Technology
Australia's AirTree closes third fund at $188m
Australia’s AirTree Ventures has closed its third fund at A$275 million ($188 million) with substantial contributions from local superannuation funds.
Consumer hardware: Some assembly required
Consumer hardware is a cratered landscape in venture capital, and the risk-reward equation is not particularly well understood. New ways of looking at a traditional industry are needed
PropertyGuru abandons Australia IPO
Private equity-backed Southeast Asian online real estate portal PropertyGuru has decided not to proceed with its A$380 million ($256 million) IPO in Australia, citing market uncertainty.
Ex-Qiming managing partner raises $352m for debut China fund
Ince Capital Partners, a Chinese consumer internet-focused venture capital firm established by former Qiming Venture Partners executive J.P. Gan, has closed its debut fund at the hard cap of $351.9 million.
Go-Jek founder accepts Indonesian government role
Nadiem Makarim, co-founder and CEO of Indonesia’s Go-Jek, has stepped down from his duties at the ride-hailing and online services platform to assume a high-level government position.
Alibaba-backed positioning service provider raises $141m Series A
Qianxun Spacial Intelligence or Qianxun SI, a high-precision positioning services provider, has raised RMB1 billion ($141 million) in a Series A funding round, taking its valuation past RMB13 billion.
Australia's Athena Home Loans gets $48m Series C
Australian financial technology start-up Athena Home Loans has raised A$70 million ($48 million) in Series C funding from a group of investors led by AustralianSuper.
Merck launches China seed fund
Germany-based life sciences and healthcare technology giant Merck has launched a RMB100 million ($14.1 million) seed fund targeting Chinese start-ups.
Chinese healthcare software provider raises $212m
Taimei Technology, a Chinese cloud-based software provider that serves pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations (CROs) has raised RMB1.5 billion ($212 million) through an extended Series E round of funding.
China's Qutoutiao raises $100m for e-book app
CMC Capital Partners has led a $100 million Series B round of funding round for Midu, an e-book platform operated by Chinese news aggregator Qutoutiao.
Kejora, InterVest lead $30m Series B for Malaysia's Aerodyne
Indonesia’s Kejora Ventures and Korea’s InterVest have jointly led a $30 million Series B investment in Malaysian drone technology supplier Aerodyne.
Chinese investors lead round for US influenza specialist
Ansun BioPharma, a US-based drug developer led by a former executive at healthcare-focused VC firms Caduceus Asia Partners and OrbiMed, has raised $80 million in Series B funding from a predominantly Chinese investor base.
Chinese renovation materials trading platform raises $18m
Little Bear, a Shanghai-based B2B platform that matches buyers with suppliers of renovation materials, has raised RMB130 million ($18 million) led by Immensus Capital, with participation from Matrix Partners China and Yunqi Capital.
Indonesia’s Alodokter gets $33m Series C
Indonesian insurer Sequis Life has led a $33 million Series C round of funding for Alodokter, a local super app operator that connects patients with doctors and healthcare information.
Australia’s Canva raises $85m at $3.2b valuation
Australia’s Canva has raised an $85 million growth round led by Bond Capital, the new vehicle of Silicon Valley veteran Mary Meeker. It values the graphic design start-up at $3.2 billion.
China apartment rental platforms: Illogical letting
Qingke, a Chinese long-term apartment rental operator, is looking to go public at a time when many of its peers are going out of business. Pursuing scale at the expense of sustainability is the core problem
Chinese medical SaaS platform raises $14m Series B
Mingyi Zhonghe, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform serving China’s rural clinics, has secured a RMB100 million ($14 million) Series B round led by Sinovation Ventures. Existing investor Yijing Capital re-upped.
Australia's BGH completes cybersecurity roll-up
BGH Capital is looking to bring scale, capital and cross-selling opportunities to the still fragmented cybersecurity space in Australia and New Zealand
Indonesia advertising tech supplier gets $5.5m
East Ventures and Sinar Mas Digital Ventures (SMDV) have co-led a $5.5 million Series A round for StickEarn, an Indonesian advertising technology supplier.
GGV backs Singapore dental 3D printing company
GGV Capital has joined a group of investors in a venture round of undisclosed size for Structo, a Singapore-based 3D printing company focused on the dental industry.
Ant Financial invests $92m in Chinese e-signature provider
TSign – a China-based electronic signature service provider – has received RMB650 million ($92 million) in Series C funding led by Alibaba Group affiliate Ant Financial. Other investors include Gobi Partners and Eminence Ventures.
Actis commits $180m to China data center business
Actis has invested $64 million in Chinese data center operator Chayora and plans to commit up to $180 million to the company as part of a Series C funding round.
Korea blockchain developer Iconloop gets $8m
Iconloop, a Seoul-based blockchain technology developer focused on digital currency services, has raised a KRW10 billion ($8 million) Series A round led by Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC).
Korea's ACE Equity buys stake in semiconductor testing player
ACE Equity Partners, a Korean private equity firm that operates on a project fund basis, has agreed to invest KRW205 billion ($174 million) in local semiconductor testing specialist Tesna.