Sectors
Prosus leads $12m Series B for Pakistan's Bykea
Prosus Ventures, formerly a VC arm of South African media conglomerate Naspers, has led a $12 million Series B round for Pakistan ride-hailing and courier app Bykea.
J-Star acquires Japan aquaculture business
Japanese lower middle market private equity firm J-Star has acquired local aquaculture industry supplier Dainichi for an undisclosed sum.
Singapore e-scooter start-up gets Series A extension
Neuron Mobility, a Singapore-based e-scooter rental start-up, has secured $12 million in an extended Series A round as it accelerates expansion in Australia and New Zealand and prepares to enter the UK.
PE-backed JD Health files for Hong Kong IPO
JD Health, the healthcare unit of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, has filed for Hong Kong IPO. The company’s backers include Hillhouse Capital, CPE, CICC Capital, and Baring Private Equity Asia.
Investors commit $1.6b to India's Reliance Retail
General Atlantic, TPG and Mubadala Investment have doubled down on Reliance Industries’ plans to reinvent digital consumer services in India, following earlier commitments to Jio Platforms with investments in the conglomerate’s retail unit.
Deal focus: Green Monday finds mission-aligned investors
Green Monday, the Hong Kong plant-based food distributor behind the Green Common retail chain and OmniPork alternative meats, has raised its first institutional round of funding.
China's M31 Capital closes debut fund at $450m
Chinese Venture Capital firm M31 Capital has raised $450 million for its debut US dollar-denominated fund, beating a target of $400 million.
Australia's Airwallex upsizes Series D to $200m
Australian international payments technology provider Airwallex has raised an additional $40 million in Series D funding from existing investors, bringing the round to $200 million.
Taiwan tourism platform KKday raises $75m Series C
Taipei-based online tour package vendor KKday has closed a $75 million Series C round led by Cool Japan Fund and Taiwan’s National Development Fund.
PE & Asian banks: Once-in-a-decade opportunity
GPs like targeting banks during downturns, investing in stronger players at discount valuations and backing them to come out the other side with increased market share. Will it be more of the same with COVID-19?
Deal focus: Affirma's decade-long water turnaround
Having assumed full ownership of EMC Holdings in 2016, Affirma Capital rejuvenated the Korean wastewater management business through savvy acquisitions and encouraging management to get creative
Gaorong seeks $1b for China VC fund
Chinese venture capital firm Gaorong Capital is targeting $1 billion for its fifth US dollar-denominated fund – twice the amount raised in the previous vintage.
IMM agrees $124m exit from Korea's Hollys Coffee
IMM Private Equity is set to exit its approximately 94% stake in Korean food and beverage chain Hollys Coffee to local digital payments services provider KG Inicis for KRW145 billion ($124 million).
China healthcare SaaS player Taimei raises $176m
Taimei Technology, a Chinese cloud-based software provider that serves the healthcare sector has raised RMB1.2 billion ($176 million) in funding led by Tencent Holdings, GL Ventures and Yunfeng Capital.
Vision Fund leads $319m round for China's XtalPi
China and US-based artificial intelligence-enabled drug development platform XtalPi has raised $319 million in Series C funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund, the investment arm of insurer PICC Group, and Morningside Venture Capital.
PineBridge, Peter Thiel launch Southeast Asia-focused SPAC
Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies and Founders Fund, has teamed up with PineBridge Investments and Pacific Century Group on a special purpose acquisition vehicle (SPAC) that will target new economy assets in Southeast Asia.
PE-owned Japan flash memory player postpones IPO
Kioxia Holdings, the Japanese flash memory business that a Bain Capital-led consortium acquired from Toshiba two years ago for an enterprise valuation of JPY2 trillion ($18.7 billion) has pulled the plug on its Tokyo IPO.
Lever invests five China alternative meat start-ups
Hong Kong and US-based food tech investor Lever VC has confirmed five investments in alternative protein start-ups from its recently launched China fund.
Southeast Asia VC: Knowledge transfers
When venture capital firms move into Southeast Asia, they often use existing operations in China or India as a launching pad. Different lessons can be learned from these two markets
CITIC, SF Holdings raise $308m China logistics fund
CITIC Capital and SF Holdings – the parent company of SF Express, China’s second-largest courier company – have launched a RMB2.1 billion ($308 million) fund that will invest in logistics properties.
Deal focus: PEP reaches its Zenith
The fourth investment from Pacific Equity Partners’ secure assets fund, Zenith Energy is expected to serve as a platform for expansion in the Australian remote power industry
AMP Capital forms Asia infrastructure debt team
Australia’s AMP Capital has doubled down on its Asia Pacific infrastructure debt strategy with the creation of a dedicated team based across Sydney and Singapore.
China's InventisBio secures $147m Series D
GL Ventures, the China venture capital arm of Hillhouse Capital, has led a $147 million Series D round for Shanghai-based biotech developer InventisBio.
GGV targets $2b for China, US tech investments
GGV Capital will return to market with its latest set of China and US-focused funds, seeking to raise an aggregate $2 billion, up from $1.88 billion in the prior vintage.