Technology
CPPIB cleared to invest in India's Delhivery
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has been cleared to acquire a stake of up to 8% in Indian e-commerce logistics service provider Delhivery.
Chinese social e-commerce player raises $20m
Wanwu Xinxuan, a Chinese social e-commerce start-up that specializes in products for infants and children, has raised $20 million in a Series B round of funding led by local consumer sector-focused venture capital firm Fresh Capital.
Sovereign investors and technology: Smart nations
Conservative sovereign wealth investors are increasingly comfortable making direct commitments to venture-oriented technology companies. The strategy appears to suit them but remains to be validated
Fund focus: China's 01VC pursues industrial upgrade strategy
01VC has secured institutional LP support for its second fund, which closed at $100 million. The early-stage investor plans to deploy it across industrial and enterprise deals in China and Southeast Asia
Singapore's RedDoorz raises $70m
Singapore hotel management and booking platform RedDoorz has raised $70 million in Series C funding less than a month after closing a $45 million Series B.
Australia's PE-backed LBNCo acquired by strategic player
LBNCo, an Australian fiber optic network provider acquired last year by a consortium led by ROC Partners, will be sold to industry peer Uniti Wireless for A$100 million ($67.7 million).
China's CHJ Automotive gets $530m Series C
Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer CHJ Automotive has raised $530 million in Series C funding led by Xing Wang, founder of online-to-offline services platform Meituan Dianping.
Bain to acquire Kantar Australia division for $114m
Bain Capital has agreed to buy the Australia and New Zealand businesses of market research and consulting company Kantar from the local branch of UK-based media conglomerate WPP Group for A$168 million ($114 million).
Japan's VC-backed Chatwork files for IPO
Chatwork, a Japan-based business chat platform developer, has filed for an IPO in Tokyo that will provide an exit to several of its venture capital backers.
Chiratae backs Indian robotics developer Miko
Chiratae Ventures has led a $7.5 million Series A round for Miko, an India-based developer of robots for children.
WeWork IPO reveals extent of global scaling risk
WeWork, a US co-working space provider pursuing an aggressive Asia expansion with the backing of several PE investors, revealed a number of risks associated with rapid global growth in a filing for its US IPO.
GIC to invest in China data centers
Singapore’s GIC Private has agreed to acquire an unspecified number of data centers in China through a partnership with specialist developer GDS Holdings.
KKR's China digital marketing platform gets expansion round
Cue, a China-focused digital marketing platform created last year by KKR, has raised its first round of expansion funding led by Anchor Equity Partners.
India, US-based speech AI player Uniphore raises $51m
Asian VCs have backed a $51 million Series C round for Uniphore, an India and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) developer focused on speech recognition.
Sequoia, Matrix join $20m round for Chinese fintech player
Sequoia Capital China and Matrix Partners have joined a $20 million round for Chinese financial technology provider QFPay.
China's PE-backed Zhihu raises $434m Series F round
Zhihu, a Chinese question-and-answer platform, has raised a $434 million Series F round led by domestic search engine Baidu and short video site Beijing Kuaishou Technology.
Bertelsmann leads $30m round for India fintech start-up
Bertelsmann India Investments has led a $30 million funding round for Rupeek, an India-based online gold loan marketplace.
Chinese smart city platform developer raises $283m
China Everbright has led the first phase of Series C round – worth RMB2 billion ($283 million) – for Terminus Technologies, a Chinese supplier of city-level internet of things (IoT) platforms.
India's Lendingkart raises $30m Series D
Indian financial technology platform Lendingkart has raised a INR2.1 billion ($29.9 million) Series D round from existing investors Fullerton Financial Holdings, Bertelsmann India Investment, and India Quotient.
Kleiner Perkins, Aspex lead $64m round for Korea's Viva Republica
Kleiner Perkins and Aspex Management, a pan-Asia investor founded in Hong Kong last year, have led a $64 million round for Korean financial technology start-up Viva Republica.
Women entrepreneurs: Tales from the coalface
Women remain underrepresented in start-up ecosystems across Asia, but for those who have taken the plunge, there is potential to make a social impact that transcends their respective target markets
Q&A: Betatron's Erika Cheung
Erika Cheung, who helped bring the fraud at Theranos to the attention of regulators, discusses her current role as an advisor at Hong Kong accelerator Betatron and the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs
Pakistan's i2i launches $15m venture fund
Invest2Innovate, an accelerator program for technology start-ups in emerging markets, has launched a $15 million venture capital fund focused on Pakistan.
CDC leads $21m round for Indian fintech player
UK government-backed development finance institution CDC Group has led a $21 million round for Indifi Technologies, a company that facilitates loans for small to medium-sized enterprises (SME) in India.