Let’s begin this edition with some of our exclusive stories from the week that went by.
Singapore state investor Temasek has identified GP-led secondaries as a new focus area, as the strategy can help GPs keep valuable assets in their portfolio for longer periods. “Currently, we are collaborating on secondary solutions, including recapitalisations, continuation vehicles, and fund-of-fund transfers,” said Alpin Mehta, Deputy Head, Private Equity Fund Investments at Temasek.
Silicon Box, a Singapore-based semiconductor design and device integration services startup, has secured $100 million in fresh funding from a host of investors led by US venture capital (VC) firm Prysm Capital, per regulatory filings.
Taylor’s Education Group, a Malaysian private education company backed by private equity (PE) firm KKR, is weighing the acquisition of Vietnam-based peer Koala House, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Macquarie Asset Management is set to close its latest South Korea-focused PE fund at over 1 trillion won ($730 million) in the third quarter of this year, said sources familiar with the matter.
LP-GP updates
Swiss impact investor responsAbility Investments has secured $100 million from a unit of parent M&G plc to hold the second close for its Asia climate investment strategy at $200 million.
Alternative investments firm 9Basil Group has held the final close for its second PE fund. The firm manages over $300 million in assets.
General partners (GPs) are devising innovative structures to generate liquidity in frothy markets, especially in Southeast Asia, and fulfil return expectations. These include co-control and corporate partnership deals.
PE money has resumed chasing deals in India and Southeast Asia’s private education sector, betting on sectoral tailwinds and predictable cash flows. In 2023, the value of education deals in the Asia Pacific, excluding China, grew 44% year-on-year to reach $6.5 billion, according to data compiled by L.E.K Consulting.
Foreign fund managers are increasingly carving out their maiden India investment strategy as they look to diversify their portfolios. Firms looking to launch their debut India funds include L Catterton Asia, Affirma Capital and Tribe Capital.
Consumer-focused early-stage VC firm Sauce.VC, which has backed Mokobara and The Whole Truth in India, has closed its third pre-seed fund at Rs 365 crore ($44 million).
India Inflection Opportunity Trust (IIOT), managed by Pantomath Capital Management, has raised Rs 1,000 crore ($119 million) for its second fund. The vehicle has a target corpus of Rs 2,000 crore and will back pre-IPO companies in India.
Continuation funds are poised to become a notable strategy in India as VC and PE firms seek innovative ways to provide liquidity to their limited partners (LPs) amid tightening economic conditions.
Indonesia-based VC firm Alpha JWC Ventures and Pijar Foundation have launched an accelerator programme focused on artificial intelligence (AI).
Amid a challenging climate that has seen most venture capital investors scale down their deal flow in Southeast Asia, Taiwan-based AppWorks seems to be an outlier. The company has participated in six funding rounds in the first half of this year, including Qoala’s $47-million Series C round and Botsync’s $5.2 million Series A round.
Funding and other deals
Nasdaq-listed fintech company Payoneer has acquired Singapore-based workforce and payroll management company Skuad for a cash consideration of $61 million and up to $20 million in contingencies. The deal provides an exit to BEENEXT, Argor Capital and other investors in the five-year-old startup.
Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC is understood to be eyeing a full exit from Indonesian palm oil producer PT Triputra Agro Persada.
Indonesia’s state-owned communication giant Telkom Indonesia has appointed Goldman Sachs and Mandiri Sekuritas to help it find a strategic investor for its data centre business.
Indonesian telecom tower company PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi, also known as Mitratel, is considering a potential deal for the fibre assets of the country’s second-largest telecom player, PT Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison.
Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Karawaci has sold most of its stake in local hospital chain Siloam International Hospitals to PE firm CVC Capital Partners, which has become the majority stakeholder.
Macquarie Asset Management’s PE fund is understood to have sealed a deal to acquire Korean contract development and manufacturing organisation Genuone Sciences from local investor IMM Private Equity.
Singapore-based IoT service provider UnaBiz has raised $25 million in a pre-Series C funding round backed by KDDI Open Innovation Fund 3, the corporate VC of Global Brain Corp and telco major KDDI; and KYOCERA Communication Systems, a subsidiary of electronics maker Kyocera.
Singapore-based medtech startup Aevice Health has secured $7 million in a seed-plus funding round led by Coronet Ventures, per regulatory filings.
Aprisium, a Singapore-based provider of advanced contaminant detection and monitoring solutions, has closed a $7 million Series A round led by Deep-Tech Venture Partners and Cocoon Capital.
GrowSari, a Philippine B2B e-commerce platform backed by KKR, has raised $5 million from family office Oppenheimer Generations.
Mohalla Tech, the parent entity of Indian social media platform ShareChat, has raised an additional $16 million in debt financing from Singapore’s EDBI, taking the total amount raised in its ongoing round to $65 million.
After witnessing a sharp uptick in June this year, private funding for Indian startups plummeted almost 52% to $1 billion in July.
DEG, the investment arm of German state-owned development bank KfW, has committed to invest $50 million in Indian solar panel provider Fourth Partner Energy. The investment is part of a $275-million equity consortium to acquire 56% of the company.
In yet another instance of a startup biting the dust amid the relentless funding winter, influencer marketing platform Maverick, backed by General Catalyst and Good Capital, has shut shop, sources familiar with the matter told DealStreetAsia.
Xpeng Aeroht, a subsidiary of EV maker Xpeng, has raked in $150 million in a Series B1 funding round as the firm looks to kickstart pre-orders for its modular flying car in Q4 this year and start deliveries to consumers in Q4 2025.
Beijing Deep Blue Space Aerospace Technology, also known as Shenlan Space, has pocketed 1 billion yuan ($139.7 million) in a Series B2 round led by a state-owned investment holding group affiliated with the Wuxi National Hi-Tech District.
PE firm L Catterton has invested an undisclosed amount in Chinese plant-based beverage company Viee.
Taiwanese smart logistics firm BBTruck has raised $6 million in a pre-Series A funding round for its global market expansion.
Earnings and results
Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group swung to a small net profit in the April-June quarter and unveiled plans to buy back up to $3.4 billion in shares, answering investor calls for better returns.
Indonesian digital investment platform Stockbit’s losses surged 90% to S$36.12 million ($14.3 million) in 2022 on the back of soaring expenses.
Indonesia-based capsule hotel startup Bobobox reduced its losses marginally in 2023 on the back of a 52% growth in net revenue, according to regulatory filings.
Nansen, a Singapore-based blockchain analytics platform, continued to incur losses in the financial year ended December 31, 2023, as its revenue plunged.
Singapore-headquartered blockchain payments network Partior posted a nearly 75% increase in losses in 2023 as its expenses surged manifold.
Lion TCR, a Singapore-headquartered clinical-stage biotech company, saw its losses widen by 27% in 2023 from a year earlier.
People stories
Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower has tabled a new bill in parliament to implement previously announced protections for platform workers, including ride-hailing and on-demand delivery workers, in the city-state. As of November 2023, MOM data showed that the number of platform workers in Singapore stood at about 70,500.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has appointed Tomoko Ueda as its new chief operating officer for Asia Pacific, effective September 3.
Singapore’s state investment company Temasek will add three external hires in new roles to strengthen its leadership team.
DBS Group has announced that Tan Su Shan, the firm’s head of institutional banking, will succeed chief executive Piyush Gupta upon his retirement in March, making her the first female CEO of Singapore’s biggest bank.
10 reasons why
Still undecided on whether to attend the upcoming Asia PE-VC Summit 2024? We give you 10 reasons to make up your mind and book those tickets now.
