Funds
China photo-sharing app Blink secures $20m round
Blink, a Chinese photo sharing and messaging mobile app, has raised $20 million in Series A funding from Tencent Holdings, Sequoia Capital, H Capital, ZhenFund and Innovation Works.
CDH VC, Pine invest in China cloud service provider Upyun
CDH Ventures and Pine Capital have provided a Series A round of funding for Upyun, a Chinese cloud services specialist.
Tamarisc leads Series A round for Australia’s Serraview
Australian software-as-a-service (SaaS) start-up Serraview has raised a Series A round of funding from US-based venture capital firm Tamarisc as it looks to expand into US markets.
PE-backed Luye Pharma to take full ownership of Beijing Jialin
Luye Pharma Group, a PE-backed Chinese drug maker, has taken full ownership of its industry peer Beijing Jialin Pharmaceutical, acquiring a 42.02% interest from existing PE shareholders.
Vertex leads investment in China household services app
Vertex Venture, an investment unit of Temasek Holdings, has led a Series B round for Ayibang, a Chinese housekeeping service booking app, with participation from Shunwei Capital Partners and Ceyuan Ventures.
Tencent, Tiger Global lead $350m round for China mobile shopping app
Koudai Gouwu, a Chinese mobile shopping portal, has raised a $350 million Series C round of funding led by Tencent Holdings and Tiger Global. H Capital, VY Capital and DST Advisors also participated.
Centerbridge leads $352m restructuring of Australia-listed miner
Centerbridge Partners will support a $352 million restructuring plan for Boart Longyear, an Australia Securities Exchange-listed mining services provider that has struggled as falling commodities prices prompt a scaling back in exploration.
Sequoia leads $55m Series C for Chinese English-study site
Sequoia Capital has led a $55 million Series C round of funding for 51Talk, a Chinese online English-teaching platform, with participation from Shunwei Capital Partners and DCM.
Mizuho Capital to launch $300m SME mezzanine fund
Mizuho Capital Partners is set to launch a new JPY30 billion ($277 million) mezzanine fund which will support Japanese small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the form of subordinated loans and preferred shares.
IDG-backed Sky Solar seeks up to $150m in US IPO
Sky Solar Holdings, a Hong Kong-based independent power producer (IPP) backed by IDG-Accel China Capital, plans to raise up to $150 million through a US IPO.
Singapore’s Infocomm Investments extends reach to Europe
Infocomm Investments, a VC arm of the Singapore government-backed Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), has opened an office in London, its second overseas base after Silicon Valley.
SoftBank leads $100m round for Indonesia e-commerce player
SoftBank will lead a $100 million round of funding for Tokopedia, an Indonesian online marketplace. Sequoia Capital will also participate alongside existing investor SB Pan Asia Fund.
Advent hires ex-Evonik China president for chemicals coverage
Advent International has hired Dr Dahai Yu - the former president of Evonik China - as operating partner to cover its investments in the chemicals sector.
China’s Baidu, Ping An, Qihoo360 invest in Israeli VC fund
Israeli VC firm Carmel Ventures has reached a $194 million final close on its latest VC fund with participation Chinese tech giants Baidu and Qihoo360 as well as insurer Ping An Group.
Deutsche AWM raises $1.65b for global secondaries fund
Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) has reached a first and final close on its third global secondaries fund at the hard cap of $1.655 billion.
Lightbox II builds on Indian legacy
Earlier this year Kleiner Perkins Caufeild & Byers (KPCB) and Sherpalo Ventures - the investment firm founded by Ram Shriram - decided to bring their nine-year Indian adventure to a close and refocus on the US.
Australia's OneVentures hits $53m first close on second VC fund
Australian venture capital firm OneVentures has reached a A$60 million ($53 million) first close second fund, which is looking to raise $100 million for Series B and C stage investments.
Intel Capital invests $28m from China smart device fund
Intel Capital, the US chip maker's corporate venture capital arm, has invested $28 million from its China Smart Device Innovation Fund (CSDIF) into a batch of technology start-ups.
VC-backed eHi Car Rental invests in China’s Kuaidi Dache
Chinese car rental firm eHi Car Services, which has several VC backers and is targeting a US IPO, has invested $25 million in Kuaidi Dache, one of the country’s two dominant taxi-booking apps.
Japanese mobile app Quan gets VC backing
Japanese mobile game developer Quan has received an undisclosed sum from a group of domestic VC investors.
Permira exits Japan's Arysta LifeScience to US strategic for $3.5b
Permira has exited its investment in Japanese agricultural chemicals maker Arysta LifeSciences to US chemicals firm Platform Specialty Products (PSP) for about $3.51 billion.
Tiger Global leads Series C round for GrabTaxi
Tiger Global Management has led a Series C round of funding for GrabTaxi, a Southeast Asian-focused taxi-booking mobile phone app.
Japan online home-hunter service bags $2m from VCs
Japan's YJ Capital and Incubate Fund have invested JPY200 million ($1.9 million) in Ietty, a Tokyo-based start-up that runs an online platform for home-hunters.
Tembusu provides seed round for Singapore’s GNum
Tembusu Partners has committed S$7 million ($5.5 million) in seed funding to GNum, developer of a patent-pending technology that allows calls from PCs and handheld devices to be routed to a user’s mobile phone without the need to first download an app.