Asia

SoftBank-backed Indian hotel aggregator OYO files draft papers for $1.14B IPO

The hotel aggregator's IPO plan also comes at a time when travel restrictions are being eased in many countries and the tourism sector is expected to rebound.

UK’s CDC Group backs Fatima Gobi Ventures’ Pakistan-focused fund

The new funds will boost Techxila Fund I’s investments in early-stage tech companies across Pakistan.

Sustainable development in Asia Pacific – innovating for energy efficiency [Event highlights]

The panel discussion hopes to take a closer look at the role of innovative energy efficiency solutions in achieving carbon reduction goals. It also hopes to dive deeper to understand the current market trends, opportunities, barriers to deployment, and what can be done to drive adoption and meet various sustainable development goals.

Snaphunt envisions a future with a global talent pool, fully-automated recruitment [Q&A with Tulika Tripathi]

Wherever possible, more people are now looking for technology to help them with outcomes as compared to before the pandemic. As a result, we’re seeing international barriers to talent break down, whether for remote work, to globalize, or open new sales channels. Companies will continue to employ a more international workforce than they did before.

Softbank leads soccer NFT platform Sorare’s $680M Series B funding round

The company has also received interest from leagues and fans across the globe to replicate Sorare model in other sports and it plans to roll out new sports in 2022.

Softbank, Tencent invest in Indian online used car platform Cars24 Services – report

Cars24 plans to use the fresh capital to deepen its presence in the United Arab Emirates and Australian markets, where it has made recent forays, and build its cars, bikes and financing business in India while investing in technology.

Airwallex raises $200M in Series E led by Lone Pine Capital, reaches $4B valuation

The investment will support Airwallex's global expansion and enable the company to accelerate multiple product development initiatives across its engineering hubs, grow its sales teams and increase its breadth of offerings for SMEs and larger enterprises.

Pakistan EdTech startup Maqsad raises $2.1M pre-Seed funding led by Indus Valley Capital

The COVID-19 pandemic created a global education crisis, which was more pronounced in developing countries. This gave rise to EdTech startups globally, with ventures in countries like India and Indonesia scaling rapidly to make education more accessible for the wider population.

smiling woman in white knit sweater

L Catterton-backed dental firm Zenyum plans expansion across Asia as clear aligners gain popularity

Zenyum's fundraising and expansion plans come as clear aligners are gaining popularity across Asia and Southeast Asia, trailing trends in the US and Europe. Since its founding in 2018, Zenyum said the company has grown exponentially, seeing a 4x revenue increase in 2020 alone.