4 major deals propelled Asian fundraising in May

This article is part of a series of monthly reports where we keep track of Asian tech funding activity.

Last month, Reliance Jio and MGI Technology were the top-funded companies in Asia, where more than 300 deals totaling over US$11 billion were made.

In May, Shenzhen-based gene sequencing equipment manufacturer MGI Technology raised US$1 billion in a series B funding round led by IDG Capital and China’s asset manager CPE.

The company, founded in 2016, focuses on research and development, production, and sales of DNA sequencing instruments, reagents, and related products to support life science research, agriculture, precision medicine, and healthcare segments. It is a subsidiary of Shenzhen’s BGI Group, China’s largest sequencing services provider.

MGI currently has more than 1,000 employees and operates in 39 countries. The latest investment comes one year after it raised US$200 million in its first funding round.

In the region, over half of the total amount of fundraising this month went to China, followed by India (19%), Japan (10%), and Singapore (6%).

Reliance Jio, the digital services arm of India’s Reliance Industries, raised around US$4.6 billion from General Atlantic, KKR, Silver Lake, and Vista Equity Partners in several funding rounds. Meanwhile, in Singapore, ecommerce logistics company Ninja Van closed US$279 million in series D money from European logistics major GeoPost.

SOURCE

Data: Tech in Asia
Infographics: Ivan Tan
Analysis: Doris Yu
Editing: Jaclyn Teng