In Charts: Saudi Venture Capital doubles down on commitments in 2023
Riyadh’s state-owned institution Saudi Venture Capital (SVC), which manages assets worth $2.2 billion, almost doubled its funding commitments in 2023 year-on-year, at a time when Saudi Arabia overtook UAE and emerged as the top VC-funded market in the Gulf region. Notably, SVC’s activity through 2023 also included nine limited partner-style bets, ......
Capria Ventures hits final close of India-focussed special opportunity fund
Venture capital firm Capria Ventures, on Friday, said that it has marked the final close of its India Opportunity Fund at Rs 153 crore (around $19 million). The US-based VC player made the first close of its India Opportunity Fund at Rs 75 crore in February 2023. To be sure, the ......
China's Meituan looking to foray into Saudi Arabia in a bid to expand
Chinese food delivery giant Meituan is seeking to hire staff for at least eight positions based in Riyadh, in a sign it may be looking to Saudi Arabia to further its global expansion ambitions. The jobs ads, which is hiring for KeeTa, the brand name Meituan uses for its food delivery operations ......
ADV Partners scores a multi-bagger exit from a five-year old India bet
ADV Partners, a private equity firm which invests across sectors in Asia, has exited one of its five-year old bets in the country, with multi-fold returns. The firm, which has backed companies such as Dr Agarwal’s Healthcare, Micro Plastics and U Gro Capital among others in India, has exited Bengaluru-based mining firm ......
MENA Digest: UAE’s WEE Marketplace, three Egyptian startups secure funding
Funding activity in the Middle East and North Africa region revived this week with a slew of early-stage deals, led by the UAE-based e-commerce startup WEE Marketplace. At least three Egyptian startups secured pre-seed and seed funding, including fintech player Bokra, HRTech entity blueworks, and fintech Waffarha. Other key startups that ......
Creation Investments strikes frugal returns from India MFI bet
Global impact investor Creation Investments, which manages near $2.2 billion in assets across the globe, has exited a twelve-year old financial services bet in India, scoring modest returns, VCCircle has learnt. The Chicago-headquartered investor, which primarily makes bets across the financial services segment, has fully exited its investment in microfinance institution ......
SoftBank, Prosus-backed Swiggy gets shareholder nod for $1.25 bn IPO
Indian food and grocery delivery startup Swiggy has received approval from its shareholders for a $1.25 billion initial public offering, as per regulatory filings with India's ministry of corporate affairs. The company said it plans to raise up to 37.50 billion rupees ($450.01 million) through a fresh issue of shares, while ......
Saudi Arabia's PIF hits $749 bn in assets under management
Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund PIF's managed assets reached 2.81 trillion riyals ($749.2 billion) in 2023, state news agency SPA reported on Thursday. The kingdom's non-oil government revenue reached 457 billion riyals last year and non-oil activities accounted for 50% of real gross domestic product (GDP), SPA added....
SoftBank, TPG-backed FirstCry set to withdraw IPO papers after SEBI scrutiny
Indian retailer FirstCry is set to withdraw its papers for an up to $500 million IPO as early as next week, after India's markets regulator raised questions over key metrics it disclosed to investors, said three sources with direct knowledge of the issue. FirstCry, backed by SoftBank, TPG and India's Mahindra ......
Edelweiss Alts buys second asset from office segment-focused fund
Mumbai-based alternative asset manager, Edelweiss Alternatives has closed the second transaction from its commercial office segment-focused vehicle, Rental Yield Plus, with the acquisition of an asset in Bengaluru. The category-II alternative investment fund, which is still in fundraising process, has a target corpus of Rs 5,000 crore. The fund, Edelweiss Rental ......
