INDUSTRY NEWS

LP baggage

Global Tech Brief

Talking Shop

While all dollars are green, not all LP commitments come without their complexities.

On one hand, Chinese institutional investors are seeking venture relationships (now, more than ever) to diversify their global fund portfolios. On the other hand, the challenging fundraising environment has prompted many VCs to broaden their geographic scope and take meetings with institutional investors they may not have previously considered. 

At our latest London investor meeting, venture investors noted the importance of understanding the risks associated with broadening their LP base, even as capital remains limited.

Based on conversations with GPs, a key example is the increased interest from Chinese LPs in Mexico-based managers. The managers’ concern wasn’t the direct impact of accepting much-needed capital to close their funds, but the potential indirect consequences–specifically, that accepting it might limit their ability to operate in the US. 

Much of this concern stems from the incoming Trump administration, which has floated regulatory updates to further restrict the operations of Chinese tech companies in the US. These updates include but are not limited to, imposing public equity listing sanctions on foreign companies partially owned by Chinese entities.

“If you decide to bring them on, you need to be comfortable taking on that additional risk,” said a manager I spoke with in London.

By bringing on a new LP relationship, a GP commits not only to performing for its new partner but also to navigating any major considerations that come with it–particularly if those impact the team’s ability to deliver on its goals. 

Long-term partnerships shouldn’t be built on speculation, but as the new US administration settles in, investors in-market must tread carefully to balance immediate needs with long-term viability.

The Big Tickets

  • MARKETING | General Atlantic led a USD500m Series E for Insider, a Turkey-based marketing and CRM platform.
    • Insider raised a USD121m Series D in March 2022 led by Qatar Investment Authority, with participation from 212, Endeavor Catalyst, Esas Holding, Riverwood Capital, Sequoia Capital and Wamda.
    • EXIT | 212 partially exited its stake in Insider, with a 57x MOIC.

  • FOOD DELIVERY | Zepto, an India-based instant delivery startup raised a USD350m round led by Motilal Oswal’s private wealth division, with participation from the family offices of Mankind Pharma, RP-Sanjiv Goenka, Cello, Haldiram and others.
    • Zepto has raised over USD1.3b since June, highlighting strong demand for instant delivery and intense competition for market share in India.

  • FINTECH | Allianz X led a USD300m Series E for Argentina-based fintech Ualá, with participation from Stone Ridge Holdings Group, Pershing Square Foundation, Alan Howard, Claure Group, and follow-on from Soros Fund Management, Goldman Sachs, SoftBank and Tencent.
    • SoftBank and Tencent led a USD350m Series D in August 2021.
    • This marks Allianz X’s first investment in Latin America.

  • E-COMMERCE | ChrysCapital and Motilal Oswal Alternates led a USD153m secondary round for HealthKart, an India-based e-commerce marketplace for health and wellness products, with participation from existing investors Neo Group and A91 Partners. The round provided a full exit for Peak XV.

  • FINTECH | Victory Park Capital provided a USD100m credit facility for ADDI, a Colombian point-of-sale lending platform.
    • ADDI last raised a USD36m round and secured USD50m in debt financing from Goldman Sachs in March.

  • OMNI-CHANNEL | General Atlantic led a USD100m Series C for Eyewa, a UAE-based eyewear retailer, with participation from Badwa Capital and Turmeric Capital.

  • AGTECH | Ascend Vietnam Ventures and TNB Aura led a USD70m Series A for Vietnam-based Techcoop in an equity and debt round, with participation from BlueOrchard Finance, Capria Ventures, Sogo Energy and Appworks. Techcoop offers integrated trade, digital financing and advisory solutions to agri-SMEs.
    • DEBT | The round included USD42m in debt financing from HSBC, Lendable and other Vietnamese banks.

  • FINTECH | General Catalyst led a USD67.5m Series B for Lean Technologies, a Saudi Arabia-based financial data API provider, with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Duquesne Family Office, Arbor Ventures and JIMCO.
    • This marks General Catalyst’s first investment in Saudi Arabia.

Deals

  • FINTECH | Peak XV led a USD67m Series D for SarvaGram, an India-based rural credit provider, with participation from Elevation Capital, Temasek and TVS Capital. 

  • CRM | SoftBank led a USD60m Series C for Blip (fka Take Blip), a Brazil-based customer chatbot that runs on digital channels including WhatsApp, with participation from Microsoft.
    • Warburg Pincus invested USD70m in June 2022.

  • BIOTECH | Lanchi Ventures led a USD42m Series A for Allink Biotherapeutics, a China-based immunotherapy company, with participation from Yuanbio Venture Capital, Legend Capital and others.

  • FINTECH | SMBC Asia Rising Fund and Claypond Capital led a USD35m Series B for Easy Home Finance, an India-based provider of consumer home loans, with participation from Xponentia Capital, Pegasus Capital, Finsight Ventures and Harbourfront Capital.

  • FINTECH | OneCard, an India-based mobile-first credit card startup, raised a USD28.5m round led by Better Tomorrow Ventures, Peak XV and Z47 Partners (fka Matrix Partners India).

