Deals Baidu has spun off the likes of Baidu Video and Zuoyebang in recent years, and video streaming platform iQiyi, in which Baidu owned a…

Deals Ant Financial, Alibaba’s financial services arm, is on its way to becoming the most valuable private VC-backed company ever, having reportedly lined up $3bn…

Which camp are you in? In China, it seems, there is Alibaba and there is Tencent. Alibaba and Tencent account for 40% to 50% of venture capital flows in mainland China, according to data from McKinsey quoted by news provider Financial Times*. Their approaches, however, seem slightly different at the operational level in how they engage … Continue reading "09 April 2018 – Management Approaches to Portfolio"

Deals Alibaba has provided another $2bn for Lazada, the Southeast Asian e-commerce marketplace it had already invested $2bn in as of June last year. India-based Oyo Rooms may be the next online services provider to benefit from SoftBank’s largesse, having reportedly entered talks with the corporate, and two unnamed new investors, for a round that … Continue reading "26 March 2018 – Sir Li Ka-shing to Retire from Two Businesses"

Deals Big-box retailer Walmart has entered discussions to invest roughly $7bn in India-based e-commerce company Flipkart at a valuation of about $20bn, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. JD.com’s financial services spinout, JD Finance, has entered talks with China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation to lead a $2bn funding round … Continue reading "19 March 2018 – Walmart Discusses Investing $7bn in Flipkart"

Deals In last week’s Big Deal on GCV, news editor Robert Lavine looked at DoorDash, which just got its first corporate investment in a $535m series D round led by SoftBank, almost doubling its valuation in roughly two years. Augmented reality technology developer Magic Leap has to be one of the most well-funded companies to … Continue reading "12 March 2018 – Magic Leap Increases Series D to $963m"

Deals Internet group Tencent has led an $818m series C round for China-based automotive e-commerce platform Chehaoduo. Shougang Fund, an investment branch of steelmaker Shougang, and ICBC International, a subsidiary of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, also took part in the round. Telecommunications and internet group SoftBank has led a $535m series D round … Continue reading "05 March 2018 – Dropbox Files for $500m IPO"

Deals Chinese furniture and home improvement retail chain EasyHome has raised just over $2bn in a round in which Alibaba invested approximately $860m in return for a 15% stake. Uber could acquire what sources told CNBC would be a sizeable stake in Southeast Asian counterpart Grab through a deal that will involve Grab taking on … Continue reading "26 February 2018 – EasyHome Raises Over $2bn"

Funds NVP, the Wells Fargo-backed venture firm has closed its largest ever fund, having secured $1.5bn to invest from seed to late stage. The mobile advertising platform Calldorado App Growth Fund will provide marketing funds for app developers using its software. Exits Pharmaceutical firm Roche agreed yesterday to acquire cancer research technology provider and portfolio … Continue reading "19 February 2018 – Wells Fargo-backed Venture Firm NVP Closes $1.5bn Fund"

Deals Ant Financial, e-commerce group Alibaba’s financial services affiliate, is reportedly preparing to raise $5bn in funding in a round that will value it at betwen $80bn and $100bn, making it the most valuable VC-backed private company of all time. Go-Jek has been raising a $1.2bn round over the past six months that already includes … Continue reading "12 February 2018 – Ant Financial in Potential $5bn Funding Round"