Venture
Nirvana Venture backs Indian prepaid services provider
Mumbai-headquartered payments provider TranServ has raised an undisclosed amount from Nirvana Venture Advisors. The investment will allow TranServ to scale up operations and deliver its planned products.
TA, Qiming, Ignition invest in Chinese online game developer
TA Associates, Qiming Venture Partners and Ignition Capital Partners have purchased a significant minority stake in Chinese online gaming company Forgame Tech. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
Fidelity, Qualcomm lead Series C round for Bigshoebazaar
Fidelity Growth Partners and Qualcomm Ventures have led a Series C round of funding worth INR1 billion (US$18 million) for Indian online wholesaler Bigshoebazaar. Existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Catamaran Ventures also participated.
Japan's CyberAgent Ventures to open Korea office
Japan’s CyberAgent Ventures will open an office in South Korea next month. It will take the VC firm’s Asia presence to eight locations, complementing existing operations in Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Taipei, Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi.
India's IvyCap Ventures in $19m first close for debut fund
Early-stage investor IvyCap Ventures has reached a first close of INR1.05 billion ($19 million) on its debut fund. The full target for IvyCap Ventures Trust Fund I is INR2 billion.
Gobi backs Singaporean cloud service provider
China-based venture capital firm Gobi Partners has injected S$1 million ($800,000) into Singaporean online games cloud service provider Corous360.
General Mobile gets $5m from Singtel Innov8, Mitsui
SingTel Innov8 and Japan’s Mitsui & Co. have led a $5 million round of funding for General Mobile, a company that provides mobile internet services to customers in emerging markets. Existing investors in General Mobile include Taiwan-based MediaTek, a...
New Zealand's MOVAC closes third fund at $33m
New Zealand-based early-stage investor MOVAC has raised NZ$42 million ($33.2 million) for its third fund. It will invest sums of NZ$1-5 million in local companies with an established track record that require growth capital.
India embraces e-payment
With established market leaders in India’s mainstream e-payment space, VCs are targeting opportunities in the unbanked and mobile payment markets
AVCJ China Awards: VC Professional of the Year – Bo Feng
Bo Feng, founding partner of Ceyuan Ventures, on the treats and trials of VC investing in China
AVCJ China Awards: VC Deal of the Year – Dianping.com
As China’s leading restaurant reviews website, Dianping.com has developed a business model that is difficult for others to replicate. VC backers TrustBridge, Lightspeed, Sequoia and Qiming don’t expect this to change
OneVentures backs Paloma Mobile with $1.5m
Australia-focused venture capital firm OneVentures has led a $1.5 million Series A round of funding for Paloma Mobile, a developer of smartphone services for emerging markets.
Lilly ups stake in Chinese pharma firm
Lilly Asian Ventures, the venture capital arm of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co., has injected an additional $20 million of capital into existing portfolio company Novast.
India's Komli raises $39m from VCs in Series D round
Norwest Venture Partners has led a $39 million round of funding for Komli Media, India’s largest advertising-focused media technology company. Existing investors Nexus Venture Partners, Helion Venture Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson also participated,...
Sequoia Capital raising $1b for funds – report
Sequoia Capital has reportedly hit the fundraising trail again, and plans to raise at least $1 billion for a series of funds, including a China-focused vehicle.
Australia offers residency for VC investors
The Australian government has announced plans to offer permanent residency to those who invest $5 million in domestic venture capital funds. It is expecting the most interest in the incentive to come from Asia – or more specifically, China.
Malaysia launches MyCreative Venture Capital
The Malaysian government will launch a MYR200 million ($63 million) fund to support businesses operating in the country’s creative content sector.
Accel, Helion back Series A round for TaxiForSure
Accel Partners, Helion Venture Partners and seed investor Blume Ventures have backed a Series A round of funding for India’s Serendipity Infolabs, which runs online taxi booking site Taxiforsure.com.
Globis leads $3.6m Series A round for quiz developer
Globis, the Japanese venture capital firm, has led a GBP2.3 million ($3.6 million) Series A round of funding for Quipper, a UK quiz applications manufacturer. Benesse, a Japanese education and publishing company, and Atomico, the VC firm led by Skype...
Lightspeed leads Series A round for Tujia.com
Early stage investor Lightspeed China Partners and CDH Investments have participated in a Series A round of funding for Tujia.com, the first online vacation rental services provider in China.
Inventus, Ojas lead $3.5m Cbazaar round
US-India venture capital firm Inventus Capital Partners early-stage technology investor Ojas Venture Partners have led a $3.5 million Series A round of funding for Indian fashion portal Cbazaar.
GSR, Oak lead $30m Series B round for SunSun Lighting
China-based LED manufacturer SunSun Lighting has raised $30 million in Series B financing from GSR Ventures and Oak Investment Partners in addition to commitments from its original angel investors. The investment comes nearly a year after SunSun secured...
SingTel's Amobee buys VC-backed ad startup
Singapore Telecommunications, Southeast Asia's largest telecoms company, has acquired AdJitsu, a VC-backed Silicon Valley startup in the mobile advertising sector. This is SingTel's second acquisition in two months.
Starfish Ventures invests $2m in gaming start-up Scalify
Starfish Ventures has invested $2 million into Melbourne-based gaming start-up Scalify for an undisclosed stake. The capital will primarily be used for sales and marketing.