Reliance Jio continues to headline Asian fundraising in June

 

This article is part of a series of monthly reports where we keep track of tech funding activities in Asia.

In June, over US$11 billion in funding was poured in the region across upwards of 400 deals, topping last month’s count of more than 300.

Getting the lion’s share of the total amount is Jio Platforms, which scored a total of US$3.7 billion in funding from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, L Catterton, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and TPG Capital.

Last month’s investments into Jio, the digital services arm of India’s Reliance Industries, took its total funding within two months to US$15.2 billion, including fresh capital from Facebook, KKR, and General Atlantic.

Jio’s fundraising spree highlights the appeal of India’s internet market to foreign investors. Jio, which runs the largest telco in the country, has a lofty ambition of helping India’s 1.3 billion people go digital.

India is also an important market to US ecommerce giant Amazon, which is reportedly in talks to buy a stake in Jio rival Bharti Airtel. There were also reports saying that Google is looking to get into the mix with a possible investment into Vodafone for a 5% stake.

Besides Jio, late-stage investments into China- and India-based companies such as Byju’s, Nio, and CapitalBio Technology topped last month’s funding scene.

Overall, 60% of the total funding in June went to China, followed by India (17%), Japan (8%), and Singapore (7%).

SOURCE

Data: Tech in Asia
Infographics: Susi Susanti
Analysis: Miguel Cordon
Editing: Charmaine de Lazo