Industry News
INVESTMENTS
► Saudi Arabia-based BNPL platform Tamara set to raise USD1.4b in financing from Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Apollo Global Management and others. #MiddleEast
► BTG Pactual and Perfin to invest BRL7.25b (~USD1.4b) in Cosan, a Brazil-based logistics solutions company. #LatinAmerica
► GIP completed a USD1b investment in Aliança Energia, a Brazil-based electricity supplier. #LatinAmerica
► TPG and Sanabil Investments led a USD157m Series B for HALA, a Saudi Arabia-based digital payments solutions provider for SMEs. #MiddleEast
► Aliyun and CAS Investment led a CNY1b (~USD140m) Series A+ for X Square Robots, a China-based humanoid robot developer, with participation from AS Investment, China Development Bank Capital and HongShan Capital Group, as well as follow-on from Meituan and Legend Capital. #Asia
► CPP Investments provided a USD250m loan to Emergent Cold LatAm, a Brazil-based temperature-controlled food storage and logistics company. #LatinAmerica
► Metier invested in Watu, an Uganda-based micro-lending platform for underserved communities across Sub-Saharan Africa. #Africa
► Johnson & Johnson’s CVC led a USD67m Series D for China-based surgical robotics developer Ronovo Surgical, with participation from Lilly Asia Ventures, INCE Capital and Granite Asia. #Asia
► Amazon led a USD51.9m investment in Indonesia-based grocery delivery platform Astro, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst and Gemini Investments, as well as follow-on from Peak XV Partners, Accel, SBI Ventures and others. #Asia
► Brazil-based trading platform A5X raised a USD37.6m Series C. #LatinAmerica
► AfricInvest led a USD22m Series A for Kredete, a Nigeria-based financial platform that enables African immigrants to transfer money globally and establish credit histories in their new countries. #Africa
► Amethis acquired a minority stake in BH Holding, a Morocco-based fruit exporter to North America. #Africa
► Cipio Partners led a USD31m Series C for DRUID AI, a Romania-based end-to-end enterprise agentic AI platform, with participation from TQ Ventures, Karma Ventures, Smedvig and Hoxton Ventures. #CEE
► Avaana Capital led a INR180m (~USD2m) investment in BacAlt Biosciences, an India-based developer of green alternatives to harmful polymers, with participation from Lubrizol InnoVentures. #Asia
► EB Capital invested BRL50m (~USD9.4m) in Welucci, a Brazil-based wedding planning company. #LatinAmerica
FUNDRAISING
► Everstone Capital Partners reached a USD300m first close for its fifth fund focused on investments in healthcare, technology and business services, industrials, consumer and financial services across India and Southeast Asia. #Asia
► Singularity AMC reached a INR20b (~USD235m) final close for its second fund focused on investing in growth-stage and pre-IPO startups across India. #Asia
► Outlast Fund reached a EUR21m (~USD24.7m) close for its first fund focused on investing in pre-seed and seed-stage startups across the Baltic-Nordic region. #CEE
EXITS
► Helios Investment Partners exited a 25% stake in Nigeria-based private sector gas distributor Axxela via a sale to Sojitz. #Africa
► PAG exited a 2.4% stake in China-based raw milk producer Youran Dairy for HKD314.5m (~USD40.3m). PAG first invested in the company in 2015. #Asia
► Carlyle exited a 4.2% stake in India-based commercial bank Yes Bank for JPY51m (~USD323m) via a sale to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. #Asia
► India-based home services provider Urban Company raised INR19b (~USD216m) through an IPO on the BSE and NSE. #Asia