Asia’s 14 biggest funding rounds of 2015

When it comes to competition, money talks. And money’s talking in Asia’s ecommerce, ride sharing, and meal delivery services. 2015 saw plenty of funding moves, but the ones that really made it rain tended to be fueled by competition. There were also plenty of pushes for expansion – car-hailing looking to move into food delivery, for example. Prepare yourself for some gigantic numbers.

14. Snapdeal

$500 million

First up is Indian ecommerce company Snapdeal which grabbed US$500 million in a series I round of funding from a gaggle of investors, including IndoUS Venture Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, eBay, SoftBank Group Corp, and Alibaba. The round was announced in August and beefed up the online marketplace to compete with other large in-country rival Flipkart.

Founded in 2010, Snapdeal is no stranger to large funding rounds. It also made our 2015 list of Alibaba’s biggest investments.

13. MatahariMall

$500 million

500 million is a bit of a magic number on this list, with Indonesian company MatahariMall securing US$500 million from Lippo Group this year. MatahariMall is an ecommerce arm of one of the country’s largest mid-priced department stores.

Lippo Group, a real estate company in Indonesia, has staked its hopes on MatahariMall becoming to the country’s Alibaba. The announcement was made in February, nearly a year ago, so it’ll be interesting to see what 2016 holds for MatahariMall and ecommerce in Indonesia.

12. Ola

$500 million

Ride sharing apps have been revving their engines at each other this year. Indian company Ola bagged – you guessed it – a solid US$500 million in a series F round of funding from a crowd of investors, including Tiger Global Management, Sequoia Capital, and Didi Kuaidi. Ola has risen to success in India, acquiring its in-country competitor TaxiForSure in March.

Ola’s major competitor in India is US cab hailing app Uber, and Didi Kuaidi is Uber’s rival in China. The two companies also took part in a partnership to hopefully make a larger dent in Uber’s success.

11. Meizu

$590 million

Chinese phone maker Meizu received US$590 million from Alibaba in a late stage funding round that took place in February. The homegrown Meizu brand is nowhere near as recognizable as fellow phone maker Xiaomi, which has since become the world’s fourth-largest smartphone maker.

Alibaba has yet to develop a strong presence within the smartphone world, while Tencent, Alibaba’s rival, has a partnership with Xiaomi.

10. Ele.me

$630 million

9. Meituan

$700 million

8. Flipkart

$750 million

7. Dianping

$850 million

6. Paytm

$890 million

5. Zhongan Baoxian

$934 million

4. LY.com

$967 million

3. Aliyun

$1 billion

2. Coupang

$1 billion

1. Didi Kuaidi

$3 billion