<article>I start my weekly wrap with private equity and venture capital firms hitting fundraising milestones for their vehicles targeting investments in the region.</article>

I start my weekly wrap with private equity and venture capital firms hitting fundraising milestones for their vehicles targeting investments in the region.
<a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/ev-growth-fund-161534/">EV Growth</a>, a JV between East Ventures, SMDV, and Yahoo! Japan, has reopened its inaugural venture capital fund to receive additional investments and potentially reach its $250-million hard cap, Ardi reported this week. The firm had in May announced the fund’s final close at $200 million after securing commitments from investors including SoftBank Group and Pavilion Capital.
Singapore-headquartered PE firm <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/kv-asia-fund-160853/">KV Asia Capital</a> is targeting to hit the first close of its second fund at $100 million soon, DealStreetAsia has learnt. The firm is expected to make a formal announcement on the first close in the next few weeks.
<a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/fatima-gobi-ventures-fund-161455/">Fatima Gobi Ventures</a>, a JV between Pakistani VC Fatima Ventures and Gobi Partners, expects to close its $20-million first fund by November-end. Prior to its tie-up with Gobi, Fatima Ventures had invested in six startups including bus-hailing startup Airlift and price comparison site PriceOye.
<a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/actis-asia-real-estate-fund-161082/">Actis</a>, a private equity firm based in the United Kingdom, has launched its second Asia-focused real estate fund, which will likely explore all segments of real estate investments, including residential, commercial, and logistics, according to a filing. Its first Asia real estate fund was a $750-million vehicle closed in July 2018.
Europe-based fintech-focused venture capital firm <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/finch-capital-sea-fund-161302/">Finch Capital </a>is eyeing a new fund of around $75 million targeted at early-stage startups in Southeast Asia, said managing director Hans De Back. Its SE Asia portfolio includes bill payments platform Ayopop, reimbursement platform Jojonomic and regional super-app Grab.
Singapore-based private equity firm <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/asia-partners-debut-fund-161216/">Asia Partners</a>, launched by former Sea Ltd president Nick Nash and former Naspers exec Oliver Rippel, has made a first close of $78 million for its debut fund, according to an SEC filing.
Canadian private equity firm <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/valhalla-southeast-asia-fund-161045/">Valhalla Private Capital</a> is seeking to raise $25 million for its first Southeast Asia-focused fund by 2020. The firm will prioritise committing capital to startups in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
<h3>From Greater China</h3>
Chinese companies are still rushing to go public on Wall Street despite a gloomy macroeconomic environment and the country’s ongoing trade dispute with the United States. At least 10 Chinese companies filed for initial public offerings (IPOs) in the US last month, making October the busiest of the year so far in terms of filings, according to data compiled by DealStreetAsia. Read our analysis <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/chinese-companies-us-ipo-161311/">here</a>.
We also bring you daily charts to offer a quick view of the deal activity in the region. See this week&#8217;s deals <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/china-deal-monitor-wuhu-jiahong-161291/">here</a> (featuring heating cable maker Wuhu Jiahong), <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/china-deal-monitor-maison-sungiven-160975/">here </a>(featuring PE firm Maison Capital), <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/china-deal-monitor-yikon-160814/">here</a> (featuring Yikon Genomics) and <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/china-deal-monitor-dph168-raises-14m-and-more-161677/">here</a> (featuring China Merchants Capital).
<h3>Deal scoops</h3>
Indonesian student loan-focused fintech platform <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/indonesian-student-loan-platform-pintek-nabs-funding-from-gfc-161638/">Pintek has confirmed</a> securing an investment from Rocket Internet-backed venture capital firm Global Founders Capital. We had reported this a few weeks ahead of the official announcement.
Indonesia’s on-demand specialty coffee startup <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/fore-coffee-new-funding-161080/">Fore Coffee </a>is on the verge of closing a new funding round of around $30 million, following a $9.5-million Series A round closed earlier this year.
LSE-listed <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/myanmar-strategic-holdings-161065/">Myanmar Strategic Holdings</a> (MSH) said it remains keen to buy the assets of AIM-listed Myanmar Investments Limited (MIL). The latter had turned down a previous unsolicited takeover proposal from MSH earlier this year.
<h3>In impact investment space</h3>
The <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/ifc-stanchart-gtlp-funding-160948/">International Finance Corporation</a>, a member of the World Bank Group, and Temasek-backed Standard Chartered Bank are investing another $700 million to support trade flows in emerging markets.
Dutch development bank FMO has extended a fresh $45-million debt facility to Mongolia’s fourth-largest lender <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/fmo-mongolias-xacbank-161454/">XacBank</a>.
<h3>Startup under the spotlight </h3>
A relatively obscure affiliate of travel unicorn Traveloka has been quietly making strides in Indonesia&#8217;s budget hotel space. Founded in 2015 by two former Traveloka engineers, Jakarta-based Airy Rooms is taking on regional rivals and now even Traveloka itself. <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/airy-oyo-reddoorz-traveloka-160624/">Read the story of Airy Rooms</a>, a venture incubated by Traveloka before it was spun off to run its own course.

Fundraising by PE and VC firms focused on the region, including EV Growth, KV Asia Capital and Actis, topped the headlines this week.

Editor's take: The week that was - Nov 4-8

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Editor's take: The week that was - Nov 4-8

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