  • CLEANTECH | Ampd Energy, a Hong Kong- and Singapore-based battery energy storage system for heavy industries, raised a USD27.3m Series B led by Openspace Ventures and Kibo Invest, with follow-on from MTR Lab, Taronga Ventures and 2150.

  • EV | Revaia led a USD26m Series B round for AMPECO, a Bulgaria-based EV charging software management platform, with participation from existing investors Cavalry Ventures, BMW i Ventures and LAUNCHub Ventures.

  • INSURTECH | Elevation Capital, Dharana Capital and Blume Ventures led a USD25m Series D for Zopper, an India-based insurance infrastructure API provider.
    • The company raised a USD75m Series C in September 2022 from Bessemer Venture Partners, Blume Ventures, Craeagis Advisors and ICICI Venture Funds. 

  • EDTECH | Bhanzu, an India-based edtech company, raised a USD16.5m Series B led by Epiq Capital, with participation from Z3 Partners, Lightspeed and Eight Roads Ventures.

  • FINTECH | Reach Capital led a USD12m Series A for Cometa, a Mexican cash flow management platform for private schools.

  • ADTECH | henQ led a USD12m Series A for Estonia-based influencer marketing platform Modash, with participation from Icebreaker.vc, Change Ventures and LIFT99.

  • BLOCKCHAIN | Vlayer, a Polish data infrastructure provider integrating real-world data into Ethereum smart contracts, raised a USD10m pre-seed round from a16z crypto CSX, Credo Ventures, Blocktower VC and others.

  • FINTECH | HUB2, a Côte d’Ivoire-based payments platform, raised a USD8.5m Series A led by TLcom Capital, with participation from FMO, Enza Capital, Bpifrance and Eric Barbier (Thunes). 

  • FINTECH | Pemo, a UAE-based spend management platform, raised a USD7m pre-Series A led by Augmentum Fintech and Shorooq Partners, with participation from Cherry Ventures, Speedinvest and Fintech Collective. 

  • LOGISTICS | Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital led a USD6.5m Series A for Portcast, a Singapore-based logistics platform offering real-time transportation visibility and predictive analytics. The round included participation from Hearst Ventures, Signal Ventures, Wavemaker Partners and others.

  • E-COMMERCE SOLUTIONS | EBRD Venture Capital and Tera Ventures led a EUR6m seed round for Miros, an Estonia-based visual search platform to enhance product discovery.

  • HRTECH | Socium, a Senegal-based HR and payroll provider, raised a USD5m seed round led by Breega, with participation from Partech, Orange Ventures, Chui Ventures, Sonatel, Outlierz, Super Capital, Evolem and Techmind.

  • INSURTECH | EBRD Venture Capital led a USD2.3m round for Amenli, an Egypt-based online insurance broker, with follow-on from YC.

  • CLOUD COMPUTING | Cloud, a Bulgaria-based IT services and cloud computing provider, raised EUR2m from Eleven Ventures to expand its operations to Greece.

  • CLEANTECH | Partech led a Series A for Beacon Power Services, a Nigeria-based power sector grid management platform, with participation from Seedstars Africa Ventures, Finnfund, Gaia Impact, Proparco, Kaleo Ventures, Clermount, Global Brain, JGC MIRAI Innovation Fund and On.Capital.
    • Read GPCA’s case study on Beacon Power Services.

  • FINTECH | Visa invested in Oze (Ghana), Orda (Nigeria), WorkPay (Kenya) and OkHi (Kenya).
    • These startups are graduates of Visa’s Africa Fintech Accelerator program.

  • EV | The Radical Fund and Bali Investment Club led a seed round for Dash Electric, an Indonesia-based EV logistics fleet-as-a-service for businesses, with participation from Schneider Electric Energy Access Asia, Aksara Ventures and Kevik Aluwi (Gojek).

/ For more Latin American deal activity, subscribe to LAVCA’s LatAm Venture Bulletin. 

Funds

  • Leapfrog Investments closed its fourth fund at USD1.02b, including USD210m in co-investments, with commitments from Temasek, DFC, EIB, Eli Lilly, the Ford Foundation and others.
    • The fund has already deployed capital into five portfolio companies, including Redcliffe Labs (India), Sun King (pan-EM) and bolttech (Singapore).

  • Stellaris Venture Partners closed its third fund at USD300m to support early-stage consumer tech, AI, SaaS and fintech startups in India.

  • Openspace Ventures reached a USD163m final close for its fourth early-stage Southeast Asia fund, with commitments from JICA, Norfund and DEG.

  • Intudo Ventures raised USD125m across two funds: USD75m for its fourth early-stage fund backing Indonesian startups and USD50m for a fund focused on downstream natural resources and renewable energy.
    • Orient Growth Ventures and Black Kite Capital are among the LPs in its early-stage vehicle.

  • Pavestone VC reached a ~USD97m final close for its maiden fund to back early-stage B2B technology companies in India. 

