In this week's deal digest, there's lots of IPO action going on, with several new listings getting off the ground.
China has fast-tracked approval of an IPO of by Apple iPhone maker Foxconn. The Shanghai public listing of a business unit of the Taiwan company drew criticism for jumping the queue of Chinese companies seeking a listing. Foxconn's regulatory approval came in 36 days versus an average of nearly two years. China is favoring strategically important industries but the approval was hit for conflict of interest charges.
Chinese video streaming app Inke is planning a $300 million IPO in Hong Kong after failing with an attempt for a back-door A-share listing. Inke was initially funded by SAIF Partners and GSR Ventures.
Another Chinese live video streaming startup, Sequoia Capital and Tencent-backed Kuaishou is aiming to go public in Hong Kong, sometime this year. The latest fundraising for Kuaishou valued the company at $18 billion.
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is reportedly weighing a dual listing in Hong Kong and New York and gearing up for a $50 billion plus IPO valuation. The Xiaomi IPO could be a home run for such early backers as Qiming Venture Capital, IDG Capital, Morningside Group and Jack Ma's Yunfeng Capital.
Dropbox's valuation cut as it heads toward an IPO suggests decreases for other companies that similarly raised a lot of money at high valuations but remain unprofitable.
Chalk one up for Huang Bao Che Trip, a Beijing-based online service to book chauffeur and tourist guide service, for raising $50 million from Sequoia Capital China, Matrix Partners and others.
Chinese biotech firm JW Therapeutics pulled in $90 million from Singapore's Temasek and Sequoia Capital China to further its work on cancer therapies.
Tencent has pumped $632 million in Chinese online games streaming platform Douyu. Tencent followed up quickly by also leading a $461 million funding round in rival platform Huya. You really gotta love the creative, far-out logos of these Chinese startups!
Singapore payment startup Consentium raised $10 million in funding, launching an Asian multi-currency and monetization effort built around chat.
Accelerator fund SOSV and angel investors have put capital into Malaysian business connector platform BEAM. The new funding will go toward expanding its business in close-by markets but also into China.
Indian furniture retailer Pepperfry has snagged $38 million from State Street Global Advisors, one week after rival Urban Ladder raised $12 million.
Ofo borrowed $280 million from Alibaba as financial troubles escalated at bike sharing startup. There's reportedly been quite a bit of in-fighting between Didi and Alibaba over investing in Ofo. This just in: Ofo has raised $866 million in debt and equity funding led by Alibaba.
Silicon Dragon will explore Sino-British venture and tech innovation connections in London, March 20. It's another growing trend as UK entrepreneurs figure out how to enter the Chinese market, and get capital from Mainland China.
