What is Series A funding?!

Oh, I just don't know. I can't even imagine what it might be. 'I know what it is, boss!' No, you don't. 'Yes I do. I know loads about finance, me.' Shut up, Voice! You know nothing. 'Ha! Well, I know that Series A funding is the first round of venture capital financing for a company.' Ha! You read that somewhere. 'Maybe. I read a lot, man.' Yeah, sure you do. When you're not floating around on the astral plane. 'I can read and float at the same time, boss. It's called multitasking.' Whatever.

Anyway ...

Series A funding rounds dominated the venture capital (VC) funding landscape across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region in both volume and value terms during the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2019, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Yes, it's a PR email, dear reader(s), from my mates at GlobalData. 'Are they really your mates, boss?' Well, they still send me these emails. A lot of firms don't, you know. I mean, they start off sending me stuff, and then they lose their taste for the Michael Fowke Experience. 'I wonder why that is ...' Too many squares, Voice. This is finance. It will never change. 'But you've tried your best. I remember the desert ...' Ah, yes, the desert. Never mind. Life goes on. And I've got my music now ...

Compared to the announcement of 825 deals (with disclosed funding rounds) worth US$16.5bn in Q4 2018, a total of 1,202 deals (US$21.5bn) were announced in Q4 2019. Early stage funding deals (comprising Seed and Series A) accounted for 71% of VC funding volume in 2019, out of which Series A accounted for the majority share. The quarter also witnessed the announcement of 585 Series A funding rounds, which is the highest among all the funding rounds announced during the quarter.

Er ... I was thinking about my music. 'Take care of business first.' Yeah, yeah.

China accounted for 65.2% share of early stage funding volume, distantly followed by India, which garnered 13.1% of such funding. Other key countries that attracted significant number of early stage funding during Q4 2019 include South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Australia and Indonesia.

China? China's got trouble. 'We all might have trouble soon.' You won't, Voice. 'No, not me, obviously.'

Some of the notable early stage funding rounds announced during Q4 2019 included US$3.7bn raised by Tenglong Holdings (Tamron), US$141.1m secured by Chihiro Location Network (Qianxun Spatial Intelligence) and US$110.8m raised by MX Player.

Fair enough. What does Aurojyoti say?

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, says: "Though growth/expansion/late stage funding rounds (comprising Series B, Series C, Series D, Series E, Series F, Series G, Series H, Series I and Series J) are fewer in number compared to early stage funding rounds, they are much larger in the average deal value."

Okay, okay. It's all starting to make sense. Probably. What do I know? / Here's the last bit, dear reader(s) -

Growth/expansion/late stage funding accounted for 70.4% of funding value in Q4 2019. China accounted for 61.7% share of the capital raised through these rounds followed by India with 26.4% share. Other key countries that raised notable growth/expansion/late stage funding during Q4 2019 included Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia and South Korea. Some of the notable growth/expansion/late stage funding rounds announced during Q4 2019 included US$3bn funding raised by Beijing Kuaishou Technology (Kuaishou Technology), US$1.5bn funding in Oravel Stays (OYO Rooms) and US$1bn raised by One97 Communications (Paytm).

And ...

ENDS

...

Anything else? This might be the only post today, unless I change my mind about recording tonight. 'Unless you get recording anxiety, Mikey.' Ha! Desperation is the best cure for anxiety, son. Believe me.

Listen! This -

This World Don't Mean a Thing
Nothing
Good Times
Stella

... will have a greater impact than ...

This World Don't Mean a Thing
Nothing
Malibu
Stella

And the good thing is ... I'll be able to hold two so-called world-beaters back, which will make any album more satisfying and more of a surprise. 'Yippee!' Yeah.

Later(s), blog and pop fan(s)!