  • Cogito Capital Partners reached a first close of over EUR90m for its second fund, targeting early-stage enterprise tech businesses with a CEE footprint. The fund secured backing from EBRD, IFC, EIF, Polish Development Fund and others.

  • Janngo Capital reached a EUR73m final close for Janngo Capital Startup Fund, its early-stage fund focused on investing in African startups. The latest close secured backing from the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund, ANAVA and the endowment fund of Ashesi University.

  • Seedstars Africa Ventures reached a USD42m first close for its inaugural fund, which will back early-stage startups across Africa. The fund’s backers include LBO France, EIB Global and the African Development Bank.
    • The fund has already deployed capital into five startups, including Beacon Power Services (Nigeria), Bizao (Côte d’Ivoire) and XENO (Uganda).

  • Wavemaker Partners secured a USD30m first close for its inaugural late-stage fund, targeting startups across Southeast Asia in enterprise, deeptech and sustainability sectors.
    • The fund has commitments from QLA Investment and Cercano Management.

  • Ibtikar Fund reached a USD25m final close for its second fund, which will back companies founded by Palestinian entrepreneurs in the MENA region.

  • BSV Ventures reached a ~USD15.8m final close to back seed-stage deeptech companies across the Baltics. The fund’s LPs include the NATO Innovation Fund and Lithuania’s ILTE Fund.

  • Wa’ed Ventures, Aramco’s USD500m venture capital fund, has earmarked USD100m to invest in AI startups as part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to strengthen its position in the field.

  • South Korea-based IMM Investment reached a first close for its debut India fund, with an anchor commitment from gaming giant Krafton’s India arm. Prakhar Khanduja, a former investor at MSA Novo and Legend Capital, will lead the fund.

M&As, Listings and Exits

  • IPO | Swiggy, an India-based food and grocery delivery platform, raised USD1.3b in its listing on the NSE and BSE, marking the country’s second-largest IPO of the year. Existing investors, including Accel India, Prosus, Elevation Capital, DST Global and Coatue, sold shares worth ~USD806m as part of the offering.

  • STRATEGIC SALE | Nasdaq-listed BioNTech has agreed to acquire Biotheus, a China-based biotech specializing in novel antibodies for oncology and inflammatory diseases, in a deal valued at up to USD950m. Previous investors in Biotheus, including General Atlantic, HighLight Capital, Kunlun Capital, CPE and others, will fully exit.

  • IPO | Pony AI, a US- and China-based autonomous driving technology startup, raised USD413.4m through its Nasdaq listing and a private placement. Existing investors include HongShan, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Board, IDG Capital and 5Y Capital. 

  • IPO | Zinka Logistics, the parent company of Indian digital trucking platform BlackBuck, raised USD132m through its listing on India’s stock exchanges. Existing investors, including Accel India, IFC, Peak XV and Tiger Global, sold shares worth USD29.6m as part of the offering.

  • STRATEGIC SALE | Middle East Venture Partners fully exited its 44% stake in YouGotaGift, a UAE-based digital gift cards provider, through a strategic sale to Japan-based giftee.

  • PARTIAL SALE | Capria Venturespartially exited Nigerian fintech Moniepoint via a secondary sale during the company’s recent USD110m Series C, led by Development Partners International.
    • Moniepoint is reportedly valued at ~USD1b. 

  • STRATEGIC SALE | Value4Capital, alongside other key shareholders, sold a 49.9% stake in Shoper, a Poland-based e-commerce solutions provider, to Cyber_Folks for ~USD135.3m.
    • In 2021, Value4Capital completed a partial exit of 27.5% of its stake through Shoper’s listing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

News

  • RECORD LISTING | Talabat, a Kuwait-founded on-demand delivery platform operating in the Middle East and North Africa, listed on the Dubai Financial Market and became the largest global tech IPO of 2024.
    • Originally acquired by German e-commerce group Rocket Internet for USD170m in 2015, Talabat’s food delivery business was later acquired by Delivery Hero in 2016.
    • Note: Talabat’s implied valuation of USD10.2b was only about USD1.3b short of Delivery Hero’s USD11.5b total market cap.
    • Delivery Hero CEO Niklas Östberg to Bloomberg: “I agree that Delivery Hero might look a bit undervalued on a comparable basis…In the end, we’re not focused on what the share price is.”

  • AI | Saudi Arabia will launch a USD100b AI hub to invest in data centers, startups and digital infrastructure.
    • The initiative, dubbed Project Transcendence, will receive backing from PIF and Google, with an investment ranging from USD5-10b.

  • Blume Ventures released the second episode of The Omega Files, offering an in-depth analysis of the performance and strategy of their first flagship fund.
    • The first episode, published in January, covered deal flow sourcing, anti-portfolio analysis and return profiles for select investments, while its latest edition includes disaggregated performance metrics.

  • TELECOM | Reliance Jio, India’s biggest telecom platform controlled by Ambani, will seek a USD100b IPO in 2025.
    • Reliance’s retail arm is expected to stay private for longer.