Sectors
Faering leads $40m Series C for India fintech start-up
Indian private equity firm Faering Capital has led a $40 million Series C round for stock trading and thematic portfolio platform Smallcase, with support from Amazon and Premji Invest.
Korea's Danggeun Market raises $162m at $2.7b valuation
DST Global has led a $162 million Series D round for Danggeun Market, operator of Korean flea market app Karrot, at a valuation of $2.7 billion.
Pakistan's Airlift raises $85m Series B
Airlift, a Pakistani last-mile delivery app, has raised an $85 million Series B round in what is being called the largest-ever start-up investment in Pakistan and the Middle East and North Africa region.
China vaccine developer Abogen raises $700m
Suzhou Abogen Biosciences, a Chinese vaccine developer targeting COVID-19, has raised $700 million in Series C funding featuring Temasek Holdings, Loyal Valley Capital, and Lilly Asia Ventures.
Quadrant buys Australia sleepwear brand
Quadrant Private Equity has acquired Australian women’s sleepwear brand Papinelle for an undisclosed sum with plans for international expansion.
China's PatPat gets $160m in Series D extension
PatPat, a Chinese-founded children’s wear brand, has raised $160 million from Softbank Vision Fund in a Series D round extension.
Vietnam's Mekong invests $10m in real estate portal
Mekong Capital has invested $10.2 million in Rever, a leading online-to-offline real estate brokerage business in Vietnam.
Affirma invests $100m in Korea cloud services provider
Affirma Capital has secured a third deal for its latest Korea fund, with an agreement to invest $100 million in Metanet T Platform, a local cloud managed service provider (MSP).
Start-up profiles: Digital banking, embedded finance, crypto banking
The Philippines’ Tonik breaks ground in neo-banking; India’s YAP finds new ways to connect banks with their customers; Singapore’s Matrixport scales fast with decentralized finance
Start-up profiles: Infrastructure, insurance, data, payments
Singapore’s Fireblocks tokenizes traditional banks; India’s PolicyBazaar mulls the future of insurance; China’s Rong360 diversifies through data; Cambodia’s Clik targets a payments frontier
Start-up profiles: Transfers, risk, marketplaces
Singapore’s Thunes rethinks remittances for an enterprise clientele; China’s IceKredit brings data privacy to credit scoring; India’s OfBusiness gravitates towards a healthy loans segment
Asia fintech: Platform plays
Expansion is the dominant theme in financial technology as start-ups leverage existing assets to enter new verticals, typically in lending. Which ones will become Asia’s preeminent platforms?
Blockchain: Going mainstream
The most disruptive technology in financial services is also the most esoteric and misunderstood. As a long, speculative uptake phase unfolds, investors are coming to terms with the future
NFTs: Spirits in an invisible world
The use of blockchain to create digital assets has evolved from the mass circulation of ethereal, volatile, and interchangeable tokens into something that feels much more real
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
Ascendent founder's SPAC to merge with Tim Hortons China
A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by Liang Meng, founding managing partner of China’s Ascendent Capital Partners, has agreed to merge with PE-backed Tim Hortons China at a valuation of $1.8 billion.
Inspiration Capital hits first close on debut China fund
Inspiration Capital Partners, a China-focused private equity firm established by investment professionals from Vivo Capital and Goldman Sachs, has reached a first close of approximately $65 million on its debut US dollar-denominated fund.
India motorcycle taxi platform raises $52m
Indian motorcycle taxi platform Rapido has raised $52 million in Series C funding featuring the corporate VC arm of Shell.
Chinese AI diagnosis player Shukun raises $108m
Shukun, a Chinese developer of artificial intelligence (AI) technology used in medical imaging diagnosis, has raised RMB700 million ($108 million) from Goldman Sachs, Primavera Capital Group, Sequoia Capital China, Marathon Venture Partners, and Sage...
Sofina, CDH wealth platform lead round for China's Petkit
Petkit, a Chinese manufacturer of smart devices for pets such as water and food dispensers, has raised $50 million in a Series D round of funding led by Sofina and CDH Investments' wealth management platform.
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).
Partners Group buys India broadband provider for $1.2b
Partners Group has agreed to buy India-based broadband provider Atria Convergence Technologies for an enterprise valuation of nearly $1.2 billion, facilitating a full exit for True North and a partial exit for TA Associates.
India's Dailyhunt raises $450m at $3b valuation
VerSe Innovation, operator of Indian news app Dailyhunt, has raised $450 million in Series I funding featuring The Carlyle Group at a valuation of about $3 billion.