Financials
TPG exits Sri Lanka's Union Bank of Colombo
TPG Capital has agreed to exit Union Bank of Colombo (UBC), a Sri Lanka-based lender it has held since 2014, to a Singapore-registered company of unspecified ownership.
India's KreditBee raises $80m Series D
Indian lending start-up KreditBee has raised USD 80m in Series D funding from Premji Invest, NewQuest Capital Partners, Mirae Asset Ventures, MUFG Bank, and Motilal Oswal Alternates (MO Alts).
Hong Kong fintech player XanPool raises $41m
XanPool, a Hong Kong-based cross-border payments infrastructure provider, has raised USD 41m from new investor Target Global and existing backer Antler Elevate.
AirTree, Greycroft back Australia's FrankieOne
Australia’s AirTree Ventures and US-based Greycroft have led a AUD 23m (USD 15.5m) investment in Melbourne-based fraud prevention platform FrankieOne, lifting its Series A round to AUD 45.7m.
Singapore insurance start-up Igloo lifts Series B to $46m
Singapore-based insurance technology start-up Igloo has added USD 27m to an initial USD 19m in Series B funding raised in March. Swiss impact investor BlueOrchard led the extension.
FTX: Crypto dismisses another deathblow
An emerging technology giant has imploded. Regulations are set to tighten. Investors hit pause but remain confident about the long-term outlook. Business as usual in crypto
India's Five Star completes $195m IPO, GPs make partial exits
Five Star Business Finance, an Indian non-banking financial company (NBFC) that has received several rounds of private funding, gained 3% on debut following an INR 15.9bn (USD 195m) domestic IPO.
Crypto’s hyped transparency remains muddy – AVCJ Forum
Centralised finance (cefi) manifestations of decentralised finance (defi) technologies are becoming problematic for mainstream investors, the AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Forum heard.
India fintech player Lentra gets $60m Series B
India’s Lentra, a financial technology provider focused on cloud-based lending, has raised USD 60m in Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners and SIG Venture Capital.
Australia's Perpetual rejects improved BPEA EQT, Regal bid
BPEA EQT – formerly Baring Private Equity Asia – and Regal Partners have increased their offer for Australia-based asset manager Perpetual only for the target company’s board to reject them once again.
Japan-based microfinance player gets $47m Series E
Gojo & Company, a Japan-headquartered microfinance institution that operates across Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, India, and Tajikistan, has raised USD 47.6m in Series E funding.
Quona closes third financial inclusion fund on $332m
Quona Capital, which invests under a financial inclusion strategy across emerging markets, has closed its third fund on USD 332m, beating a target of USD 250m.
India's 8i Ventures hits first close on Fund II
8i Ventures, an India-based early-stage venture capital firm, has achieved a first close of approximately USD 25m on its second fund. The overall target is USD 50m.
Singapore digital family office platform raises $90m
Arta Finance, a digital family office start-up established by Caesar Sengupta, the Singapore-based former head of Google’s Next Billion Users initiative, has raised USD 90m in Series A funding.
Australia's Perpetual rejects $1.1b bid from BPEA EQT, Regal
Australia-based asset manager Perpetual has rejected a buyout offer from BPEA EQT – formerly Baring Private Equity Asia – and listed alternatives manager Regal Partners that values the company at approximately AUD 1.7bn (USD 1.07bn).
Bain makes $179m partial exit from India's Axis Bank
Bain Capital has generated proceeds of INR 14.9bn (USD 179.7m) through a partial exit from Axis Bank, a listed Indian lender it first backed five years ago.
Deal focus: Reap looks beyond Hong Kong
Having proved its business model and build up a customer base in Hong Kong, small business credit specialist Reap will use part of its USD 40m Series A round to pursue international expansion
BII leads $25m round for India's Kinara Capital
British International Investment (BII), a UK development finance institution, has led a USD 25m equity funding round for Kinara Capital, an Indian non-banking financial company (NBFC) that lends to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
Hong Kong payments player Reap gets $40m Series A
Hong Kong-based financial technology company Reap has raised a USD 40m Series A - comprising equity and debt - led by Acorn Pacific Ventures, Arcadia Funds, and HashKey Capital.
BGH, Sixth Street agree $933m buyout of New Zealand's PushPay
BGH Capital and Sixth Street Partners have agreed to acquire PushPay, a New Zealand and Australia-listed payments business specialising in donor management, for an enterprise value of NZD 1.54bn (USD 933m).
Roc leads Series B for Australia carbon credits specialist
Australia’s Roc Partners has led a AUD 55m (USD 35.6m) Series B round for local carbon credits platform and sustainability advisory Viridios Group.
Profile: Charles Li
Charles Li became known as a financial markets reformist during his stint in charge of Hong Kong’s stock exchange. He continues in the same vein at the helm of fintech start-up Micro Connect
Philippines fintech start-up gets $16m Series A
Abu Dhabi’s ADQ has backed a USD 16m Series A round for a Philippines-based financial technology start-up founded by former executives of Russian digital banking leader Tinkoff Bank.
Warburg Pincus commits $350m to SE Asia insurance platform
Warburg Pincus has seeded a digital insurance platform for Southeast Asia with a USD 350m equity commitment and two recent acquisitions from Spain-headquartered insurance giant Mapfre.
