Growth capital
Malaysia’s Carsome raises $200m at $1.3b valuation
Malaysia-headquartered used car trading platform Carsome has achieved a valuation of $1.3 billion with the close of an extended Series D funding round worth $170 million.
Affirma backs India's Belstar Microfinance
Affirma Capital has contributed INR3 billion ($40.8 million) to a INR3.5 billion funding round for India’s Belstar Microfinance, supported by existing investors Muthoot Finance and Maj Invest.
Tribe, Moore Strategic lead Series C for India's Khatabook
Tribe Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures have led a $100 million Series C round for Khatabook – an India-based bookkeeping app aimed at small merchants – at a valuation of $600 million.
ChrysCapital, True North join $150m Quest Global deal
ChrysCapital and True North Managers have participated in a $150 million investment for a minority stake in Quest Global, an Indian engineering services outsourcing company.
China comic platform Kuaikan raises $240m
Kuaikan, China’s largest publishing platform for comics, has raised $240 million from CCB International, Korean mobile app marketplace One Store, Tencent Holdings, Coatue Management, and Tiantu Capital.
Postman becomes India’s top SaaS unicorn
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider Postman has closed a $225 million Series D round at a valuation of $5.6 billion, making it the most valuable start-up of its kind in India.
Vietnam's Mekong invests $10m in real estate portal
Mekong Capital has invested $10.2 million in Rever, a leading online-to-offline real estate brokerage business in Vietnam.
Affirma invests $100m in Korea cloud services provider
Affirma Capital has secured a third deal for its latest Korea fund, with an agreement to invest $100 million in Metanet T Platform, a local cloud managed service provider (MSP).
Affinity backs Singapore financial SaaS platform
Affinity Equity Partners has taken a joint controlling stake alongside management in Singapore-based technology-enabled financial services provider M-Daq, following an investment of approximately S$200 million ($148 million).
Vision Fund pulls back from China amid regulatory uncertainty
SoftBank Vision Fund is taking a “wait and see” approach to China, holding back on new investments in the country until the full ramifications of regulatory action in the technology sector are known.
India's MindTickle closes $100m Series E
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 has continued its recent streak of investing in unicorns out of India by leading a $100 million Series E round for sales enablement platform MindTickle at a valuation of $1.2 billion.
India's BharatPe achieves $2.8b valuation on $370m Series E
Indian payments player BharatPe has raised $370 million in Series E funding led by Tiger Global Management. The $2.85 valuation means the company joins the country’s fast-growing collection of tech unicorns.
Deal focus: ShareChat makes hay in TikTok’s absence
The Indian social networking platform has seen its valuation grow more than fourfold in the past year, helped in no small part by the rise of short video offering Moj as an alternative to TikTok
Ofbusiness becomes India's 18th unicorn of 2021
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 has led $160 million Series E funding round for OfBusiness, an India-based B2B platform focused on industrial supply chain and procurement services, at a valuation of $1.5 billion.
India's Droom secures pre-IPO funding at $1.2b valuation
India-based automobile marketplace Droom has raised $200 million in the first tranche of a pre-IPO funding round that values the company at $1.2 billion.
Everstone backs $1b India data center JV
Everstone Group has teamed up with data center operator Yondr Group to invest $1 billion in facilities across India, leveraging the country’s push for greater data localization.
India B2C messaging start-up Gupshup raises $240m
Gupshup, an India-based messaging services provider, has received $240 million from Fidelity, Think Investments, Malabar Investments, Harbor Spring Capital, Neuberger Berman, and White Oak.
Accel leads Series C top-up for India's MyGlamm
Accel has led a Series C top-up for MyGlamm, an India-based direct-to-consumer (DTC) beauty products marketplace, taking the overall round to INR5.3 billion ($71.1 million).
China autonomous driving developer CalmCar raises $150m
CalmCar, a China-based provider of self-driving solutions, has closed a $150 million Series C round led by German auto parts supplier ZF Group. The company is targeting an IPO in 2022.
India's HealthifyMe closes $75m Series C
LeapFrong Investments and Khosla Ventures have led a $75 million Series C round for HealthifyMe, a mobile health and fitness app operator with a presence in India and Southeast Asia.
Tiger Global, Avenir lead $108m round for India's Spinny
Spinny, an Indian online used car marketplace, has raised $108 million in Series D funding led by Tiger Global Management and US-based investor Avenir Growth.
Vision Fund, Prosus lead $1.25b round for India's Swiggy
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Prosus Ventures have led a $1.25 billion funding round for Swiggy, an India-based on-demand delivery platform.
Deal focus: Neiwai realizes value offline
Vertex Ventures China was adamant that Neiwai should expand offline on leading a Series B for the lingerie brand in 2017. Four years and two rounds later, the strategy is paying off
Tech investment surges in India, SE Asia as China plummets
A drop-off in PE and VC technology investment in China in the second quarter of 2021 – widely linked to a multi-faceted regulatory crackdown on the sector – was to some extent counterbalanced by record levels of activity in India and Southeast Asia.