South Asia
CDC to invest $1b in India via LP, direct commitments
CDC Group, the UK government’s development finance arm, plans to commit $1 billion to India over the next 4-5 years, with nearly half of it coming through direct investment. The projection is in line with a wider adjustment in CDC’s mandate that will...
Abraaj-backed Network International buys Indian remittance firm
Abraaj Capital-backed Network International has acquired a majority stake in TimesofMoney, an India-based online remittance company.
India Infoline fund invests $20m in Gurgaon, Mumbai projects
India Infoline (IIFL) has invested INR1.1billion ($20 million) in two residential projects in Mumbai and Gurgaon, through its IIFL Domestic Series I fund.
IncuCapital backs genetic diagnostic start-up
IncuCapital, an incubation and early-stage investment firm, has invested an undisclosed amount in Mumbai-based genetic diagnostics and research start-up Navigene Genetic Science. IncuCapital’s Surojit Nandy will join the Navigene board.
One97 Mobility Fund backs Indian mobile payment player
One97 Mobility Fund has invested an undisclosed amount in Mobiswipe Technologies, a mobile payment solution provider based in Mumbai.
Matrix India invests in Mewar Orthopaedic
Matrix Partners India has taken a minority stake in specialty healthcare provider Mewar Orthopaedic Hospitals for an undisclosed amount as part of a Series A round of investment.
CBay Systems founder moves into venture capital
V. Raman Kumar, the founder of CBay Systems, is setting up two venture capital funds targeting the domestic and international markets. The size of funds will be INR1 billion ($18 million) and INR2.5 billion, respectively.
Secura launches second Shariah compliant VC fund
Secura Investment Management, part of the Hi LITE group, has launched its second India-focused Shariah compliant venture capital fund with a size of INR500 million ($9 million).
Everstone, ICICI invest $23.5m in Sohan Lal Commodity
Everstone Capital and ICICI Bank's Emerging India Fund (EIF) have jointly invested INR1.3 billion ($23.5 million) in Sohan Lal Commodity Management as part of a Series C round of funding. The two investors now own stakes of 25.55% and 6.93%, respectively....
VC-backed Happiest Minds targets IPO by 2019
Happiest Minds Technologies, an Indian cloud-based services provider backed by Canaan Partners and Intel Capital, is targeting an IPO by 2019.
SSG raises $400m Asia distress fund
International investors are currently gun-shy on India, with capital is leaving the country with alacrity, across all asset classes. For Asia-focused distressed investor SSG Capital Partners, India has become an attractive target market.
Please vote in the AVCJ India Awards
Voting has opened for the 2012 AVCJ Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Awards. The region’s private equity community has until November 26 to pay tribute to the leading fundraising, investments, exits, individuals and firms of the past 12 months....
NewQuest to invest $140m in India
Secondaries specialist NewQuest Capital Partners expects to invest about $140 million in India - almost one third of its $400 million NewQuest Asian Fund I.
Last chance to vote in the AVCJ Indian Awards
Voting for the 2012 AVCJ Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Awards closes today. The region’s private equity community has until 5 p.m. (Hong Kong time) to pay tribute to the leading fundraising, investments, exits, individuals and firms of the past...
Squadron's Prasanna joins Morgan Creek in Shanghai
Anand Prasanna, known to many in the industry as Anand RP, will join Morgan Creek Capital Management as a director in their Shanghai office. He left his previous position as an investment director at Squadron Capital, an Asia-focused fund-of-funds, two...
SingTel Inov8 leads Series D round in mobile video firm Vuclip
SingTel Inov8, the venture capital arm of Singapore telecom giant SingTel, has led a $13 million round of series D funding in mobile video firm Vuclip.
Bamboo Finance buys controlling interest in microfinance fund
Bamboo Finance, the Luxemburg-based social investment firm with a strong focus on Asia, has acquired a controlling interest in specialist private equity fund Accion Investments in Microfinance for $105 million.
LPs wary about raising Asia PE allocations above 10% - AVCJ Forum
Institutional investors are generally happy to deploy 10% of their private equity allocation in Asia, but they say it is difficult to justify increasing this portion until risk factors ease and local managers build up stable teams and more substantive...
Investors give prognosis for healthcare investment in Asia - AVCJ Forum
Despite regulatory hurdles and a waning IPO market, the healthcare care sector is an increasingly attractive area of investment for venture capitalists.
India Value Fund reduces fund size by 15%
India Value Fund Advisors (IVFA) has trimmed its fund size by 15%, returning $100 million of the approximately $700 million corpus to LPs in response to changes in the investment environment. Management fees charged on that $100 million since inception...
A question of discipline
Should managers be frowned upon for cutting fund sizes and returning capital to investors? No – provided the decision is strategically justified.
Warburg Pincus backs India's Future Capital
Warburg Pincus' investment in Future Capital Holdings probably wasn’t the first private equity deal conceived on an evening flight from New Delhi to Mumbai and it almost certainly won’t be the last.
AVCJ at 25: Turning points
To mark the 25th anniversary of Asian Venture Capital Journal, we highlight five key phases in the development of asset class in Asia and talk to the individuals involved. Two of the phases are births – of a sort – and the other three are crises, a reminder...
India Infoline gets approval for three funds
India Infoline has received approval from The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to launch its three alternative investment funds (AIFs) – IIFL Venture Fund, IIFL Private Equity Fund and IIFL Opportunities Fund.