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Valar Ventures Reaches USD665m Final Close for Eighth Venture Fund
Valar Ventures reached a USD665m final close for its eighth venture fund. While the fund is US and Europe-focused, recent investments include ShopUp(Bangladesh), XanPool (Singapore), and Velocity and Simpl (India). Valar Ventures is backed by Peter Thiel (PayPal). Read More
Proparco and Ascent To Acquire Majority Equity Stake in Kenya’s Diani Beach Hospital
Proparco and Ascent, through its Ascent Rift Valley Fund II, have acquired a majority stake in Kenya-based Diani Beach Hospital for an undisclosed amount. Read more here and h Read More
Lightspeed India IV Reaches USD500m Final Close
Lightspeed Venture Partners reached a USD500m final close for its new early-stage fund focused on India and Southeast Asia. The close was part of a USD7.1b fundraise across four Lightspeed funds.. The firm also announced the launch of Lightspeed Faction, a crypto JV that will be run by Sam Harrison, a venture partner at Blockchain.com’s venture arm, and Banafsheh Fathieh,… Read More
Alpha Capital SPAC To Merge with Brazil’s Private Capital-backed Semantix at~USD1b Equity Value
Nasdaq-listed SPAC Alpha Capital has agreed to merge with Semantix, a Brazil-based integrated data software developer, at an implied equity value of ~USD1b. Investors in Semantix include Banco Bradesco-backed 2bCapital, Crescera Capital and InovaBRA. Read More
MFine Merges with LifeCell; Joint Entity LifeWell Raises USD80m from OrbiMed
OrbiMed led a USD80m round for LifeWell, a new brand resulting from the merger of India-based telemedicine platform MFine and India-based stem cell bank LifeCell International’s diagnostic business. In 2021, MFine raised a USD48m Series C round led by Moore Strategic Ventures and Beenext. Lifecell backers include OrbiMed Asia Partners IV, Helion Venture Partners and Brand Capital. Read More
Alpha JWC Ventures Leads USD35m Series A for Indonesia’s AgriAku
Alpha JWC Ventures led a USD35m Series A for AgriAku, an Indonesia-based B2B agtech platform, with participation from BRI Ventures, Mandiri Capital Indonesia, Gentree Fund, K3 Ventures, Thai Wah Public Company, Alto Partners, InnoVen Capital and follow-on from MDI Ventures, Go-Ventures and Mercy Corps Social Venture Funds. Read More
Ore Investment To Acquire 33.3% Stake in Brazil’s Companhia Brasileira de Lítio for ~USD40m
Ore Investment agreed to acquire a 33.3% stake in Companhia Brasileira de Lítio, a Brazil-based producer of lithium concentrates and compounds, for BRL208m (~USD40m) after winning an auctionconducted by Codemge, an investment division of the state of Minas Gerais. Read More
Swvl To Acquire Mexico’s VC-backed Urbvan for USD82m
SWVL agreed to acquire Urbvan Mobility, a Mexico-based shared mobility platform, for a reported USD82m as part of its Latin America expansion strategy. Investors in Urbvan include Angel Ventures, DILA Capital KASZEK, Liil Ventures and Anteris Capital. Swvl listed on the Nasdaq through a SPAC merger with Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital in April. Read more here and h Read More
Qiming Venture Partners Raises Combined ~USD3.2b for Latest USD and RMB Venture Funds
Qiming Venture Partners reached a USD2.5b final close for its USD Fund VIII and a CNY4.7b (~USD702m) first close for its RMB Fund VII. The vehicles target early- and growth-stage technology, consumer and healthcare startups in China. Read More
Ashmore To Exit Colombia’s Elecnorte Via Sale to Grupo Energía Bogotá
Ashmore Management Company agreed to fully exit its investment in Colombia-based electricity power company Elecnorte via a sale to Grupo Energía Bogotá (GEB) for an undisclosed amount. GEB’s assets include two transmission lines covering more than 130 km combined, three substations and their connection bays. Read More
Openspace Ventures and SOSV Lead USD5m Round for Indonesia’s Octopus
Openspace and SOSV led a USD5m round for Octopus, an Indonesia-based circular economy platform that allows producers to track and collect their post-consumer products, with participation from additional investors. Read More
Activant Leads USD30m Round for E-commerce Platform DEUNA
Activant Capital led a USD30m round for DEUNA, a US-based e-commerce checkout platform serving Latin American markets, with participation from Valor Capital Group, Upload Ventures, Abstract Ventures and Acrew Capital. DEUNA raised a USD7m seed round in October 2021. Read More