Asia news roundup: Policybazaar joins $1b club, SGX adds dual-class listings, and more

Policybazaar founder and CEO Yashish Dahiya / Photo credit: Policybazaar

India gets another unicorn, Go-Jek seeks another billion-plus cash injection, while CashShield, Common Ground, and SigTuple bag fresh funds.

Fintech

Policybazaar becomes country’s latest unicorn after US$200 million-plus capital injection (India). The online financial services firm, which helps consumers to compare, buy, and manage their insurance plans, secured the investment in a round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund. It’s the third-largest fundraise by an Indian tech startup this year, following the US$300 million and US$210 million raised by online grocer BigBasket and food-delivery firm Swiggy, respectively. (Livemint)

Sqrrl cracks US$1 million nut (India). The pre-series A investment came from Equanimity Venture Fund. Sqrrl, an app for investing in mutual funds, will put the funding towards tech and product development. (Inc42)

Transportation

Go-Jek said to be angling for an extra US$1.5 billion to fuel regional expansion (Indonesia). The ride-hailing firm is reported to be in talks with existing investors including Google, JD, and Tencent regarding the new fundraise. Bloomberg had earlier reported that Go-Jek was also negotiating with current backers Warburg Pincus about a new injection of capital as it pushes beyond its home market for the first time. (The Information)

AIpark scores series B funding from Nio, others (China). Nio Capital – the electric carmaker’s VC arm – led the round, which was reported to be “hundreds of millions of renminbi” in value. Sanli Group and US-China Green Fund were among the other investors to participate. AIpark has developed a smart car-parking management system for urban environments. (China Money Network)

Artificial intelligence

AISpeech bags US$76 million (China). The Suzhou-based speech recognition startup will use the funding to develop tech, hire new team members, and push production of its new chip which is due for release later this year. Oriza Holdings and China Minsheng Investment Group led the round, with participation from Taiwanese companies Foxconn and Mediatek, and Shenzhen Venture Capital. (China Money Network)

Enterprise software and services

CashShield team members, including co-founder Junxian Lee (R) / Photo credit: CashShield

CashShield nets US$20 million in fresh capital (Singapore). Temasek and GGV Capital co-led the series C round. Wavemaker Partners, Tao Zhang, and Nest co-founder Tony Fadell also invested. CashShield is an online fraud detection startup that counts Alibaba, Razer, and Vodafone among its clients. (TechCrunch)

Property and real estate

Common Ground gets US$20 million funding (Malaysia). The co-working space operator will invest the capital in regional expansion, including tripling the number of its locations in Malaysia from the current seven. Thailand and the Philippines are the next target markets for the startup, which is backed by Catcha Group and Masteron Group. (DealStreetAsia)

Revolution Precrafted strikes first Europe deal (The Philippines). The prefabricated homes unicorn has signed a US$52 million deal with developer BC Estudio to supply hotel and residential units in the Ebro delta in Spain’s Catalonia region. It follows a string of similar co-development deals in the Middle East, South America, and the Caribbean. (DealStreetAsia)

Health and well-being

SigTuple series B reels in US$19 million (India). Accel Partners and IDG Ventures co-led the round, with Endiya Partners, VH Capital, Axilor Ventures, Trifecta Capital, Pi Ventures, and Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal joining in. SigTuple, which develops hardware and software to digitize pathological tests, will use the fresh funds to push research and development, conduct clinical trials, and move into new markets. (Livemint)

Ecommerce

Drinks giant pours US$4 million into HipBar (India). The startup runs an online store and delivery service for alcoholic beverages, as well as a digital payments platform named HipBar Pay. The investment came from United Spirits, part of the global Diageo beverages group, which has picked up a 26 percent stake in HipBar as a result. (VCCircle)

Delivery and logistics

Consumer tech

Media and entertainment

Startup ecosystem