Fintech
Deal focus: Crypto promises frictionless wire transfers
Hong Kong’s XanPool is tapping a growing universe of cryptocurrency holders to speed up traditional money transferring processes while reducing costs. Valar Ventures offers support
India fintech start-up Clear raises $75m Series C
Indian financial technology start-up Clear, previously known as ClearTax, has raised a $75 million Series C round featuring Kora Capital, Alua Capital, and Think Investments.
Valar leads Series A for Hong Kong fintech start-up XanPool
Valar Ventures has led a $27 million Series A round for XanPool, a Hong Kong-based financial technology start-up that facilitates payments outside of legacy financial infrastructure.
India digital banking player Open raises $100m
Temasek Holdings has led a $100 million Series C round for Indian online banking company Open Financial Technologies with support from Google.
Deal focus: Digital brokerage Ajaib finds the right fit
Ajaib grew from nothing to become Indonesia’s fifth-largest stockbroker by volume in the space of six months. The newly appointed unicorn is now raising capital just as quickly
India's Coinswitch Kuber raises $260m
Indian crypto exchange Coinswitch Kuber is claiming to be the largest app of its kind locally following a $260 million Series C round featuring Andreessen Horowitz at a $1.9 billion valuation.
Indonesia fintech start-up Ajaib achieves unicorn status
Ajaib, an online stock-trading platform in Indonesia, has raised $153 million in a Series B funding round led by DST Global at a valuation of $1 billion.
Ribbit Capital backs Indonesia's Bank Jago
Global financial technology investor Ribbit Capital has thrown its weight behind Bank Jago, an Indonesia-based digital lender established by local private equity firm Northstar Group.
Thailand’s Ascend Money raises $150m
Bangkok-based Ascend Money has raised $150 million from a group of investors including Ant Group, at a valuation of $1.5 billion. It claims to be Thailand’s first financial technology unicorn.
Lightrock leads round for India BNPL player Capital Float
Capital Float, an Indian lending platform now positioning itself as a buy now, pay later (BNPL) specialist, has raised $50 million led by the local unit of UK-based private equity investor Lightrock.
Singapore online banking player Aspire raises $158m
Singapore-based online banking platform Aspire has raised a $158 million Series B round with support from the likes of B Capital Group.
Australia insurtech provider Cover Genius secures $72m Series C
Japanese insurance giant Sompo Holdings has led a A$100 million ($72 million) Series C round for Australian insurance technology provider Cover Genius.
Deal focus: Southeast Asia’s four-trick credit pony
Advance Intelligence Group has used its core risk assessment technology to expand into lending and e-commerce transaction finance and services. Membership of Southeast Asia’s unicorn club is its reward
Asia crypto asset management platform raises $40m
Cobo, a Singapore-based crypto asset management platform and blockchain infrastructure provider, has secured a $40 million Series B round led by DST Global, A&T Capital, and IMO Ventures.
Pacific Century’s insurtech business extends Series A to $210m
Pacific Century Group’s insurance technology business, Bolttech, has extended a recent $180 million Series A round to $210 million in total.
Hong Kong’s Airwallex raises $200m at $4b valuation
Hong Kong-based Airwallex has raised a $200 million Series E round led by Lone Pine Capital at a valuation of $4 billion. A $300 million Series D in March valued the company at $2.6 billion.
D1 Capital leads $138m round for China's Xtransfer
XTransfer, a China-based cross-border payment services provider, has raised $138 million in Series D funding led by US-based D1 Capital Partners. Existing investors also took part in the round.
Invesco commits $100m to India's Pine Labs
Invesco has announced a $100 million commitment to Indian financial technology provider Pine Labs. It comes two months after the company closed a $600 million pre-IPO round.
Indonesia payments player Xendit raises $150m Series C
Indonesian digital payments infrastructure provider Xendit has raised a $150 million Series C round led by Tiger Global Management at a valuation of around $1 billion.
Square Peg leads $55m round for Indonesia's Pluang
Square Peg Capital has led a $55 million Series B round for Indonesian micro-savings and micro-investment app Pluang.
PayPal to acquire Japan's Paidy for $2.7b
PayPal has agreed to buy Japan’s Paidy, a specialist in deferred e-commerce payments backed by several private equity investors, for about JPY300 billion ($2.7 billion).
Deal focus: Vision Fund throws its weight behind Opay
An introduction from SoftBank Ventures Asia prompted Vision Fund 2 to lead a $400 million Series C for Nigeria-based Opay, creating Africa’s newest technology unicorn in the process
Thailand insurtech player Sunday gets $45m Series B
Thailand-based insurance technology start-up Sunday has received $45 million in Series B funding from a group of investors including Tencent Holdings.
Naspers-owned PayU to buy India's BillDesk for $4.7b
PayU, a payments provider owned by South African conglomerate Naspers, has agreed to acquire 100% of Indian payments app BillDesk for $4.7 billion, setting up several private equity exits.