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Hello readers,
Phew, what a year.
It feels just like yesterday when masks and social distancing weren’t even a thing, yet I can’t remember the last time I hung out with friends in a group larger than five.
Still, it hasn’t all been bad. Looking at the year’s startup investment deals, it’s pretty crazy to realize that so much has happened. As of the time I’m writing this, a total of 5,337 startups have raised more than US$128 trillion – that’s trillion with a “t” – and we’ve still got a few days left in 2020.
Those numbers have gotten me pretty psyched for the funding activity we’ll see in 2021. With all that the Asian startup ecosystem has been through to overcome the challenges wrought by Covid-19, the entrepreneurs whose businesses have survived are sure to end 2020 with a stronger resolve than ever before.
Conversely, those who might not have been so fortunate are sure to have learned valuable lessons that will help them launch better, more resilient businesses in the future should they choose to re-enter the startup game.
But let’s take a break from wondering about the future and reflect on the past. After all, knowing how things went down is sure to give us a good indication of how things might turn out going forward.
So let’s dive into the top deals of 2020.
THE TOP COMPANIES THAT RAISED IN 2020
🇮🇳 Reliance Jio: The digital services arm of India-based Reliance Industries bagged US$16 billion in strategic investments from Facebook, General Atlantic, Google, KKR, Mubadala, Silver Lake, and Vista Equity Partners in July. This round followed a US$9.7 billion late-stage funding round, with participation from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Intel Capital, KKR, L Catterton, Mubadala, Qualcomm Ventures, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, TPG Capital, and Vista Equity Partners.
🇨🇳 Autohome: The Chinese startup, which provides the latest quotations, news, test drive reviews, and other information about cars, scored US$2.48 billion worth of funding from Ping An Group in a strategic investment round that took place in July.
🇮🇩 Gojek: In March, the Indonesia-headquartered ride-hailing startup raised US$1.2 billion in series F money. Later in June, the firm raised additional funds from Facebook, Google, PayPal, and Tencent, bringing its total funds raised to over US$3 billion.
Lists of most active investors in the region
List of top-funded startups in Asia
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