Anju Patwardhan, formerly chief innovation officer at Standard Chartered Bank, will make strategic fintech and VC fund investments on behalf of lending platform CreditEase.

Uber has lost its battle in China, but as the largest shareholder in a $35bn company that is the overwhelming market leader it may yet win the war.

The airlines have jointly formed the first accelerator scheme for the aviation industry, Navigator, and will provide funding and mentorship over a four-month period.

Asahi Broadcasting Corporation's corporate venturing fund has taken part in a $10.7m round that will lay the foundations for the Japanese restaurant listings site to expand overseas.

Itochu was among the investors in the cardless payment platform's latest round, following funding from backers including Recruit and CyberAgent.

The personalised news app provider has raised more than $20m in series B funding from a consortium including Bertelsmann Asia Investments.

Astellas Pharma, which has so far focused its corporate venturing on pharmaceuticals, and MPM Capital have formed a digital health fund called DigiTx Partners.

Focus Media will lend its advertising weight to Hero Sports, an eSports spinout of gaming company Hero Entertainment, after leading its inaugural funding round.