Author: Deal Street Asia Online News

SEA Digest: Lenskart to launch in Indonesia, Vietnam; Eve World buys Femcy

Omni-channel eyewear brand Lenskart plans to open outlets in Indonesia and Vietnam by March 2022. Meanwhile, the Singapore-based, women-only social media Eve World has acquired the menstrual wellness app Femcy. Lenskart to launch in Indonesia, Vietnam Lenskart, an omnichannel eyewear retailer, has announced plans to strengthen its outlet presence across Southeast Asia and expand into… Continue reading SEA Digest: Lenskart to launch in Indonesia, Vietnam; Eve World buys Femcy

Deals Digest: Kakao’s Radish buys Wuxiaworld; Australia’s Voly bags $13m

Radish, a subsidiary of South Korean startup Kakao Entertainment, has acquired Wuxiaworld for $37.5 million while Australian instant grocery delivery startup Voly has secured about $13 million in seed funding. Radish acquires Wuxiaworld for $37.5m Radish, the serialised fiction app subsidiary of South Korea’s Kakao Entertainment, has acquired Wuxiaworld, an Asia fantasy fiction platform, for… Continue reading Deals Digest: Kakao’s Radish buys Wuxiaworld; Australia’s Voly bags $13m

China’s Linear Capital raises $500m for two new funds in just five weeks …

Linear Capital, a Chinese investment firm that focuses on data and frontier technology startups, has closed two new funds in just five weeks with $500 million in total capital commitments. Linear Capital, an early investor of auto chip startup Horizon Robotics and content marketing platform Tezign, raised the capital for its USD Fund V and… Continue reading China’s Linear Capital raises $500m for two new funds in just five weeks …

SenseTime plans to relaunch Hong Kong IPO as early as Monday

Chinese artificial intelligence startup SenseTime Group plans to keep its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) at $767 million as it considers re-launching the withdrawn deal as early as Monday, four people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The people could not be identified as the information is not public. A spokesperson for SenseTime,… Continue reading SenseTime plans to relaunch Hong Kong IPO as early as Monday

India’s ShareChat raises $266m led by US-based Alkeon Capital

Indian content-sharing platform ShareChat on Thursday said it had raised $266 million in fresh funding from U.S.-based Alkeon Capital and some existing investors, pushing its valuation to $3.7 billion. The new investments, part of ShareChat’s third funding round this year, were led by Alkeon and saw participation from Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and Moore Strategic Ventures,… Continue reading India’s ShareChat raises $266m led by US-based Alkeon Capital

SoftBank-backed Indian ride-hailing firm Ola raises $500m loan

Indian ride-hailing company Ola said on Thursday it had raised a $500-milllion loan from international institutional investors, as the SoftBank Group-backed start-up preps to make its stock market debut next year. Ola, which has a majority share of India’s ride-hailing market where it competes with Uber Technologies, has plans to raise up to $1 billion… Continue reading SoftBank-backed Indian ride-hailing firm Ola raises $500m loan

Data Vantage: Vertex’s Binance exit, Conversant’s funding, and other updates

Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India and Vertex Ventures China have exited their investment in the Singapore affiliate of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, according to regulatory filings. The funds, which are part of Temasek-backed Vertex Holdings’ global VC network, transferred their stakes in Binance Asia Services to Ireland-based Binance (Services) Holdings on Monday. The development coincided… Continue reading Data Vantage: Vertex’s Binance exit, Conversant’s funding, and other updates

PE firm BGH Capital makes $431m bid for Australia’s Virtus Health

Private equity firm BGH Capital has proposed a A$607.3 million ($431.37 million) buyout of Australia’s Virtus Health after acquiring a 10% stake, the fertility services provider said on Tuesday, sending its shares up by more than a third. BGH proposed to pay A$7.10 per share, representing a 36% premium to the stock’s last close, after… Continue reading PE firm BGH Capital makes $431m bid for Australia’s Virtus Health

Top investors don’t call Vietnam a frontier market anymore. Watch the video here

Thanks to attractive macro fundamentals, SE Asia’s fast-growing economies, Vietnam in particular, are increasingly grabbing the interest of global private equity powerhouses. “Now people don’t call Vietnam a frontier market anymore,” Conrad Tsang, chairman & co-founder, Strategic Year Holdings Limited, said during the Vietnam-focused panel discussion at the Asia PE-VC Summit 2021. What is driving the shift… Continue reading Top investors don’t call Vietnam a frontier market anymore. Watch the video here