Asia

Bertelsmann India Investments plans funding exceeding $500M to back tech startups

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…

India’s Progcap raises $40M from Creation Investments, Tiger Global and Google

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…

Bangladesh’s ShopUp announces $65M follow-on round led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures

The company had previously completed a $109 million Series B Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures leads $75 million Series B in Bangladesh’s ShopUp">six months ago.

Infobip launches ID1 Data Center to support the accelerating growth of digital transformation in Indonesia and APAC

Located in West Java, the move is aligned with the strategic direction of Indonesia's Digital Roadmap 2021 to 2024 wherein it aims at developing an inclusive, safe, and reliable digital and connectivity infrastructure with high-quality services.

South Korea’s Klaytn partners with US’s OpenSea to spur growth in Asia

South Korea-based metaverse blockchain ecosystem Klaytn Foundation has joined forces with United States based marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) OpenSea, to invest in the Asian NFT ecosystem. The partnership, which was announced at NFT.NYC, is the first-of-its-kind dedicated to accelerating the growth and adoption of NFTs in Asia.

dHost lauches new identity and announces regional expansion in APAC

dHost, an in-building neutral hosting service provider and technology enabler, announced on Friday its new brand identity, reflecting expanded technology solutions and new verticals strategy in APAC & Japan. The announcement signifies dHost’s commitment to help mobile network operators and industries to take on technology risk and upfront investment costs -…

Hong Kong’s SleekFlow bags $8M Series A funding led by Tiger Global

Following its seven-figure pre-Series A funding round last year, Alibaba Entrepreneur Fund-backed software as a service (SaaS) omnichannel social commerce platform SleekFlow announced Thursday the completion of its $8 million Series A funding round, led by New York-based investment firm Tiger Global Partners.

Hong Kong’s brandtech firm Gusto Collective eyes expansion to SG, Tokyo, Bangkok after recent fundraising [Q&A]

Gusto Collective, which provides content production services, raised $11 million in its seed plus funding round led by Animoca Brands and Gaw Capital last month. The oversubscribed round also received participation from BlackPine, YCI Limited, and several existing shareholders including ClearVue Partners.

Hong Kong’s Babel Finance raises $80M Series B funding, valuation hits $2B

Babel Finance, a Hong Kong-based crypto financial service provider that provides digital asset loans, said Tuesday it has raised $80 million in a Series B funding round, and the investment increased the company's worth to $2 billion. Leading venture capital companies such as Circle Ventures, 10T Holdings, Jenerations Capital, BAI Capital and Bertelsmann,…