Katherine Steiner-Dicks

IDG India still has eye on Forus

IDG Ventures India has participated in a series B round funding in existing portfolio company Forus Health. The company has raised $13.2m to date.

Series E round dishes out $88m for Delivery Hero

Germany-based Delivery Hero has raised $88m in a series E round to consolidate its global position in the online and mobile food ordering sector. Insight Ventures led the deal. Existing backers include Kite Ventures, Team Europe, ruNet, Tengelmann Ventures, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Point Nine Capital and Phenomen Ventures. Its total funding to date is about $200m.

Brandtone: Syngenta, Unilever, Verlinvest plant €14m to see messages bloom

A €4m investment in Ireland-based Brandtone, an emerging markets mobile marketing company, by the venture capital arm of agri-business company Syngenta has been as part of a strategic move by the corporate investor to engage in more innovative ways with farmers in China, India, South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Syngenta will commence work with… Continue reading Brandtone: Syngenta, Unilever, Verlinvest plant €14m to see messages bloom

Alstom, Solvay, Schneider: calm, cool and collected over Iceotope

EIF and corporate-sponsor-backed Aster Capital has backed a $10m series A round of funding for UK IT cooling specialist, Iceotope.

Google’s $3.2bn Nest take-over to access smart home growth

Google has acquired Nest Labs, a US start-up that designs and distributes smart home technology hardware, namely thermostats and smoke detectors. The deal has been reported to be worth $3.2bn, which equates to about just under 6% of Google’s cash. Nest was founded by Tony Fadell, one of the leading minds behind Apple’s iPod. The… Continue reading Google’s $3.2bn Nest take-over to access smart home growth

Corp VCs peas in a pod over $120m Wandoujia series B round

SoftBank Corp’s corporate venturing unit has led a $120m series B round of funding in China’s largest mobile application platform company, Wandoujia. The latest round brings the company’s total funding to date to a reported $128m, having raised $8m from SoftBank, DCM and its incubator, Innovation Work Development Fund, in 2011, all of which have… Continue reading Corp VCs peas in a pod over $120m Wandoujia series B round

IDG Ventures India, IvyCap Ventures and RVCF secure Aujas series B round

India online risk services company, Aujas, has secured more backing from existing seed backer IDG Ventures India and attracted new investors including Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund and IvyCap Ventures in an undisclosed series B round of funding.

Bertelsmann Asia, DCM high in the sky with UCloud deal

Private equity firm Doll Capital Management (DCM) and Bertelsmann Asia Investments, the Asia-focused corporate venturing unit of the German media group Bertelsmann, have invested $10m in a series A round of funding for UCloud Information Technology. The IaaS business that targets SMEs to build their scalable IT infrastructures through cloud computing will use the funds… Continue reading Bertelsmann Asia, DCM high in the sky with UCloud deal

Changhong to launch $41m ‘intelligent’ fund with CBC

According to news reports by China’s Private Equity Daily, Sichuan Changhong Electric is getting into the corporate venturing game by co-funding and investing with Chinese private equity firm, China Broadband Capital Partners (CBC) and launching a fund to the tune of $41m. Sichuan Changhong Electric is principally engaged in the manufacture and distribution of household… Continue reading Changhong to launch $41m ‘intelligent’ fund with CBC

Chernin animated over Crunchyroll equity stake

The Chernin Group, former News Corp president Peter Chernin’s holding company, said it had acquired majority control of Japanese anime streaming service Crunchyroll, expanding holdings that include stakes in online video company Fullscreen and mobile entertainment network Scopely.

Omnivore Partners jumps in the deep end with Eruvaka

Omnivore Partners, the early stage investment unit of India food company Godrey Agrovet (part of Tyson Foods), has bought a minority stake in Eruvaka Technologies, an India maker of diagnostic equipment for aquaculture farmers, for an undisclosed amount.

TransCosmos makes fashion statement with $5m Berrybenka deal

TransCosmos, a Japan-based IT outsourcing company for corporate clients, has according to its President and Chief Operating Officer, Masataka Okuda, agreed to acquire more than 30% of the outstanding equity interests of Berrybenka, an Indonesia-based online fashion department store. The investment was strategic to TransCosmos’ Indonesian call centre business. Berrybenka has seen fast paced growth… Continue reading TransCosmos makes fashion statement with $5m Berrybenka deal

Benesse teaches InOpen valuable lesson

Japan-based education company Benesse Holdings has invested for a small minority stake an undisclosed amount of capital in India-based education content company InOpen Technologies through a series A round.

AIS, Singtel create regional start-up community

Thailand telecommunications company, AIS, and Singapore telco Singtel are joining forces to create a regional start-up community. The goal of this community is to support start-ups in the region and help them to compete in the global market.