Technology
Horizon Ventures leads $23m round for Hampton Creek Food
Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing’s Horizon Ventures has led a $23 million Series B financing round for Hampton Creek, a US-based food technology firm.
Spain's Telefonica signs up Chinese incubator
Wayra, Spanish telecom giant Telefonica’s accelerator initiative, has signed an agreement with Virtue Inno Valley (VIV), an incubator program backed by China’s Tsinghua University.
Superangel swoops in to support Vancl
Chinese smart phone maker Xiaomi is a smash hit, valued at $10 billion in its most recent round of funding. Lei Jun, the company’s founder, is riding high. In contrast, Chen Nian (pictured), who set up online clothing retailer Vancl six years ago, is...
Jack Ma returns to school
Jack Ma was an English teacher at Hangzhou Dianzi University before he went on to found Alibaba Group. Now he has returned to the education sector to support the next generation.
Of the same mind
So now we know, or at least we are in a position to make an informed guess: Alibaba Group is worth $127.6 billion. Others would puts its value at north of $150 billion, but that’s not the point. More interesting is the process that led to this estimate...
Sequoia leads Series B for China home renovation site to8to
Sequoia Capital has led a Series B round of funding for to8to, a Chinese online renovation site, with participation from existing investor Matrix Partners.
Japan's Digital Garage leads $10m round for Betaworks
Japanese incubator Digital Garage (DG) has invested $10 million in Betaworks, a New York-based early-stage tech investor. DG contributed $7.5 million to the round with the balance coming from a group of angel investors.
Vipshop buys majority stake in VC-backed China cosmetics site
Chinese online retailer Vipshop Holdings, a DCM and Sequoia Capital portfolio company that went public in the US in 2012, has agreed to buy a 75% stake in cosmetics and fashion products site Lefeng.com for approximately $132.5 million.
Xiaomi Ventures invests in Kingsoft gaming unit Westhouse
Xiaomi Ventures, a corporate VC unit of Chinese mobile phone maker Xiaomi, has invested $20 million in Westhouse Group, a game developer controlled by Kingsoft Corporation.
Fosun Venture leads Series B for Joyme
Fosun Venture Capital Investment, a venture arm of Fosun Group, has led a RMB130 million ($21 million) Series B round of funding for Joyme.com, a Beijing-based mobile game operator. BlueRun Ventures also participated.
Japanese corporates, VCs back Indonesian e-commerce site
500 Startups and existing investors Gree Ventures have together invested in Bukalapak, an Indonesian e-commerce marketplace, alongside two Japanese strategic investors: price comparison site Aucfan.com and digital marketing firm IREP.
Tiger Global picks up Alibaba stake for $199m
Tiger Global has agreed to acquire a minority stake in Alibaba Group from Chinese online game developer Giant Interactive Group for approximately $199.1 million. Giant originally invested $50 million in 2011 via limited partnerships managed by Yunfeng...
China’s Sungy Mobile buys VC-backed app store Getjar
Sungy Mobile, a VC-backed Chinese app developer that went public on NASDAQ last year, has acquired GetJar, a US-based mobile ad network. GetJar previously raised three rounds of VC funding, two led by Accel Partners and the third led by Tiger Global.
INCJ picks up stake in robotic hand maker
State-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) has acquired a 20% stake in Squse - a Kyoto-based company that makes robotic hands - for JPY500 million ($4.9 million). INCJ joins existing investors Amazon and Google.
Hony in talks to join Giant Interactive take-private - report
Hony Capital is said to be in advanced talks to join a consortium led by Baring Private Equity Asia that is supporting the $2.8 billion take-private deal for Chinese online game developer Giant Interactive.
Xiaomi’s Lei Jun leads $100m round China’s Vancl – update
Lei Jun, Chinese super angle and co-founder of smart phone maker Xiaomi, has led a $100 million round for Vancl, China’s largest online clothing retailer. Existing investors Temasek Holdings, IDG Capital Partners, Ceyuan Ventures and SAIF Partners also...
CITIC leads $41m China tech fund launch
A group of investors, including CITIC Capital and the Shenzhen municipal government have launched a RMB250 million ($41 million) venture fund to invest in technology companies.
American Express VC unit backs India's Capillary Technologies
American Express Ventures (AEV), the corporate venture arm of credit card company American Express, has made its first India investment, backing Bangalore-based cloud software solutions provider Capillary Technologies.
Premji tries Myntra on for size
The growth of Indian e-commerce is well documented and recent estimates by online marketplace and industry poster child Flipkart illustrate just how much farther it has to go. According to Sachin Bansal, Flipkart’s co-founder and CEO, e-commerce grew...
Alibaba seeks full acquisition of AutoNavi
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has offered to buy the 72% of NASDAQ-listed AutoNavi Holdings that it doesn’t already own for $1.13 billion. The take-private deal would value the digital mapping and navigation firm, which has previously received...
VCs pump another $13m into PubMatic
Nokia Growth Partners (NGP) has led a $13 million round of funding for PubMatic, an advertising platform based in India and US. Existing investors August Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Helion Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners also took part in the...
Infinity-backed WLCSP raises $118m in Shanghai IPO
China Wafer Level Chip Scale Package (WLCSP) - a chip-maker backed by Israel's Infinity Group and China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Ventures (CSVC) - has raised RMB715 million ($118 million) after listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Sequoia India leads $18.8m Series B round for Truecaller
Sequoia Capital India has led a $18.8 million Series B round of funding for Truecaller, a Swiss mobile application that helps users identify spam callers. Existing investor Open Ocean, company chairman Stefan Lennhammer, and an undisclosed Silicon Valley-based...
Japan photo sharing app developer raises $1.5m
CyberAgent Ventures, TBS Innovation Partners, Incubate Fund, and Golden Gate Ventures have together invested JPY150 million ($1.47 million) in Cinnamon, the start-up behind the photo sharing app Seconds.