Financials
Deal focus: India’s Shubham sees opening to accelerate
Shubham believes its long-curated datasets and institutional memory differentiate it from a growing pack of low-income housing lenders. Global impact investors appear convinced
India start-up financier GetVantage raises $36m
GetVantage, a provider of revenue-based financing to Indian start-ups, has secured USD 36m in funding led by Varanium Nexgen Fintech Fund, DMI Sparkle Fund, Chiratae Ventures, and Dream Incubator Japan.
India affordable housing player raises $112m
Indian lower-income mortgage lender Shubham has raised USD 112m led by British International Investment (BII). It facilitates exits for Elevar Equity and Motilal Oswal Private Equity (MOPE).
Tiger Global, Google join $40m round for India's Progcap
Tiger Global Management, Google, and Creation Investments have led a USD 40m investment in India’s Progcap, a financing services provider for small businesses.
India's Pine Labs buys VC-backed Setu
Indian financial technology company Pine Labs, which has raised more than USD 1.5bn in private funding, has acquired VC-backed counterpart Setu.
Openspace, VI Group lead $25m round for Vietnam's Finhay
Openspace Ventures and VI Group have led a USD 25m Series B round for Vietnamese digital investment platform Finhay.
India-focused neobank Stashfin raises $270m
Stashfin, a Singapore-based neobank that primarily operates in India, has raised USD 70m in equity funding – and secured a further USD 200m in debt – as part of a Series C round.
Indonesia blockchain player Ekta raises $60m
Indonesia’s Ekta, a blockchain ecosystem operator with a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace and eponymous cryptocurrency, has raised USD 60m from US-based Global Emerging Markets (GEM).
India payments player Innoviti expands Series D to $22m
India-based financial technology start-up Innoviti Payment Solutions has doubled the size of its ongoing Series D round to more than INR 1.6bn (USD 22.5m). The overall target is USD 3bn.
India's 8i Ventures seeks $50m for Fund II
8i Ventures, an India-based early-stage venture capital firm that recently made a partial exit from software supplier M2P Fintech with a 36x return, is targeting USD 50m for its second fund.
Tencent, Block join Series B for Indonesia's Flip
Indonesian consumer payments platform Flip has upsized its Series B round to more than USD 100m with the addition of Tencent Holdings and Block – formerly Square – to the investor roster and re-up from Insight Partners.
India's 8i Ventures gets 36x return on M2P Fintech
Indian early-stage investor 8i Ventures has made a partial exit of its seed shares in local banking software supplier M2P Fintech, generating a 36x multiple and an IRR of 415% after two years.
Crypto: Something for everyone?
Traditional VCs are becoming more active in Asia’s blockchain and web3 space, despite structural and philosophical obstacles to participation. Can they withstand the crypto winter?
Circle buys VC-backed Taiwan crypto infrastructure platform
Cybavo, a Taiwan-based crypto technology player that provides platforms for digital asset custody and blockchain application development, has agreed to be acquired by US digital currency specialist Circle for an undisclosed sum.
India payments player Kissht closes $80m Series E
Indian payments start-up Kissht has raised a USD 80m Series E round led by Temasek Holdings-owned Vertex Ventures and Brunei Investment Agency.
Indonesia crypto player Pintu gets $113m Series B
Indonesia crypto wallet and trading platform Pintu has raised a USD 113m Series B round from Intudo Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Northstar Group, and sector specialist Pantera Capital.
Elevar leads $32m round for India start-up credit provider
Indian impact investor Elevar Equity has led a INR 2.5bn (USD 32.2m) round for StrideOne, a start-up credit platform launched last year by the managing partners of local venture debt firm Stride Ventures.
Fullerton reaches $100m first close on Thai PE fund
Singapore’s Fullerton Fund Management has hit a first close of USD 100m on its first Thai private equity strategy in partnership with KBank Private Banking, a division of local lender Kasikorn Bank.
Fund focus: Eurazeo has SE Asia insurance tech covered
France-based Eurazeo has set up a USD 200m Southeast Asia VC fund dedicated to insurance technology with an unnamed global insurance company as the lone LP
GIC leads $80m round for Indonesia's Bibit
GIC has led an USD 80m funding round for Bibit, operator of one of Indonesia’s largest robo-advisory investment apps. Prosus Ventures and other existing investors also took part.
New Zealand's Pushpay confirms PE approaches
Pushpay, a New Zealand and Australia-listed payments business specialising in donor management, confirmed it had been approached by prospective buyers but played down the significance of an agreement with BGH Capital and Sixth Street Partners.
Hong Kong crypto player Babel hits $2b valuation
Hong Kong-based Babel Finance, which claims to be the world’s leading wholesale crypto financial services provider, has raised USD 80m in Series B funding at a valuation of USD 2bn.
Singapore fintech investor Arbor Ventures adds partner
Singapore-based global financial technology investor Arbor Ventures has appointed Peter Sanborn, who formerly held several senior corporate development roles at PayPal, as a general partner.
Advent raises $25bn for global PE fund, targets China
Advent International has closed its largest ever global private equity fund at the hard cap of USD 25bn with plans to expand its investment activity in Greater China in the next few years.
