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VC-backed Ola acquires smaller rival TaxiForSure
India's largest VC-backed taxi-booking service Ola has acquired its smaller rival TaxiForSure for $200 million in a cash and stock deal.
China’s online drugstore 7LK raises $48m from VCs
Chinese online drugstore 7LK.com has raised RMB300 million ($48 million) in a Series A round of funding from Govtor Capital, Grand Yangtze Capital and TusPark Ventures.
Lightspeed invests $12m in China car after-sales platform
Lightspeed China Partners has committed $12 million to Yikuaixiu.com, a Beijing-based automotive after-sales service platform, in a Series A round of funding.
China’s N5 Capital launches $200m debut VC fund
N5 Capital, a Beijing-based venture capital firm, has launched its debut US dollar-denominated fund.
Indian food ordering service TinyOwl raises $16m
Indian food ordering service TinyOwl has managed to raise a $16 million Series B round of funding led by Matrix Partners. Existing investors Sequoia Capital and Nexus Venture Partners also took part.
India home delivery service Grofers raises $10m
India grocery delivery service Grofers has raised a $10 million Series A round of funding from Tiger Global management and existing investor Sequoia Capital.
LACERA invests $75m in GGV’s top-up fund
Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA) has committed up to $75 million to a new fund launched by Sino-US venture capital firm GGV Capital.
US-based 500 Startups unveils $15m South Korea fund
US-based accelerator 500 Startups has launched another $15 million Asian satellite fund in Korea - called 500 Kimchi - a little over a week after it announced a similar vehicle in Thailand.
China’s Galaxy Game Entertainment raises $16m
Shanghai Galaxy Game Entertainment, a Chinese mobile games developer, has raised RMB100 million ($16 million) in a Series A round of funding from Shenzhen Oriental Fortune, Shenzhen Green Pine Capital and Shanghai Cultural Industry Fund.
Sequoia leads $4.5m round for Indian interior design start-up HomeLane
Sequoia Capital has led a $4.5 million Series A round of funding for HomeLane, a Bangalore-based interior design company, with participation from Aarin Capital.
Indian P2P rental property listings site NoBroker raises $3m
SAIF Partners and Fulcrum Ventures have taken part in a $3 million Series A round of funding for NoBroker, a Bangalore-based peer-to-peer (P2P) property listings site for renting homes.
Chinese K12 education site 17zuoye raises $100m
H Capital has led a $100 million Series D round of funding for 17zuoye.com, a Chinese K-12 online learning and teaching platform. Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, DST Advisors and Shunwei Capital Partners, also took part in the round.
Shunwei closes first RMB fund at $160m
Shunwei Capital Partners, a Chinese VC firm set up by Lei Jun, a founder of mobile phone maker Xiaomi, has closed its first renminbi-denominated fund at RMB1 billion ($160 million).
China manicure service app raises $50m Series C from VCs
Helijia, a Chinese mobile app for booking manicure appointments, has raised a $50 million Series C round of funding from several venture capital investors, valuing the start-up at approximately $300 million.
Australia VC: Policy permutations
Plans to reinstate tax breaks for Australian start-ups that issue share options to staff rather than pay sizeable salaries has cheered VC investors. They are generally positive about the government role in fostering innovation
Tiger Global leads $4m Series A round for India news app
Tiger Global has led a $4 million Series A round investment in India's News In Shorts (NIS), a mobile-based service that aggregates shortened news stories.
China’s two largest VC-backed taxi-booking apps to merge
Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, China's two largest venture capital-backed taxi-booking app start-ups, are planning to merge to create one of the largest companies of its kind in the world.
Sequoia, Matrix commit $30m to Indian doctor search site
Sequoia Capital India and Matrix Partners have invested $30 million in a Series B round of funding for Practo Technologies, an Indian start-up that provides a search portal matching patients and doctors.
YJ Capital invests $3.4m in Japanese online laundry service
WhitePlus - the Japanese start-up behind an online laundry service called Lenet - has managed to raise JPY408 million ($3.4 million) from Yahoo! Japan's corporate investment arm, YJ Capital.
Japanese app monetization platform raises $36m Series C round
Metaps, a Japanese start-up that provides an app monetization platform using artificial intelligence (AI), has raised a $36 million Series C round of funding.
KIP leads $10m Series A round for China cosmetics review app
Korean Investment Partners (KIP), South Korea’s biggest venture capital firm, has led a $10 million Series A round of investment for Cosmeapp, a Chinese mobile app that provides cosmetics reviews.
China B2B platform targets supply chain disruption
Chinese B2B trading platforms Zhaogang.com and Zhaosuliao.com share more than just a desire to bring about technology-enabled disruption of inefficient offline industry supply chains. They also have several backers in common: IDG Capital Partners, Matrix...
SAIF, Innovation Works back China healthcare start-up
SAIF Partners and Innovation Works have provided a Series A round of funding for Beijing Dnurse Technology, a Chinese company that develops technology used to track sugar levels in the body.
Japan messaging app Line launches $42m investment fund
Japanese messaging app developer Line Corporation has launched a JPY5 billion ($42 million) investment fund to invest in start-ups.