Daily Briefing: Vickers Venture seeks investment from Korean investors; Ride-hailer TADA's parent company completes series A funding

And Bvlgari launches Singapore online store ahead of Italy.

From e27:

Singapore-based Vickers Venture Partners is reportedly in talks to attract South Korea-based institutional investors to invest in the second round of its sixth fund worth $707.65m (US$500m), according to a report by Korean Investors.

The firm is marketing the fund to domestic institutions investing in overseas venture capital funds.

Vickers recently submitted an investment proposal to a fund of funds manager investing in startups and small businesses, Korea Growth Investment Corp.

Besides the aforementioned funds’ manager, the VC firm has successfully had Korea Venture Investment Corporation commit $22.64m (US$16m) in the first round of fundraising, making up a total of $283.06m (US$200m).

With its sixth fund, Vickers has already made follow-up investments in six companies, including US life science company Samumed, biodegradable plastic startup RWDC Industries, and Singapore’s financial technology firm Matchmove Pay.

Read more here. 

From DealStreetAsia:

MVLLABS (MVL), parent company of zero-commission ride-hailing operator TADA, completed a series A extension round led by South Korea’s Shinhan Bank, according to an announcement.

Other investors, including Samkee Automotive and iloom, also participated in the round.

The new funding brings MVL’s series A total to nearly $14.15m (US$10m). These will be used for the company’s expansion within its existing markets and for development of its mobility ecosystem.

Last December, MVL raised $7.08m (US$5m) in a series A funding round led by South Korean venture capital firm SV Investment.

Read more here. 

From Channel News Asia:

Roman jeweller Bvlgari began its e-commerce platforms in Singapore on 21 May and will continue its expansion to other countries within the next 90 days, according to an announcement.

The Singapore launch comes ahead of the one in Bvlgari's home country of Italy, whilst online shops will arrive in the UAE, Italy, France, Korea, Mexico and Brazil next, in this order.

The platform is enhanced with 3D product images and augmented reality (AR) features where customers can scale bags true-to-size in a real-world environment. Plans are also underway to incorporate this for jewellery, watches, and other categories within Bvlgari’s catalogue.

Prior to this expansion, Bvlgari's online shops were only available in the US, Canada, China, Japan, UK, Germany, Spain and Australia.

Read more here.