American VC firm Kleiner Perkins leads $17m funding in Pakistani B2B marketplace Tajir

Gobi Partner-backed Tajir, a Pakistani B2B marketplace for mom and pop stores, has raised $17 million in a Series A round led by American venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, according to an announcement. The funding marks the first investment by Kleiner Perkins in Pakistan. Other investors in the round include YC Continuity, AAVCF, Fatima Gobi… Continue reading American VC firm Kleiner Perkins leads $17m funding in Pakistani B2B marketplace Tajir

Softbank-backed Indian mobility firm Ola appoints two new CFOs

Arun Kumar brings more than two decades of experience in finance and strategy, including managing business growth and turnaround, large scale debt and equity capital market benchmark transactions, governance and reporting and compliance with corporate multinationals including Vedanta Resources, GE and Hindustan Unilever. With his experience in leading large-scale supply chain teams, delivering sales and… Continue reading Softbank-backed Indian mobility firm Ola appoints two new CFOs

Indian PE firm Actis promotes Abhishek Bansal to partner

Bansal, an engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur and an MBA graduate from IIM Calcutta, earlier worked at International Finance Corporation for seven years. Actis has also promoted Nicolas Escallon, another director in its energy infrastructure team, to the position of a partner. According to a statement from Actis, Bansal “has played a key role in… Continue reading Indian PE firm Actis promotes Abhishek Bansal to partner

US PE firm HarbourVest sets up office in Singapore

Boston-based private markets asset manager HarbourVest Partners has announced the opening of its office in Singapore, expanding the firm’s footprint to 11 locations worldwide.  The Singapore office will be overseen by the regional head and HarbourVest managing director Hemal Mirani, alongside investment professionals focused on primary, secondary and co-invest strategies.  Hemal oversees the firm’s operations… Continue reading US PE firm HarbourVest sets up office in Singapore

Indian B2B marketplace OfBusiness in fundraising talks with SoftBank …

Late last month, the Japanese company’s SoftBank Vision Fund 2 had led a $250 million funding round in banking technology startup Zeta, catapulting the Bhavin Turakhia-led firm’s valuation to $1.45 billion. Other recent bets in India from the fund include social commerce platform Meesho, eyewear brand Lenskart and edtech firm Unacademy. OfBusiness was founded in… Continue reading Indian B2B marketplace OfBusiness in fundraising talks with SoftBank …

Singapore VC Good Startup hits first close of protein fund at $25m

Singapore-based venture capital firm Good Startup has raised $25 million in the first close of its Good Protein Fund I that will be used to invest in alternative protein companies worldwide. Investors in the new fund are exclusive individual investors and family offices, the firm said in a press statement. The firm secured commitments from Symphony… Continue reading Singapore VC Good Startup hits first close of protein fund at $25m

Singapore’s  GIC  leads  $164m pre-IPO funding in Star Health

“The funding was closed earlier this quarter. GIC led the funding with around ₹600 crore investment, and Capital Group, which is one of the big FIIs (foreign institutional investors) in the Indian stock market, invested around ₹300 crore. A few other public market investors also participated in the round, and so did the existing investors of the… Continue reading Singapore’s  GIC  leads  $164m pre-IPO funding in Star Health

India’s Kotak Investment Advisors launches pre-IPO fund, looks to raise $274m …

Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd (KIAL), the alternative assets arm of the Kotak Mahindra Group has launched a pre-IPO fund — the Kotak Pre IPO Opportunities Fund. The fund, a category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) has been positioned as an ‘India-focused, late-stage fund to invest in high-quality companies with a strong moat of technology.’ AIFs… Continue reading India’s Kotak Investment Advisors launches pre-IPO fund, looks to raise $274m …

Singapore’s GIC leads $50m funding in Indian AI logistics startup Locus …

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has led a $50-million Series C funding round in Bengaluru-based B2B logistics optimisation startup Locus, the latter announced on Wednesday. The financing also saw the participation of Qualcomm Ventures LLC and existing investors Tiger Global and Falcon Edge. Noted angel investors Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs; Kunal Shah, CEO… Continue reading Singapore’s GIC leads $50m funding in Indian AI logistics startup Locus …