South Asia
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...
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,...
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.
Everstone tables buyout offer for Singapore’s Harry’s Holdings
Everstone Capital has launched a takeover bid for Singapore-listed bar and restaurant operator Harry’s Holdings worth up to S$21.8 million ($17.8 million). The company founder, Mohan Mulani, and his wife Rita – who between them have a 45.9% stake...
DE Shaw downsizes India private equity business
DE Shaw, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, is said to be downsizing its private equity business in India, six years after launching operations in the country.
Tata Capital to set up $1b fund with Power Finance
Tata Capital has teamed up with Power Finance Corp (PFC), an Indian power sector financing specialist, to set up a $1 billion private equity fund to invest in domestic power projects.
SEBI settles charges against power sector VC fund
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has agreed to a INR3.7 million ($69,000) settlement against power sector venture capital fund Small is Beautiful for its alleged violation of venture capital investment regulations.
ChrysCapital, CX Partners buy minority stake in KPIT Cummins
ChrysCapital and CX Partners have purchased a stake in Indian IT firm KPIT Cummins Infosystems by investing INR1.6 billion ($30 million) in a preferential allotment of 12.9 million shares.
India mobile payment firm raises Series A round
Mobile payments company Ezetap Mobile Solution has raised a Series A round of funding from Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Social+Capital Partnership, PayPal’s Peter Thiel and David Sacks of Microsoft, among others. Existing investor AngelPrime...