TMT
Lightspeed China's co-founder Ron Cao to start own firm
Ron Cao, co-founder and managing director of Lightspeed China Partners, is preparing to set up his own venture capital firm called Yunjiu Capital.
Tencent, PAG join $300m investment in China's Bitauto
Tencent Holdings and PAG have participated in a $300 million investment in US-listed Bitauto, an online marketing services company targeting China’s automotive industry.
VC-backed KFit to acquire Groupon Indonesia
Malaysia-based gym membership app KFit, which is supported by Sequoia Capital and Venturra Capital, has agreed to acquire Groupon’s Indonesia business.
Providence part exits India's Idea Cellular for $207m
Providence Equity has sold about 3.5% of its 6.8% stake in India’s Idea Cellular for INR13.8 billion ($206.6 million).
Telkom Indonesia abandons acquisition of PE-owned TeleGuam
State-controlled telecommunications company Telkom Indonesia has terminated its acquisition of TeleGuam on the US island of Guam from Japan’s Advantage Partners.
China crowdfunding site Qingsongchou raises $20m
Beijing Qingsongchou Network Technology, a Chinese online crowdfunding operator, has raised a $20 million Series B+ round of funding from Tencent Holdings, IDG Capital Partners, DT Capital and Tongdaoo Capital.
GIC, Temasek buy $1b of Alibaba shares from SoftBank
Singapore’s GIC Private and Temasek Holdings have bought a combined $1 billion of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group’s shares, as part of an $8.9 billion share sale by Japan’s SoftBank Group.
China VCs in $20m round for VR developer uSens
Fosun Kinzon Capital, the VC arm of Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, has led a $20 million Series A round for uSens, a US-based developer of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) tools.
Beenext, Digital Garage lead Series B for India's Droom
Droom, an Indian used automobiles trading marketplace, has raised about INR2 billion ($30 million) in a Series B round of funding led by Singapore-based early stage investor Beenext and Japanese incubator Digital Garage.
China's Blued completes Series C round
Vision Knight Capital has led a Series C+ round for Chinese gay-oriented social network and community app Blued.
VCs commit $50m to China's Codoon
A sport industry-focused fund launched by FountainVest Partners and its portfolio company Focus Media has led a $50 million Series C round for Codoon, a Chinese wearable electronic devices manufacturer.
Deal focus: Securing a nation's digital vaults
Data Republic has attracted Series A funding from some of Australia’s biggest companies, with a notable showing by the major banks demonstrating a growing focus on data security investment in the financial sector
Tencent invests $40m in VC-backed Chinese education site
Tencent Holdings has committed $40 million for a minority stake in VC-backed Yuanfudao - the largest single investment made by the internet company in the K-12 online learning and teaching space.
Chengwei backs China electronics recycling platform
China-focused Chengwei Capital has led a Series A round of funding worth about RMB100 million ($15 million) for Huishoubao, a Chinese electronic devices recycling platform.
China GPs underline merits of sector focus
China GPs must respond to the country’s economic slowdown by paying closer attention to picking sectors that can outperform – and in which they can help drive that performance – industry participants told the Hong Kong Venture Capital & Private Equity...
Morgan Stanley marks down India's Flipkart again
Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund Trust has marked down its investment in Flipkart for the second quarter in a row, reducing its estimate of the Indian online retail giant by 15.5%.
Korea's Althea raises $3.5m Series A
Althea, a South Korean cosmetics e-commerce site that markets primarily to Southeast Asia, has raised a $3.5 million Series A round from a group of investors including Mirae Asset Ventures, Cherubic Ventures and 500 Startups.
Japan's Creema raises $10m round
Globis Capital Partners has led a JPY1.1 billion ($10 million) round for Japan-based Creema, the operator of an online consumer-to-consumer (C2C) marketplace specializing in handmade items.
Alibaba, Ant Financial to re-up in China's Didi Chuxing
Alibaba Group and its financial affiliate Ant Financial plan to invest a further $400 million in Didi Chuxing. This comes as the Chinese ride-hailing app operator is raising a new round of fund said to be as large as $2.5 billion.
Intel Capital cancels plans for secondary sale
Intel Capital, the captive VC arm of Intel Corp, appears to have abandoned plans to offload some of its investments in technology companies, with Wendell Brooks (pictured), the unit’s president, saying there will be no major changes to the portfolio....
Lilly Asia, SBCVC invest $15m in China online drug seller
Healthcare-focused GP Lilly Asia Ventures and SBCVC have participated in a RMB100 million ($15 million) Series A round for 360 Haoyao, an online drug seller established by Chinese software company Qihoo360 Technology.
Fund focus: WI Harper sticks to small scale
While other VC firms have seen significant jumps in fund size as they target the growth space, WI Harper's latest Asia-US vehicle will remain focused on early-stage deals with a cross-border angle
Autohome shareholders challenge sale to China's Ping An
Minority shareholders of Chinese auto services company Autohome have filed a petition against a recent move by Telstra to sell the majority of its controlling stake to Ping An Insurance Group for $1.6 billion.
China micro VC: The micro wave
Micro VC firms are a relatively new segment in China’s venture capital ecosystem, the product of angel investors going institutional. They focus on early stage deals, but as demand grows, will they stay there?