Asia has been a growing market for startup companies and venture capital deal. However, as U.S. venture capital faces a slowdown and overblown valuation, will Asia also experience the same?
Funding
Battery Ventures XI Closes Pair of Funds Raising $950 Million
Battery Ventures X has been closed in February 2013 with a fund of $900 million. Now, the Battery Ventures XI is going to be closed at $950 million, surpassing the predecessor funds. A large number of venture firms are expecting to receive funds in 2016, which may be good or bad news for some institutional investors.
Canadian venture capital at 10-year high
Led by technology sector, venture capital (VC) investments in Canada reached 10 year high in 2015. Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA) said 536 deals in funding for entrepreneurs raised $2.25 billion in 2015.
Usher and Robert Downey Jr. Invested in Online Learning Platform With Celebrity Instructors, MasterClass
Usher and Robert Downey Jr. join a list of investors to help fund online learning platform MasterClass in its Series B round. In total, the round raised $15 million as the company plan to further expand its area of subjects as well as adding new instructors.
Black Bear Diner Secured an Investment From PWP Growth Equity, Aims to Expand Business
Black Bear Diner had secured an investment from private equity fund PWP Growth Equity. The financial backing will be allocated to expand growth and coverage in new and existing markets. The restaurant plans to add new locations and grow to 155 restaurants in the U.S while retaining its unique concept.
Latest News
2015 appears as the most successful business year ever from RES context. It has touched several milestones while being acknowledged as the Best of VMworld 2015 Europe. The browser extension provider has received $10 million from ORIX Ventures to accelerate its penetration into the emerging market.
London-based Qubit received a Series C funding of $40 million. Goldman Sachs was leading the funding for the big data analytic platform which was announced on Monday.
It was confirmed on Monday that Israeli company Ravello was acquired by Oracle for $500 million. Ravello joins Oracle's cloud business with high hopes to take on giant tech companies like IBM, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon.
Baltimore private equity firm Ecosystem Investment Partners (EIP) announced on Tuesday that they closed its third fund at $303 million, overriding its target of $200 million. With such amount of equity capital commitments, Monument Group Inc. is to serve again as exclusive placement agent.
Indian businessman Ajay Piramal has entered into venture capital (VC) space by establishing a new VC funding entity 'Montane Ventures.' The new VC fund focuses on early-stage funding requirements. Piramal has infused $50 million into Montane Ventures will mobiles $150 million additionally from external resources.
Mobile startup Jana has a new influx of cash and an old industry hand as a new adviser. It recently nabbed a $57 million funding from Verizon Ventures for expansion in developing countries.
Silicon Valley-based private co-investment platform F50 has the launched beta version of co-investment Syndication Platform. F50 facilitates both the online and offline transactions for investors and startups. It doesn't charge a transaction fee to founders.
Indian retail pharmacy sales have been expected to cross $11.5 billion in 2015. Many startups have appeared in the market of online medicine and CareOnGo takes a leading position among them in online pharmacy market. It has raised $300,000 for its seed fund round which will be used for its expansion in different major cities of India.
San Fransisco-based biotech accelerator IndieBio is determined to help biotech startups the way other accelerators have done for IT startups. The firm believes that biotech is a highly important sector to boost the quality of humanity and economy, and is convincing other investors to have the same vision.
