Venture
Japan's Rakuten acquires VC-backed Slice
Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten has acquired Slice, a US-based e-commerce mobile app backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners and DCM, among others.
Rocket Internet's Foodpanda raises $60m
Foodpanda, an online take-away food delivery marketplace incubated by Rocket Internet, has raised $60 million in a new round of financing from new investor Falcon Edge Capital as well as existing backers.
GGV leads round for Chinese personal finance app Yingying
GGV Capital has led a Series A+ round of funding for Yingying Licai, a Chinese personal finance mobile app.
India VC Reservoir reaches final close on maiden fund
Indian early-stage investor Reservoir Investment Managers has reached a final close on its maiden fund, Exfinity Technology Fund - Series I (ETF-I) at INR1.25 billion ($20 million).
PLDT acquires 10% stake in Rocket Internet
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) has acquired a 10% stake in German e-commerce incubator and investor Rocket Internet for EUR333 million ($445 million).
Legend Star invests in China vacation rentals site Zhubaijia
Legend Star, a Chinese incubator program launched by Legend Holdings and the Chinese Academies of Sciences, has invested $1 million in Zhubaijia, a Chinese vacation rentals website.
VC-backed iDreamSky jumps 6% on debut after $116m US IPO
Shares in iDreamSky Technology - a Chinese third-party mobile game publisher backed by Legend Capital and Redpoint Ventures - jumped 6.42% on the firm's NASDAQ debut.
India's Skymet raises $4.5m Series B round
Skymet Weather Services, an Indian provider of weather forecast solutions for the agricultural sector, has raised $4.5 million Series B round of funding led by dmg::information Asia Pacific, a unit of UK media group Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT)....
Chinese home projector maker XGimi Tech secures $16.5m
XGimi Technology, a home projector manufacturer, has secured a RMB100 million ($16.5 million) Series A round of financing from Shenzhen CDF-Capital.
South Korea mobile loyalty platform raises $3.9m
Daesung Private Equity and Bokwang Investments have invested $3.9 million in Spoqa, the South Korean start-up behind mobile loyalty platform Dodo Points.
SingTel Innov8 leads $25m Series B round for Bitglass
SingTel Innov8, the corporate venture arm of Singapore telecoms giant SingTel, has led a $25 million Series B round of investment for US-based Bitglass, a provider of mobile cloud security solutions. Norwest Venture Partners and New Enterprise Associates...
Thai fashion e-commerce site raises $1.5m Series A round
Digital Media Partners has led a $1.5 million Series A of investment for Thai fashion e-commerce start-up WearYouWant. IMG Investment Partners and Japanese e-marketing firm OPT SEA also took part in the round.
IDG leads $100m Series B round for China online grocery
IDG Capital has led a $100 million Series B round of investment for Chinese online grocery store Womai.com. Existing investor SAIF Partners also participated.
Japan VCs invest $3m in Tokyo tech boot camp
Life is Tech, a Tokyo-based IT boot camp program for elementary and junior high school students, has raised JPY310 million (about $3 million) from Japanese investors Jafco, Mistletoe, KCJ Group, DeNA and Recruit Holdings.
US game firm Kabam attracts $120m from Alibaba
China e-commrce giant Alibaba Group is investing $120 million in US venture capital-backed gaming company Kabam. The investment is understood to value the company at over $1 billion.
Qualcomm backs India's Portea Medical
Qualcomm Ventures, the venture investment unit of US chip-maker Qualcomm, has invested in India's Portea Medical, a provider of in-home healthcare services. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Japan game publisher 3rdKind raises $1m from VCs
Nippon Venture Capital (NVCC), early stage investor Global Brain Corp., and Japanese internet firm Adways have together invested $1 million in mobile games publisher 3rdKind.
Human Resources: Hiring for growth
When building the next Baidu or Facebook, finding the right team is as important as raising the next round of capital, if not more so. Early-stage investors can play an active role in the process.
Baidu turns to Wanxue for education content
When Chinese search engine Baidu originally reached out to Wanxue Education Technology, it didn't envisage becoming a financial investor in the company. Rather, Baidu was looking for quality content to improve its existing education platform Jiaoyu Baidu...
India's Flipkart raises a record $1b from VC backers
Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart has raised $1 billion from new and existing backers in what is one of the biggest funding rounds raised by an e-commerce company globally and the single largest round by an internet company in the country.
Arbor leads $3.3m Series A round for Japan e-payments service
Arbor Ventures has led a $3.3 million Series A round for Exchange Corporation (ExCo), the Japanese start-up behind e-commerce payment and instant credit service Paidy, with participation from CyberAgent Ventures and Recruit Strategic Partners. Exisiting...
Inventus, IDG lead $2m Series A for India's Peel-works
Inventus Capital Partners and IDG Ventures India have led a $2 million Series A round of funding for Peel-works, a Mumbai-based software as a service (SaaS) and big data analytics firm.
Apis Partners to launch Asia, Africa fintech fund
Newly-created private equity firm Apis Partners has launched its first growth capital fund targeting financial technology (fintech) investments in Asia and Africa.
Chinese big data platform raises $25m Series C round
Baifendian, a Chinese data analytics start-up, has raised a $25 million Series C round of financing. Details of investors were not disclosed.