding to date past $1.1 billion.
China robotics: Automation nation
China is a global leader in robot manufacturing, but only in areas characterized by high volumes and low technology value. Can more start-ups climb from medium-tech to hard-tech?
China vocational education provider gets $390m Series A
Fenbi, a China-based vocational education platform, has raised $390 million in a Series A round led by IDG Capital and Trustbridge Partners. Hony Capital also took part.
MIRA makes $2.6b bid for Australia's Vocus
Macquarie Infrastructure & Real Assets (MIRA) has offered to acquire Australian broadband internet provider Vocus Group for about A$3.4 billion ($2.6 billion). It follows a string of abandoned bids.
AVCJ Awards 2020: Special Achievement: Lip-Bu Tan
Recognized as one of the pioneers of venture capital in Asia, Walden International’s Lip-Bu Tan still gets a kick out of leveraging his years of experience to help nascent start-ups