South Asia
CPPIB cleared to invest in India's Delhivery
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has been cleared to acquire a stake of up to 8% in Indian e-commerce logistics service provider Delhivery.
Fund focus: Kotak exploits distressed assets edge
Kotak Mahindra Group hopes his longstanding experience in financial services will serve as a differentiator as it looks for deals in India's increasingly popular distressed space
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.
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.
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.
PE-backed CSB files for India IPO
CSB, an Indian private bank with several private equity backers, has filed for an IPO that is expected to raise at least INR300 million ($4.2 million). It is the first PE-backed IPO filing in more than nine months.
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.
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.
Women entrepreneurs: Tales from the coalface
Women remain underrepresented in start-up ecosystems across Asia, but for those who have taken the plunge, there is potential to make a social impact that transcends their respective target markets
Pakistan's i2i launches $15m venture fund
Invest2Innovate, an accelerator program for technology start-ups in emerging markets, has launched a $15 million venture capital fund focused on Pakistan.
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.
BlackRock, CLSA invest $53m in India's GoWork
Indian co-working space provider GoWork has raised a $53 million round of debt financing led by BlackRock’s private credit team, with participation by CLSA Capital Partners’ special situations group.
Macro and diversity: All hands on deck
As women participate in economies across Asia in larger numbers, investors must consider how this impacts their target markets. Gender-balanced portfolios will no longer be a nice-to-have
GIC to invest $621m in Indian toll road assets
Singapore’s GIC Private has agreed to invest up to INR44 billion ($621 million) in nine toll road assets controlled by Indian private road and highway firm IRB Infrastructure Developers.
ChrysCapital joins $30m round for Indian co-working space Awfis
Indian private equity firm ChrysCapital has led a $30 million Series D round for local co-working player Awfis Space Solutions.
AustralianSuper, OTPP commit $2b to India's NIIF
AustralianSuper and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) have agreed to commit up to $1 billion each to the National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), a vehicle backed by the Indian government.
Tiger Global leads $75m Series E for India's UrbanClap
India-based local services marketplace UrbanClap has raised a $75 million Series E round led by Tiger Global Management that will provide an exit for some unnamed investors.
India exits: Milking unicorns
Partial exits from Oyo by Sequoia Capital India and Lightspeed India Partners underline the importance of securing liquidity from a technology unicorn while it is still on the rise
Fund focus: Alteria takes venture debt up a level
India’s Alteria Capital closes its debut fund with about $140 million in commitments and a plan to provide venture debt at later stages. Ecosystem creation is a guiding objective
SCPE spinout Affirma completes first deal as an independent
Affirma Capital, a PE firm launched last year as a spin-out of Standard Chartered’s private equity business, has completed its first transaction as an independent firm with a $50 million investment in Indian supplements maker Tirupati Medicare.
Blackstone invests $79m in India's FLF
The Blackstone Group has invested INR5.4 billion in India-listed integration retailer Future Lifestyle Fashions (FLF) through an open market transaction.
India IPOs: Long-term horizons
Indian PE and VC investors expect domestic and overseas public markets to become increasingly attractive exit avenues for their portfolio companies as the global macroeconomic volatility dissipates
