Deals SoftBank is reportedly considering paying upwards of $1bn for a 20% stake in One97 Communications, the Indian e-commerce firm that’s also the parent company for mobile payment platform Paytm. China Vanke has become the second domestic property developer to make a nine-figure investment in Chinese real estate agency and online portal Lianjia this year, … Continue reading "24 April 2017 – SoftBank Considers $1bn+ Deal and Much More"

Deals It feels like the whole Flipkart/Snapdeal funding/merger saga’s been going on forever by this point but news continues to flow out of the respective camps, the latest being that Flipkart could well close between $1.2bn and $1.5bn in funding from eBay, Tencent and Microsoft next week. On-demand ride platform Lyft has added almost 100 … Continue reading "10 April 2017 – Lyft Raises $500m & Unusual IPO for Spotify Plus Much More"

Funds Panasonic to put $100m into corporate venturing German consumer product and industrial manufacturer Henkel has been exploring corporate venturing over the past year as part of a larger open innovation strategy, and has now formalised its investing by forming a dedicated venture capital unit, Henkel Ventures. Intex enters corporate venturing with Rooter investment Phoenix rises … Continue reading "3 April 2017 – Panasonic Puts $100m into Corporate Venturing and Much More"

MuleSoft raised $221m in its IPO on Friday, only to see its share price soar to almost twice the mid-point of its range. The offering is good news for the IPO market generally but also for enterprise software providers looking to go public. Deals Flipkart has raised $1bn in funding from investors including Tencent, Microsoft … Continue reading "27 March 2017 – MuleSoft’s Shares Soar Following $221m IPO and Much More"

Although Netflix is the global market leader when it comes to online video streaming subscription services, regional rivals are beginning to raise substantial sums, particularly in Asia where iFlix has just secured $90m at a valuation of more than $500m. Deals DraftKings, which counts Fox Sports and sports leagues MLB, NHL and MLS as investors, … Continue reading "20 March 2017 – Netflix’s Regional Rival iFlix Secures $90m and Much More"

Deals Airbnb has closed its series F round at just over $1bn, bringing its overall equity funding to $3.4bn. Instacart, the company touted as ‘the Uber of grocery shopping’, has raised $400m at a $3.4bn valuation, with VC firm Sequoia leading the round with a reported $100m investment. Interestingly, none of Instacart’s corporate investors – … Continue reading "13 March 2017 – Airbnb Closes Series F, IPO for Snap and Much More"

Funds Foxconn, the contract manufacturer that’s already backed the $100bn SoftBank Vision Fund, has now also dropped $600m on a majority stake in the telecoms group’s Asia-based tech-focused investment arm SoftBank Asia Capital. Baloise has committed $50m to an investment vehicle operated by Anthemis to identify opportunities in insurance technology startups based in Europe and the US. … Continue reading "06 March 2017 – British Business Bank’s $500m fund and Much More"

Deals SoFi is reportedly close to completing a $500m funding round backed by existing investor SoftBank. Speaking of SoftBank, editor-in-chief James Mawson has taken a deep look at its $3.3bn acquisition of Fortress Investment Group a week ago. Internet group Baidu has invested $300m in iQiyi, an online video streaming platform in which it is majority shareholder, as part … Continue reading "27 February 2017 – Westpac Supplies A$100m to Reinventure for Disruptive FinTech and Much More"

Deals SoftBank has agreed to pay $3.3bn to acquire Fortress Investment Group, an investment manager with some $70bn of assets under management. Jera, the joint venture formed by Japanese energy utilities Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, has invested $200m in India-based solar and wind energy producer ReNew Power, taking a 10% stake. Lytro, … Continue reading "20 February 2017 – Ford Invests in Argo AI, Enterprise Ireland backs 4 Funds and Much More"

Deals Mobile wallet operator Mobikwik has raised more than $120m from an investor base that includes corporates Net1, Cisco, American Express, GMO and Mediatek, and is currently in talks with investors for a round that could value it at up to $1bn, CEO Bipin Preet Singh has told Reuters. View has been developing its Dynamic … Continue reading "13 February 2017 – Used Vehicle Marketplace Uxin Raises $500m and Much More"