Asia-based tech companies continue to raise huge rounds of financing, specifically within the hottest industry in the world, eCommerce. This momentum in large financing rounds caused us to look at whether or not this momentum translated to a faster early-stage pace between rounds. The results were mixed.
Asian tech startups are actually taking a longer time on a median basis to go from Seed to Series A, reaching a three-year high in 2014 at 427 days (~14 months). However, the median time between Series A and B rounds in 2014 fell YoY from 484 days in 2013 to 440 days in 2014. This could be due to the increase in later-stage investors like Tiger Global moving upstream in 2015. Regardless, Asian Tech startups are still raising at a faster rate than European Tech companies.
We used CB Insights data to surface some of the hottest and fastest-raising Series A stage companies. These companies all went from Seed to Series A in less than 250 days and raised their last round of financing since 2014. The list includes the Postmates of India, Grofers, which raised a $10M Series A from Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management less than 4 months after raising a $500k seed round, as well as Yetang, a China-based apparel eCommerce site for independent designers, which raised $5M from Doll Capital Management in December 2014, less than 8 months after raising a Seed round from IDG Capital Partners.
The full list of companies below.
| Company | Industry | Country | Series A Raised ($M) | Select Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grofers | Supply Chain & Logistics | India | 10 | Sequoia Capital India; Tiger Global Management |
| myNoticePeriod | HR & Workforce Management | India | 3 | IDG Ventures India |
| SilverEdge Technologies | Advertising, Sales & Marketing | India | 1.5 | 500 Startups, IDG Ventures, Palaash Ventures, TA Venture |
| Yetang | Apparel & Accessories | China | 5 | IDG Capital Partners, Doll Capital Management |
| Translimit | Gaming | Japan | 2.8 | East Ventures, Genuine Startups, Line Ventures, Skyland Ventures |
| Zula | Collaboration & Project Management | Israel | 3 | Microsoft Ventures |
| Korbit | Marketplace | South Korea | 3 | Bitcoin Opportunity Corp., Softbank Ventures Korea, Strong Ventures |
| News in Shorts | News & Discussion | India | 4 | Rebright Partners, Tiger Global Management, Times Internet |
| YouChe.com | Auto | China | 10 | IDG Capital Partners, Zhenfund |
| Kaizen Platform | Internet Software Testing | Japan | 5 | Fidelity Growth Partners Japan; GREE Ventures |
| Xuebajun | Education & Training | China | 5 | Vertex Venture Holdings, Innovation Works |
In addition to looking at fast-raising Series A stage companies, we also looked at the Series B stage companies which made the leap from A to B the quickest since 2014. This list of companies contains some of the hottest early to mid-stage tech companies in Asia. The highlighted companies include GoGoVan, a Hong Kong-based e-hailing company that raised $10M at a $100M valuation in November 2014, as well as Chuizi Technology, a China-based company that hopes to emulate Xiaomi, the world’s most valuable private venture-backed company, with its “Smartisan” Android OS and hardware. Chuizi Technology raised a $24M Series B in March 2014 at a $160M valuation less than 5 months after raising an $11.5M Series A from Buttonwood Capital which valued the company at $77.5M.
| Company | Industry | Country | Series B Raised ($M) | Select Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GoGoVan | Travel (mobile) | Hong Kong | 10 | Renren Lianhe Holdings |
| Chuizi Technology | Operating Systems & Utility | China | 24 | Undisclosed Investors |
| Lagou | HR & Workforce Management | China | 25 | Bertelsmann Asia Investments, QiMing Venture Partners |
| iCarsClub | Travel (mobile) | Singapore | 60 | IDG Capital Partners, Mingshi Capital, Morningside Group, Qingliu Capital, Sequoia Capital China |
| Culture Machine Media | Video | India | 18 | Tiger Global Management, Times Internet; Zodius Capital |
| Tokyo Otaku Mode | Social | Japan | 13.7 | Cool Japan Fund |
| Line0 | Food & Grocery | China | 30 | Eastern Bell Venture Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Tencent |
| Locon Solutions | Real Estate | India | 90 | Digital Sky Technologies, Helion Venture Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, Softbank Corp. |
| Lailaihui | Travel (internet) | China | 16.3 | CDH Investments, Fosun Venture Capital |
| TinyOwl Technology | Food & Grocery | India | 16.2 | Matrix Partners India, Nexus Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital India |
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