Sectors
Vertex China closes Fund V on $390m
Vertex Ventures China, an early-stage investor affiliated with Temasek Holdings-owned Vertex Holdings, has closed its fifth flagship fund with USD 390m in commitments.
China red envelope marketing start-up raises $28m
Saoyasao, a Chinese digital commerce service provider best known for using "red envelopes" to attract customers to offline stores, has raised a CNY 200m (USD 28m) Series A round from two local investors.
Danish fund invests $24m in India's Arohan Financial
Indian microfinancier Arohan Financial Services has received DKK 166m (USD 24.3m) from the government of Denmark’s Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU).
Japan VC draws global attention - AVCJ Forum
Japan’s venture capital market is attracting increased international attention by virtue of its relatively stable returns and a start-up-friendly policy regime, investors told the AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Forum Japan 2023.
Paine Schwartz pursues take-private of Australia's Costa
Paine Schwartz Partners has submitted a AUD 1.6bn (USD 1.07bn) buyout offer for listed Australian fresh fruit and vegetables supplier Costa Group – eight years after it took the business public.
Deal focus: Gitee aspires to be more than China’s Github
FutureX Capital got onto Gitee’s shareholder register by suggesting a separation from Baidu. Now, FutureX is backing the company to leverage its status as China’s dominant open-source software player
Japan M&A: Go digital, go global
Panasonic moved from hardware to software with the acquisition of Blue Yonder, a path that other Japanese corporates are expected to follow. PE investors can sell to them or work with them
Deal focus: Nothing’s swift evolution into something
A global brand developed by a European-Chinese founder, Nothing has made its presence felt on the idiosyncratic edges of the smart phone market. Investors have responded positively
Fund focus: Epiq renews brute force India tech strategy
Epiq Capital has closed its second VC fund aimed at identifying India’s future tech unicorns early and buying in when the path to a large IPO comes into focus. Access and selection are the secret sauce
Geely's China eVTOL unit gets Series A funding
Aerofugia, a subsidiary of Chinese automaker Geely that focuses on electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, has raised a Series A round of CNY 100m (USD 13.8m) led by Tsinghua Holdings Capital.
India’s A91 invests $30m in digital consultancy
Indian VC firm A91 Partners has invested USD 30m in KaarTech, a local digital transformation consultancy looking to expand in the Middle East, EU, and North America.
Black Sesame leads surge in Hong Kong IPO filings
Black Sesame International Holding, a Chinese chipmaker specialising in autonomous driving applications, is among the highest-profile companies in the latest batch targeting IPOs on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Cathay Capital raises $262m for fourth small-cap fund
Cathay Capital Private Equity has closed its fourth small-cap fund - which will make investments across Asia, North America, and Europe - on EUR 240m (USD 262m). It takes the firm's total assets under management (AUM) past EUR 5bn.
Korean battery materials supplier raises $302m
IMM Investment and Premier Partners are the largest participants in a KRW 400bn (USD 302.7m) funding round for EcoPro Innovation, a battery materials business of KOSDAQ-listed EcoPro.
Brookfield commits $1bn to Indian energy platform Avaada
Brookfield Asset Management has invested about USD 1bn in Indian energy platform Avaada as part of a newly closed USD 1.3bn funding round.
India's Epiq raises $225m for second VC fund
India’s Epiq Capital has closed its second late-stage VC fund with USD 225m in commitments, beating a target of USD 200m.
Carlyle-backed Adicon trades up after $52m Hong Kong IPO
Adicon Holdings, a China-based independent clinical laboratory (ICL) services provider backed by The Carlyle Group, gained 12% on debut following a HKD 408.9m (USD 52.2m) Hong Kong IPO.
EmergeVest faces legal action from LP
EmergeVest is facing legal action from one of its LPs – also a key early partner in the formation of the firm’s global logistics platform, EV Cargo – who wants to receive his share of the principal and profits.
Hong Kong's OneDegree upsizes Series B to $55m
Hong Kong insurance start-up OneDegree has raised USD 27m from a group including Gobi Partners. It is billed as an extension to a Series B round from 2021, bringing the overall total to USD 55m.
Meituan to buy Chinese AGI player Light Year
Listed Chinese consumer technology platform Meituan has agreed to acquire 100% of Light Year, a VC-backed local artificial general intelligence (AGI) business, for USD 284.3m.
India's Omnivore hits $150m first close on third fund
India agricultural technology-focused impact investor Omnivore has reached a first close of USD 150m on its third fund, beating the overall target of USD 130m. The hard cap is USD 200m.
China's GitHub substitute raises $107m
Gitee, a China-based open-source platform regarded as a domestic substitute for GitHub, has raised an extended Series B of CNY 775m (USD 107m) led by FutureX Capital.
Japan's Abies Ventures seeks $69m for Fund II, courts foreign LPs
Japanese deep-tech investor Abies Ventures has set a JPY 10bn (USD 69m) target for its second fund and is looking to tap international investors for the first time.
ResponsAbility raises $106m for climate-agri debt fund
Swiss impact investor ResponsAbility has raised USD 106m for a global climate-smart agriculture and food private debt fund that will be 40% deployed in Asia.