Technology
INCJ invests $9 million in animation tool developer New
The Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) has invested JPY900 million ($8.7 million) in New, a start-up that develops tools for creating motion comics.
Artesian launches Australian crowdfunding platform
Early-stage venture capital firm Artesian Venture Partners has launched its equity-based crowdfunding platform – VentureCrowd – in Australia with over 200 registered investors and 36 start-ups.
Jungle Ventures, Spring Seeds back big data start-up
Jungle Ventures has led a S$1.5 million ($1.2 million) round of funding for Crayong Data, a Singapore-based big data start-up, with participation from Spring Seeds Capital.
Fosun Venture leads Series B round for Kmsocial
Fosun Venture Capital Investment has led a Series B round of funding for Kongming, a Beijing-based social media marketing solutions provider, with participation from previous investor Fidelity Growth Partners Asia. The investment size is about $10 million....
Intel invests in three China cloud, big data firms
Intel Capital, the corporate investment arm of the US chipmaker Intel Corp, has invested in three Chinese tech start-ups: big data firm Shanghai Yeapoo Information Technology; cloud storage provider Tianjin Zhongke BlueWhale Information Technology; and...
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.
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.
Mingxin China Growth Fund backs liquid fuel cell specialist
Oorja Protonics, a California-based liquid fuel cell technology firm, has raised a Series E round of funding from Mingxin China Growth Fund, with participation of existing investor DAG Ventures.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sony agrees to sell Vaio PC unit to JIP
Sony has confirmed that it plans to sell its loss-making Vaio PC division to Tokyo-based mid-market buyout shop Japan Industrial Partners (JIP). Financial details have not been disclosed but previous estimates valued the deal at around JPY40-50 billion...
VCs commit $14.3m to Japan online printing start-up
A consortium of Japanese venture capital investors including Global Brain, World Innovation Lab (WiL), Itochu Technology Ventures and GMO Ventures have invested JPY1.45 billion ($14.3 million) in Raksul, a Tokyo-based start-up providing online printing...
Globis, Gree invest in Japan crowd-sourced editing platform
Globis Capital Partners and Gree Ventures have together invested JPY300 million ($2.9 million) in Viibar, the Japanese start-up behind the video production-focused crowd sourcing platform of the same name.
Jungle Ventures backs Singapore's Klinify
Klinify, a Singapore-based electronic medical records management service provider, has received S$770,000 ($604,000) in seed funding round led by Jungle Ventures.
Bull Capital invests in Singapore-based IT security specialist
Bull Capital has bought a 41.67% stake in i-Sprint Group, a Singapore-based IT security service provider owned by Automated Systems Holdings, for $9.85 million.
CyberAgent Ventures backs Japan language learning site
CyberAgent Ventures, the corporate VC arm of the company behind Japanese blogging site Ameba, has invested an undisclosed amount in language learning platform Lang-8.
Yunfeng Capital, Alibaba to buy CITIC 21CN for $171m
Yunfeng Capital and Alibaba Group together plan to buy a 54.3% stake in pharmaceutical data provider CITIC 21CN, a Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate CITIC Group, for HK$1.33 billion ($171 million).
Singapore's Luminor Capital invests $6.1m Swiss NGFI
Luminor Capital, a Singapore-based private equity firm, has invested CHF5.5 million ($6.1 million)in Switzerland's Next Generation Finance Invest (NGFI).
Nexus backs digital security firm Uniken
Nexus Venture Partners has invested a reported INR300 million ($4.8 million) in US enterprise security firm Uniken, which has its innovation center in India.