Financials
Corporate VC: Appetite for disruption
Banks across Asia are leveraging their capital and domain expertise to stay ahead of the curve on financial technology. Each aspect of the corporate VC ecosystem engages with start-ups in different ways
Q&A: Airwallex's Jack Zhang
Hong Kong-headquartered Airwallex has grown from nothing to a $2.6 billion valuation in the space of six years. Co-founder and CEO Jack Zhang details his plans to build a global financial technology stack
Affinity backs Singapore financial SaaS platform
Affinity Equity Partners has taken a joint controlling stake alongside management in Singapore-based technology-enabled financial services provider M-Daq, following an investment of approximately S$200 million ($148 million).
CoinDCX raises $90m, becomes India's first crypto unicorn
B Capital Group has led a $90 million Series C round for Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX at a valuation of $1.1 billion, making it the country’s first crypto unicorn.
Lightspeed leads $35m round for Indonesia crypto player
Lightspeed Venture Partners has led a $35 million Series A extension for Pintu, one of Indonesia’s leading cryptocurrency wallets and trading platforms. It follows a $6 million tranche in May.
Deal focus: GA backs VNLife's two-pronged fintech play
VNLife is not alone in trying to build value-added services onto a payment platform in Vietnam, but it is unusual in being able to rely on a profitable B2B digital banking business while figuring out monetization
Tower Capital backs $230m Singapore business services carve-out
Tower Capital is backing a consortium seeking to carve out business services provider Boardroom from Singapore-listed GK Goh Holdings at a valuation of S$312 million ($230 million).
Indonesia's Arise reaches first close on seed fund
Indonesia’s Arise, a seed investor set up by MDI Ventures and financial technology specialist Finch Capital, has reached a first close of unspecified size on its debut fund. The target is $40 million.
India's BharatPe achieves $2.8b valuation on $370m Series E
Indian payments player BharatPe has raised $370 million in Series E funding led by Tiger Global Management. The $2.85 valuation means the company joins the country’s fast-growing collection of tech unicorns.
PE-backed Policybazaar, Nykaa file for India IPOs
Insurance portal PolicyBazaar and online-offline cosmetics retailer Nykaa are the latest PE-backed businesses to file for India IPOs in a groundswell domestic public market support for tech start-ups.
Southeast Asia's FinAccel agrees $2b SPAC merger
FinAccel, operator of Indonesia-focused consumer credit platform Kredivo, has agreed to merge with a US-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) at an enterprise valuation of $2 billion.
Asia digital assets platform Matrixport hits $1b valuation
Matrixport, a two-year-old crypto financial services platform based in Singapore, has closed a $100 million Series C round at a valuation of $1 billion.
GA, Dragoneer lead $250m Series B for Vietnam's VNLife
General Atlantic and Dragoneer Investment Group have led a $250 million Series B round for Vietnamese financial technology provider VNLife.
India crypto platform raises $25m Series A
Indian cryptocurrency borrowing and lending platform Vauld has raised a $25 million Series A round led by Valar Ventures, a firm co-founded by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.
Airwallex founders launch VC fund
The founders of Hong Kong-headquartered financial technology provider Airwallex, which has received $500 million in VC funding, have launched their own venture capital fund.
Riverwood leads $200m Series D for SE Asia payments player Nium
Riverwood Capital has led a $200 million Series D round for Singapore-based cross-border payments technology provider Nium at an approximately $1 billion valuation.
Incofin hits $60m first close on India impact fund
Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management, which focuses on financial inclusion and developing market agri-food segments, has reached a first close of $60 million for an India impact fund.
Hong Kong-based crypto exchange FTX raises $900m
FTX, a Hong Kong-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange, has raised $900 million in Series B funding at a valuation of $18 billion, up from $1.2 billion on closing the Series A last year.
Deal focus: Targeting an insurance pain point
India’s Digit Insurance has achieved a valuation of $3.5 billion in four years with a thesis that simple is better – and more trustworthy. COVID-19 added more rocket fuel
India's Paytm targets $2.2b domestic IPO
Paytm, India’s largest digital payments company, has filed for an INR166 billion ($2.2 billion) domestic IPO, setting up exits for several private equity investors.
VC-backed Mobikwik files for India IPO
Indian digital payments provider Mobikwik is looking to raise up to INR19 billion ($255 million) through a domestic IPO that would facilitate partial exits for a string of investors.
Temasek's portfolio rebounds to record high
Temasek Holdings shook off last year’s retraction in value to post its highest shareholder return in 11 years, with the overall portfolio reaching a record S$381 billion ($281 billion) for the 12 months ended March.
India's Pine Labs raises $315m at $3.5b valuation
Indian financial technology provider Pine Labs has raised a $315 million round featuring BlackRock at a post-money valuation of about $3.5 billion.
Australia's PEP to exit investor services business AST
Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) is poised to exit American Stock Transfer & Trust (AST), its longest-held portfolio company, following an agreement to sell the business to US-based Siris Capital.