Data Vantage | CVS invests in Biofourmis, Lazada and Moladin bag new funding
Edition #172, 10 May 2022
Dear Reader,
Healthtech unicorn Biofourmis received nearly $27 million in equity funding last week as part of a $300 million Series D round announced in April.
US healthcare company CVS Health invested $25 million in the round, while another US-based investor put in nearly $2 million. The latest capital injection adds to the $150 million Biofourmis received earlier from General Atlantic.
The Singapore-founded healthtech firm is set to receive another $100 million from GA and $27 million from other investors as part of the round, according to its regulatory filings.
CVS Health launched a dedicated venture investment arm last year with an initial corpus of $100 million. Its investment in Biofourmis gives it a less than 2% stake in the firm, according to DealStreetAsia — DATA VANTAGE.
Meanwhile, home interior and renovation company Livspace got nearly $21 million last week from Ingka Group, the largest operator of IKEA stores, as well as Venturi Partners and Jungle Ventures. The funding is part of a $180 million Series F round announced in February this year.
Livspace had earlier received $148 million from lead investor KKR and another $8.26 million from Peugeot Investments.
Singapore tops the charts
Extending a long-running trend, Singapore was the top destination for private capital investments in the first quarter of this year. Startups in the city-state recorded 151 deals with a total value of at least $2.35 billion, or 56.1% of total funds raised in Southeast Asia in the given period, our latest quarterly review finds.
Among Singapore companies, Princeton Digital Group raised the largest funding in the first quarter with a $500 million private equity round led by Mubadala, the sovereign wealth fund of UAE.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy, Indonesia, saw 75 deals with $979 million in total proceeds. Local conglomerate Sinar Mas’s $200 million investment in mobile payment firm DANA was the top deal in the market.
Overall, venture-backed companies in Southeast Asia collected at least $4.19 billion in equity funding in the first quarter. Although lower than the record performance in the previous quarter, the funding is 5.2% higher than private investments in the same period last year.
Other updates from DATA VANTAGE
Southeast Asian e-commerce company Lazada issued new shares worth $378.5 million to parent company Alibaba, its regulatory filings show. The latest funding was the largest capital injection in the company since a $1.3 billion investment in June 2020.
Indonesian used car and motorbike marketplace Moladin received $95 million in a Series B round of funding last week. The round, led by DST Global, confirms a previous DealStreetAsia report.
Vietnamese electric motorbike startup Dat Bike bagged $5.3 million last week as part of a Series A funding round led by Jungle Ventures and joined by existing investor Wavemaker Partners. With the latest funding round, the company has raised $10 million in equity funding since its inception in 2019.
Thai fintech startup Atato received $3.1 million in a new funding round from investors including FEBE Ventures. Its share price is up nearly three times since its last financing in 2021.
Singapore-based biotechnology firm CellResearch Corporation bagged $1.5 million last week in its first equity funding in 2022.
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