Mitsubishi UFJ Financial provided $200m for Akulaku while various Chinese corporates participated in Freetech’s $100m series B round.
M&A
Mitsubishi UFJ Bank has agreed to pay ¥20bn ($150m) to acquire a 70% stake in Kanmu, the Japan-based online payment system provider backed by another financial services firm Seven Bank, marketing group Freakout Holdings and media company Adways, Nikkei has reported. The acquisition is set to close in early 2023 and will value the company at more than $190m. It had raised a total of almost $42m as of its last funding round, in 2020.
Funding
| Company | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Round size($m) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akulaku | Digital finance services provider | Financial | Indonesia | N/A | 200 | 26/12/2022 | Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group |
| Freetech | Advanced driver-assistance system developer | Transport | China | B | 100 | 28/11/2022 | BAIC Group (BAIC Group Industrial Investment), TCL Industry Holding Corporation, Shaanxi Automobile Group, Sun Life Everbright Life Insurance, Tongxiang Chemical Corporation, Aopeng Medical (Aopeng Investment); Chaos Investment (lead), Hengxu Capital |
| Exyn | AI and robotics technology developer | Industrial | US | B | 35 | 23/12/2022 | Reliance (Reliance Strategic Business Ventures) (lead) |
| Hyphen Group | Digital financial services group | Financial | China (Hong Kong) | N/A | 22 | 23/12/2022 | PCCW (lead); unnamed existing shareholders |
| Siroywe (Shenliu Microintelligence) | Graphics processing unit producer | IT | China | A | 14.3 | 26/12/2022 | 37Games; Shenzhen Qianhai Xingwang Investment (lead), Z&Y Capital |
| Haawking | Graphic image processing chip producer | IT | China | A+ | 14.3 | 23/12/2022 | Skyworth (lead), Ginlong Technologies; UnityVC, Sequoia Capital China, Huajin Capital |
| DarwinAI | Intelligent inspection system developer | Industrial | Canada | A | 6 | 22/12/2022 | Honeywell (Honeywell Ventures); BDC (BDC Capital/Deep Tech Venture Fund) (lead), Obvious Ventures, Inovia Capital |
| Dolami | Wearable VR device developer | Media | Japan | N/A | <1 ($730,000) | 25/12/2022 | CyberAgent (CyberAgent Capital); Now, East Ventures, F Ventures, Yoshitsune Ido, Yusuke Harima, Yuji Wakabayashi, Hiroaki Watanabe |
| TechnoBlood eSports | Esports competition organiser | Media | Japan | Pre-A | <1 ($600,000) | 27/12/2022 | CyberStep, Hamee, Colopl (Colopl Next); Nippon Venture Capital, unnamed angel investors |
| Gotoschool | Diversified employment support platform | Services | Japan | A | <1 (330,000) | 27/12/2022 | Aidma Holdings; unnamed angel investors |
| Myth AI | Designer-focused AI software provider | Consumer | Turkey | N/A | <1 ($200,000) | 26/12/2022 | Türk Telekom, Ituari Teknokent, Sun Tekstil, Elyaf Tekstil; Keiretsu Forum Turkey, Halit Büyükkuşoğlu, Birkan Kül, Ahmet Fırat Halıcıoğlu, Emre Kozlu, Faik Ulutaş, Ergin Erdim, Beymen Ümit Arsoy |
| Blacklane | Chauffeur services provider | Transport | UAE | F | N/A | 21/12/2022 | Gargash Group, Mercedes-Benz Group (Mercedes-Benz Mobility) |
| AirCarbon Exchange | Decentralised carbon trading platform | Financial | Singapore | N/A | N/A | 27/12/2022 | Banpu (unnamed CVC unit); Trirec (lead), Mubadala Investment Company |
| Lemnisk | Marketing automation software provider | Media | India | N/A | N/A | 20/12/2022 | Airtel (Airtel Start-up Accelerator Program) |
| Edstein | Employee retention software provider | Services | Russia | N/A | N/A | 23/12/2022 | HeadHunter |
| Doogether | Fitness network operator | Services | Indonesia | Pre-A | N/A | 23/12/2022 | Sinar Mas (Living Lab Ventures), Prasetia Dwidharma; Asiantrust Capital |
| Macrotest (Hongtai Technology) | Semiconductor testing system developer | IT | China | N/A | N/A | 23/12/2022 | BYD Company |
| Yubobang | Online celebrity-focused streaming platform | Media | China | Pre-A | N/A | 23/12/2022 | Anysoft, Woji Agriculture; Hubei Shisanzhou Group |
| Redish | Accounting and tax digitalisation service | Financial | Japan | N/A | N/A | 28/12/2022 | Itochu |
| Homula | Retailer-focused B2B marketplace | Consumer | Japan | N/A | N/A | 28/12/2022 | Nippon Life (Nissay Capital) (lead), Money Forward (Money Forward Venture Partners/Hirac Fund); Globe Advisors Ventures |
| Man-Machine Synergy Effectors (Jinki Ittai) | Advanced robotics technology developer | Industrial | Japan | Pre-B2 | N/A | 28/12/2022 | Takenaka Civil Engineering & Construction |
