Technology
VC-backed Tujia acquires Ctrip, Qunar's homestay assets
Chinese vacation rental platform Tujia, which has several VC and PE investors, has acquired the homestay businesses of travel websites Ctrip and Qunar, strengthening its already dominant position in China’s accommodation sharing market.
Everbright-IDG fund invests $297m in China UnionPay Merchant
China Everbright (CEL) and IDG Capital Partners have acquired a 9.3% stake in China UnionPay Merchant Services (UMS), a third-party payment provider, for RMB2 billion ($297 million).
Chinese part-time jobs platform gets $40m Series C round
Doumi, a China-based platform that helps people find part-time jobs, has raised $40 million in Series B funding from Hillhouse Capital, Tencent Holdings, Baidu, and food and agribusiness conglomerate New Hope Group.
PE investors commit $850m to Tencent's Supercell acquisition
CITIC Capital and several domestic investment funds have contributed $850 million to Tencent Holdings’ acquisition of a majority stake in Finland-based mobile game developer Supercell.
China boutique investment bank CEC buys Siemer & Associates
Chinese boutique investment bank and advisory firm CEC Capital Group – formerly known as China eCapital – has agreed to buy US-based counterpart Siemer & Associates (S&A).
China transport start-ups: Hot wheels
Bicycle-sharing start-ups are the latest investor craze in China’s technology-enabled transportation space. Can private sector operators make their business models work?
Chinese entrepreneurs: Under pressure
The health tolls of the entrepreneurial lifestyle and its effect on founders' lives and performance are an increasing source of concern for China's VC investors
China B2B liquor platform Yijiupi raises $100m Series C
China-based B2B liquor-trading platform Yijiupi has raised a $100 million Series C round led by existing investor Greenwoods Asset Management.
Deal focus: AID returns to the MCN space
Multi-channel networks that raise online content creators' views are expected to thrive as profit-sharing spreads among video platforms. AID hopes to take advantage with its investment in Freedom! Network
Australia-founded SafetyCulture gets $23m Series B
SafetyCulture, an Australia-founded developer of mobile software for safety inspectors, has raised A$30 million ($23 million) in Series B funding from a group of investors including Index Ventures and Blackbird Ventures.
India's MakeMyTrip to buy Naspers, Tencent-backed ibibo
Indian online travel agent MakeMyTrip has agreed to merge with rival booking portal ibibo Group, which is backed by South African internet conglomerate Naspers Group and China's Tencent Holdings, in an all-stock deal.
Redpoint closes debut China VC fund
Redpoint Ventures, a US early-stage venture firm, has closed its debut China VC fund at $180 million.
CDIB leads round for Taiwan image-recognition start-up
Viscovery, a Taiwanese cloud-based image-recognition technology start-up, has raised $10 million in an extended Series A round led by China Development Industrial Bank (CDIB), a subsidiary of China Development Financial Holding.
VC-backed FirstCry buys rival Babyoye
VC-backed Indian baby and child-focused retailer FirstCry.com has acquired rival children's store chain and e-commerce outlet Babyoye.
Indian news app Dailyhunt raises $25m
Indian online news aggregator Dailyhunt has raised a $25 million Series D round led by ByteDance, a Chinese VC-backed online content provider.
Nexus commits $7m Series A funding to India's Postman
Nexus Venture partners has committed $7 million in Series A funding to Indian software development tool creator Postman.
Hillhouse, Warburg, Tencent lead round for China's Mobike
Shanghai-based bike rental service start-up Mobike has raised a Series C round of funding led by Hillhouse Capital, Warburg Pincus and Tencent Holdings.
Deal focus: Grana takes fashion to the information edge
With $10 million in Series A funding, Hong Kong fashion e-commerce business Grana is looking to accelerate expansion of its high-automation, low-cost and high-quality service offering
GM invests in VC-backed China car-sharing platform
General Motors has bought a stake in Chinese car-sharing company Yi Wei Xing, which is backed by Langmafeng Ventures and Fujian Huaxing Venture Capital.
China's Baidu launches $3b technology fund
Chinese search giant Baidu has established a RMB20 billion ($3 billion) investment fund, called Baidu Capital, to target mid- and late-stage deals in the internet industry.
China K12 education platform Xuele raises $200m Series C
Xueleyun, a Chinese education platform, has raised a $200 million Series C round led by China-based PE firm New Horizon Capital. Existing investors GSR Ventures and Huaxin Shiji Investment also participated in the round.
Profile: Saama Capital's Ash Lilani
Ash Lilani of Saama Capital has seen India’s VC community develop from pure growth deals to support a population of true entrepreneurs. Now he hopes to help the country keep building on its strengths
Deal focus: Korean start-up looks beyond fintech logjam
Viva Republica's payments app is said to be the fastest-growing of its kind globally, but the company is now looking to expand into other geographies and other areas of financial services
China bike-sharing app Ofo raises $130m Series C
Ofo, a Chinese online-to-offline (O2O) bike-sharing platform, has raised a $130 million Series C round of funding across two tranches.