Venture
BlueRun closes third China VC fund at $200m
BlueRun Ventures has closed its third China-focused venture capital fund at $200 million, targeting early stage start-ups.
Bangladesh-based SureCash gets $7m Series B round
Bangladeshi mobile banking and payments operator SureCash has raised a $7 million Series B round of funding from Asian frontier market investor Osiris Group.
SEBI considers allowing India VC funds to boost overseas exposure
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is to revise rules governing locally-registered VC funds, allowing them to invest up to a quarter of the their capital overseas - provided the companies hold some operations in India.
Accel, SAIF in $12m Series B round for Coverfox
Indian online insurance marketplace Coverfox has raised a INR750 million ($12 million) Series B round from existing investors Accel Partners and SAIF India.
Biocon to list IVFA-backed India CRO unit
Indian biopharmaceutical firm Biocon has filed for an IPO for its research arm Syngene International, which is backed by India Value Fund Advisors (IVFA).
DBS, Hong Kong’s Nest to launch fintech accelerator
DBS Bank has partnered with Hong Kong-based seed investor Nest to launch a financial technology (fintech) accelerator program.
Mayfield leads Series C for Indian education tech start-up
Mayfield has led a $15 million Series C round for Indian IT certification start-up Simplilearn, with participation from previous investors Kalaari Capital and Helion Venture Partners.
Southeast Asia Netflix clone gets $30m in funding
Iflix, a Southeast Asian video-on-demand platform with a similar business model to Netflix, has received $30 million from Catcha Group and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT).
Financial comparison site CompareAsiaGroup gets $40m round
CompareAsiaGroup, a primarily Southeast Asia-focused service that allows consumers to compare different financial products, has completed a $40 million round of funding that will be used to support further expansion.
China's Cybernaut partners with Russian firm for $200m fund
China's Cybernaut Capital has agreed to form a $200 million venture fund, a start-up incubator and a robotics development center with Russia's government-backed Skolkovo Foundation.
Profile: Kalaari Capital's Vani Kola
It has been nearly a decade since Vani Kola, managing director of Kalaari Capital, went from being Silicon Valley entrepreneur to an India venture capitalist. The big move appears to have paid off
Investors pay big for India grocery exposure
The last year has seen an explosion of interest in India’s grocery delivery apps. Customers order food and other goods on their smart phones; the order goes to a buyer, who purchases the goods and then delivers them to the customer’s home. The approach...
Deal focus: Ninebot’s innovation keeps it rolling
China's legendary traffic jams are a source of frustration to countless tourists and locals, not to mention a major cause of pollution. With studies putting the average speed of traffic in Beijing at 7.5 miles per hour, there is a clear opportunity for...
China crowdfunding: The madding crowd
With established Chinese companies, led by e-commerce giant JD.com, getting involved in equity crowdfunding, will these platforms gain traction as a financing channel for Chinese start-ups?
Investec Bank leads $84m round for China P2P lending site
South African-based Investec Bank has led an $84 million Series C round of funding for Jimubox, a Chinese peer-to-peer (P2P) online lending platform, with participation from Haitong Kaiyuan, a PE arm of Haitong Securities.
Singapore's TradeGecko receives NSI, Jungle backing
Singapore-based inventory management platform TradeGecko has raised a $6.5 million Series A round of funding led by NSI Ventures and existing investor Jungle Ventures.
Keytone leads $20m round for China auto service site
Keytone Ventures has led a $20 million Series A round of funding for Chemayi, a Chinese auto after-sales service platform.
Japan crowd translation start-up raises $5.4m
Japan's Recruit Holdings has led a $5.4 million Series C round of funding for crowdsourced translation company Gengo.
Brandon raises $154m for Australia life sciences fund
Australian life sciences-focused VC firm Brandon Capital has reached a A$200 million ($154 million) final close on its latest vehicle - the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund 3 (MRCF 3).
PE, Alibaba-backed Baozun to list in the US
Baozun, a Chinese e-commerce platform solutions provider, has filed for an IPO in the US. Backers include Alibaba Group, SoftBank Corporation, Goldman Sachs, Crescent Group, Infinity Group and New Access Capital.
India's Freshdesk raises $50m Series E from existing investors
Online customer support start-up Freshdesk has raised $50 million in Series E funding from existing investors Tiger Global Management, Google Capital and Accel Partners.
India classifieds platform raises $28m from GIC, Norwest
Singapore’s GIC Private has led a Series C round of funding worth INR1.75 billion ($28 million) for Sulekha.com, an India-based classifieds platform based in India. Existing investor Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) also participated.
India's Robosoft gets Series B round, spins out subsidiaries
Indian mobile app developer Robosoft will spin off its subsidiaries after receiving a INR740 million ($11.8 million) Series B round led by Ascent Capital, with participation by existing investor Kalaari Capital.
CBC leads $10m round for Chinese auto repair start-up Kalading
Chinese auto repair start-up Kalading has raised a $10 million Series A round led by CBC Capital. Existing investor Gobi Partners also participated, as did Geek Partners.