Technology
BlackRock PE leads $300m round for Korea’s Coupang
BlackRock Private Equity Partners has led a $300 million round of funding for Coupang, South Korea’s largest online retailer. It has now raised nearly $500 million from private investors.
AVCJ Awards: Exit of the Year - IPO: Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group’s IPO validated Silver Lake’s faith in the business. Ken Hao, a managing partner at the PE firm, expects the company to go from strength to strength, both in and outside China
AVCJ Awards: Deal of the Year - Venture Capital: Flipkart
Flipkart received $1 billion in funding from a consortium of investors in July. It is ammunition for the arms race currently consuming India’s e-commerce industry
Carlyle, Unison to exit Japan semiconductor firm Covalent
The Carlyle Group and Unison Capital are to exit their stake in Covalent Materials, a Japanese semiconductor materials manufacturer, to US ceramics group CoorsTek.
Chinese taxi-booking app Didi Dache raises $700m
Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, DST Global and Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings have led a new round of funding worth $700 million for Didi Dache, a Chinese taxi-booking app.
Ping An VC, Qiming invest $30m in China car-sharing platform
Ping An Ventures, a VC arm of insurer Ping An Group, and Qiming Venture Partners have co-led a $30 million Series A round of funding for Baojia.com, a Chinese peer-to-peer (P2P) car-sharing platform.
KKR backs desert-farming solution
Tough climatic challenges are in store for South Australia, already the nation's driest state. Agriculture, which is worth more than $5 billion each year to the state, will increasingly be affected by rising temperatures and reduced rainfall.
Tech valuations: Ill-fated inflation?
As valuations in the tech space continue to soar, comparisons are inevitably drawn with the dotcom bubble era. Asia can point to favorable fundamentals, but it remains to be seen whether the exuberance is justified
VC-backed LanzaTech raises $60m from NZ Super
The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has provided $60 million growth capital for low-carbon fuels producer LanzaTech.
CITIC launches tender offer for Japan's Schott Moritex
CITIC Capital Partners has launched a tender offer to acquire a controlling stake in Schott Moritex Corporation, a Japan-based manufacturer of vision lenses for machines.
Tiantu commits $16m in Chinese electric scooter manufacturer Inmotion
Chinese GP Tiantu Capital has committed RMB100 million ($16 million) in a Series B round of funding for Inmotion Technologies, a manufacturer of sensor controlled vehicles.
Japan PE acquires plastics manufacturer, elderly care business
Mid-market GP Japan Private Equity has acquired plastics manufacturer Sekisui Chemicals and care home services business Healthy Service via its third buyout fund.
China's Xiaomi, Kingsoft back IP investment fund
Chinese mobile phone maker Xiaomi and software developer Kingsoft will participate as LPs in a RMB200 million ($32.5 million) fund that will make investments related to intellectual property.
DST leads $100m round for Chinese payment platform Fenqile
DST Advisors has led a $100 million Series B round of funding for Fenqile.com, a Chinese installment payment platform.
Sequoia, Nexus invest $3m in India food-ordering start-up
Indian food-ordering start-up TinyOwl Technology has raised $3 million from Sequoia Capital and Nexus Venture Partners in Series A round of funding.
Banyan leads $35m round for Chinese wearables maker
Banyan Capital has led a $35 million Series B round of funding for Huami, a Chinese start-up that manufactures fitness wearables launched by smart phone maker Xiaomi.
India Angel Network opens Mumbai incubator space
India Angel Network (IAN) has opened a new co-working space in Mumbai to house a tech-focused start-up incubator program.
Northern Light backs Chinese mobile app service provider
Northern Light Venture Partners (NLVC) has invested $5 million in a Series A round of funding for APICloud, a China-based mobile app cloud service provider.
Capital Today, DST, Hillhouse raise $619m through JD.com share sale
Capital Today, DST Advisors and Hillhouse Capital Management have raised $618.9 million by selling a portion of their shares in JD.com, the Chinese online retailer that went public earlier this year.
Japanese crowdsourcing platform gets $8.5m from VCs
Lancers, a Japanese crowdsourcing platform, has raised JPY1 billion ($8.5 million) from six VC and strategic investors, including Gree Ventures, Globis Capital Partners and GMO Venture Partners.
SoftBank invests $250m in Southeast Asia’s GrabTaxi
Japanese tech giant SoftBank Corp. has committed $250 million to GrabTaxi, becoming the largest investor in the Southeast Asia-focused mobile taxi-booking platform.
India VCs see early-stage explosion - AVCJ Forum
India has seen an explosion in early-stage investment opportunities but sorting the wheat from the chaff is a challenge, venture capitalists told the AVCJ Forum.
Xiaomi, Temasek, Kingsoft to invest in China’s 21Vianet
Software giant Kingsoft Corporation, smart phone maker Xiaomi and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings have agreed to invest $296 million in 21Vianet, a Chinese internet data center provider.
Chinese investors join $40m round for Misfit Wearables
GGV Capital, Shunwei Venture Partners, smart phone maker Xiaomi and online retailer JD.com have participated in a $40 million Series C round of funding for Misfit Wearables, which manufactures wearable devices that track health and fitness.