Fundraising
India's Fireside reaches $28m first close on debut fund
Fireside Ventures, an Indian VC firm set up by Helion Venture Partners co-founder Kanwaljit Singh (pictured), has reached a first close of INR1.8 billion ($28 million) on its debut fund.
India, Russia investors form $200m cross-border IT fund
India-listed Srei Infrastructure Finance and Russia’s state-backed Vnesheconombank have agreed to establish a $200 million fund that will promote IT and innovation exchange between the two countries.
ShoreVest targets $750m for China distress fund
ShoreVest Capital Partners, a China-focused distress and special situations investor created by former executives from Shoreline Capital, is looking to raise $750 million for its debut fund.
Lakson Investments becomes Pakistan's first VC firm
Pakistan’s Lakson Investments claims to have been awarded the country’s first venture capital license with the launch of a new fund that will target domestic start-ups.
Asia fundraising: Demand and supply
Capital is pouring into the asset class, globally and in Asia, to the benefit of brand-name buyout managers. Deploying a large fund in Asia means squeezing as much deal flow as possible out of each jurisdiction
Thailand's Kasikorn Bank launches $29m fintech fund
Beacon Venture Capital, the VC arm of Thailand-based Kasikorn Bank, has launched a fund aimed at financial technology start-ups with a corpus of THB1 billion ($29 million).
Hamilton Lane raises its largest-ever global secondaries fund
Hamilton Lane has closed its latest global secondaries fund at $1.9 billion. It is the largest secondaries vehicle the firm has ever raised, coming in at more than twice the size of the previous fund.
L Catterton targets $1.25b for third Asia fund
L Catterton Asia – the regional arm of L Capital, which merged with US-based Catterton last year – is looking to raise $1.25 billion for its third fund.
Fund focus: Safe hands
With $9.3 billion in dry powder, KKR aims to capitalize on growing big-ticket opportunities in the region. The large and rapid fundraise is further evidence of the flight to quality among LPs
Legend raises $448m for seventh China VC fund
Legend Capital has closed its seventh China-focused venture capital fund at $448 million. The vehicle is smaller than the firm’s previous vehicle – which raised $500 million in about five months – and spent longer in the market.
PE and Islamic finance: Underlying themes
Encouraging trends in population, social mobility, commodities, technology, and governance standards are converging on Islamic finance. PE plays a small role with strong upside in Asia
Sequoia discloses China, India fundraising activity
Sequoia Capital has topped up its fourth India fund – having closed the fifth country vehicle early last year – and disclosed that its most recent China growth vehicle closed at $899.5 million.
Fund focus: Lyfe attracts a diversified following for Fund II
Having been supported by fund-of-funds when raising its first China healthcare vehicle, Lyfe Capital has added pension funds, endowments and family offices to its $420 million second fund
Asia Alternatives gets $100m from Minnesota SBI
Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) has committed to $100 million to Asia Alternatives’ fifth fund-of-funds, having recently increased its exposure to the region through vehicles managed by Warburg Pincus and KKR.
KKR closes third Asian fund at $9.3b
KKR has closed its third pan-regional fund at $9.3 billion, breaking its own record for the largest pool of private equity capital ever raised for deployment in Asia. The fundraising process took less than seven months and the vehicle is said to have...
Placement agent First Avenue opens Korea office
Private funds and corporate placement agent First Avenue has opened an office in Seoul, adding to its existing Asia Pacific bases in Hong Kong and Sydney.
Fund focus: Gree widens its regional scope
For its $67 million second fund, Gree Ventures has added India to its existing Japan and Southeast Asia coverage with a view to facilitating wider cross-border collaboration
China's Lyfe Capital raises $420m for second healthcare fund
China-based healthcare specialist Lyfe Capital has raised more than $420 million for its second fund, which comprises parallel US dollar and renminbi-denominated tranches.
Helion co-founder launches $100m India fintech fund
Rahul Chandra, co-founder and managing director at India-based Helion Venture Partners, is looking to raise $100 million for an early-stage fund. He will retain his existing portfolio management responsibilities at Helion.
China's Bona Film forms $150m fund with US-based CAA
Chinese film distributor Bona Film Group, which is backed by a handful of PE and strategic investors, has teamed up with Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to launch a $150 million film fund.
Artesian closes $19.5m Australian cleantech fund
Australian venture capital firm Artesian Venture Partners has raised A$26 million ($19.5 million) for a domestic clean energy fund with a A$10 million cornerstone investment from the government’s A$1 billion Clean Energy Innovation Fund.
Big beast: The SoftBank Vision Fund
SoftBank's global technology fund is significant enough to redraw the private equity investment opportunity in certain industries, if not to redraw the industries themselves
Japan's Gree Ventures closes second fund at $67m
Gree Ventures, which was set up by Japanese mobile gaming company Gree, has closed its second early-stage VC fund at $67 million.
Australia's CHAMP PE closes Fund IV at $547m
CHAMP Private Equity has reached a final close of A$735 million ($547 million) on its fourth Australia and New Zealand-focused fund.