Consumer
Allegro-owned retailer completes $44m Australia IPO
Best & Less Group (BLG), an Australian baby, kids and womenswear retailer, has raised A$60 million ($44 million) through a domestic IPO, facilitating a partial exit for majority owner Allegro Funds Group.
Asia Partners, Falcon Edge back Indonesia's GudangAda
Asia Partners and Falcon Eduge Capital have led a $100 million Series B round for GudangAda, an Indonesian online marketplace that targets wholesale and small-scale retailers.
Black Ant, GenBridge lead Series B for China coffee chain
M Stand - a China-based coffee shop chain with ambitions to become the Starbucks for China's younger generation - has raised RMB500 million ($77 million) in Series B funding led by Black Ant Capital and GenBridge Capital.
China petcare brand raises $31m
Chongxing, a Chinese petcare brand, has raised RMB200 million ($31 million) in a third tranche of Series B funding from Tencent Holdings, Hony Capital, HighLight Capital, Vertex Ventures China, and Meridian Capital.
J-GIA carves out furniture business from Japan's Seven & i
Japan Growth Investments Alliance (J-GIA) has agreed to buy a majority stake in furniture and home décor business Francfranc – which has stores in Japan and Hong Kong – from Seven & i Holdings, the parent of 7-Eleven.
Vision Fund, Prosus lead $1.25b round for India's Swiggy
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Prosus Ventures have led a $1.25 billion funding round for Swiggy, an India-based on-demand delivery platform.
India's Lenskart raises $220m at $2.5b valuation
Indian eyewear retailer Lenskart has raised a $220 million round led by Temasek Holdings and Falcon Edge Capital at a valuation of $2.5 million.
China beauty: Service with a smile
Beauty and wellness are at the vanguard of China’s fast-rising services sector. Investors see clear paths to growth, but size presents a plethora of problems in terms of standardizing service quality
Deal focus: Neiwai realizes value offline
Vertex Ventures China was adamant that Neiwai should expand offline on leading a Series B for the lingerie brand in 2017. Four years and two rounds later, the strategy is paying off
PatPat raises $510m across Series C, D rounds
PatPat, a Chinese-founded children’s wear brand that claims to be the world’s largest direct-to-consumer (DTC) player in its segment, has raised $510 million across two rounds of funding.
Carlyle leads $100m Series D for Chinese lingerie brand
Chinese lingerie brand Neiwai has raised a $100 million Series D round led by The Carlyle Group. Vertex Ventures China and Qiming Venture Partners re-upped.
Vision Fund commits $1.7b to Korean travel start-up Yanolja
Yanolja, which claims to be South Korea’s only travel industry unicorn, has received $1.7 billion from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. There are no other investors in the round.
GGV, Tiger Global lead $50m round for China bakery brand
Tiger Attitude, a China-based bakery brand, has raised a $50 million Series A round led by GGV Capital and Tiger Global. Both IDG Capital and Sequoia Capital China re-upped, having participated in a pre-Series A in January alongside Challenjers Capital.
India media platform Pratilipi raises $48m Series D
Pratilipi, a literature, comics, and audio storytelling platform with service in 12 Indian languages, has raised a $48 million Series D that will see the start-up branch into gaming.
Singapore’s Next Gen gets $20m for US push
Singapore’s Next Gen Foods, which markets the vegetarian chicken brand Tindle, has raised $20 million from VCs including GGV Capital, with a view to entering the US.
India's Flipkart completes $3.6b funding round
Walmart-controlled Flipkart, one of India’s largest e-commerce players, has raised $3.6 billion at a valuation of $37.6 billion with significant private equity support.
Deal focus: Hefu does dining at scale
China restaurant chain Hefu Noodle caters to a lunchtime office-worker client base from a network of central kitchens. Meridian Capital is one of several investors sold on the expansion opportunity
Indonesia's Bukalapak set for domestic IPO
Indonesian e-commerce platform Bukalapak – which counts GIC, and Microsoft among its investors – has unveiled plans to become the first of the country’s technology unicorns to complete a domestic IPO.
India's Ola receives $500m pre-IPO round
Temasek Holdings and Warburg Pincus have joined a $500 million in Indian ride-hailing platform Ola ahead of an IPO.
Korea's Kurly raises $200m, targets domestic listing
Korean grocery delivery platform operator Kurly has raised a $200 million Series F round at a valuation of $2.2 billion, as plans for a US IPO are scrapped in favor of a local listing.
China community group buying platform Tongcheng Life goes bust
Tongcheng Life, a China-based community group buying business incubated by online travel agency Tongcheng-Elong, has announced its bankruptcy, blaming "poor management."
Tiger Global leads $144m round for India's DealShare
Tiger Global Management has led a $144 million Series D round for Indian social e-commerce start-up DealShare.
CMC leads $123m Series E for China noodle shop chain
CMC Capital has led a Series E funding round of nearly RMB800 million ($123 million) for Hefu Noodle, a Chinese noodle restaurant chain.
China's Crystal Stream backs Egypt e-commerce platform
Chinese VC firm Crystal Stream Capital has doubled down on a Middle East and Africa strategy with participation in a $40 million investment in Egyptian logistics start-up MaxAB.
