Author: TechNode Global Staff

Entrepreneur First (EF), a United Kingdom-based scaleup investor in early stage founder talent, said Wednesday it has raised a $158 million Series C funding round from a group of veteran technology founders, including Patrick and John Collison, Reid Hoffman, Taavet Hinrikus and Matt Mullenweg.

Franklin Templeton, one of the world’s largest independent asset managers, on Tuesday officially opened its first Asian FinTech incubator in the heart of Singapore. The new Franklin Templeton Singapore FinTech Incubator is a joint incubation program for early-stage FinTech startups in partnership with F10 Global Innovation Network Singapore Pte. Ltd.……

Ascend Vietnam Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital firm located in Ho Chi Minh City, announced Tuesday that it has exceeded its $50 million target for its flagship early-stage venture capital fund, AVV Alpha. Led by Binh Tran and Eddie Thai, the fund is seeking the next wave of globally iconic startups emerging from Vietnam.

Funding Societies, Southeast Asia's largest Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) digital financing platform, announced Wednesday that it is acquiring regional payments solution CardUp, for an undisclosed amount. CardUp's payment services will complement its lending products, to offer a unified financial experience for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)…

German media, services, and education company Bertelsmann said Tuesday that its strategic investment arm Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) has raised $500 million to back Indian technology startups. Bertelsmann has implemented its group-wide Boost 25 strategy, and plans to invest between €5 billion ($5.29 billion) and €7 billion ($7.4 billion) by 2025 as…

Panthera Growth Partners (PGP), a Singapore-based tech-focused growth investment firm, announced Tuesday the first close of its second fund, having secured commitments for more than half of the target raise. The fund's target has been set at $250 million, and is expected to be reached by end of this fiscal year. It will offer up to 100 percent of fund…

Progcap, a pioneer in corporate-led financing solutions for small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) in India, said Tuesday it has raised $40 million in private equity capital at $600 million valuation as part of its Series C extension, taking the total Series C round to $70 million. The funding was led by Creation Investments and Tiger Global Management, with…

Fresh Factory, an Indonesia-based integrated cold chain fulfillment and enabler startup,a cold chain fulfillment startup, announced Monday that it has secured $4.5 million of seed funding led by East Ventures. The round also saw the participation of PT. Saratoga Investama Sedaya TBK, Trihill Capital, Indogen Capital, Prasetia Dwidharma, Number Capital, Y…

VinaCapital Ventures, the Vietnam-based technology investment platform of VinaCapital Group, announced Monday that it has taken a stake in M3TA, a Web3 data analytics company that seeks to empower businesses in Web3 with the power of data. Details of the investment were not disclosed.