Asean Tech Digest #35
Your tech digest from ASEAN. To receive upcoming issues by e-mail, subscribe here.
Hi technauts!
Let’s talk about: robotics 🦾, masks 🤿 and coffee ☕
Just funded 💸
🇸🇬 Bioplastics startup RWDC has raised a US$133m Series B from International SA, CPV/CAP Pensionskasse Coop, Flint Hills Resources, Vickers Venture Partners.
🇮🇩 Coffee chain startup Kopi Kenangan has raised a US$109m Series B from Sequoia Capital, B Capital, Horizons Ventures, Verlinvest, Kunlun, Sofina, Alpha JWC Ventures.
🇮🇩 E-commerce startup GudangAda has raised a US$25.4m Series A from Sequoia India, Alpha JWC, Wavemaker Partners.
🇸🇬 Biotech startup Hummingbird Bioscience has raised a US$25m Series B from K Holdings, SEEDS Capital, Heritas Capital.
🇸🇬 P2P lending platform startup Validus has raised a US$20m Series B+ from Vertex Growth, Kuok Group’s Orion Fund, FMO, Openspace Ventures, AddVentures, VinaCapital Ventures.
🇸🇬 Cybersecurity startup Dathena has raised a US$12m Series A from Jungle Ventures, Caphorn Invest, SEEDS Capital, Cerracap Ventures, MS&AD Ventures.
🇸🇬 Sales SaaS platform startup LeadIQ has raised a US$10m Series A from Eight Roads Ventures, Tim Draper, Jason Calacanis.
🇸🇬 E-retailer startup IUIGA has raised a US$10m Series A from Konimex Technologies.
🇸🇬 Fintech startup Flow has raised a US$6m Series A from SCB10X, SIG Asia, Dymon Asia Ventures, DEG.
🇮🇩 Fintech startup Cashlez has raised a US$5.8m in an IPO.
🇹🇭 Payment Solution startup Digio has raised a US$4m Series B from PCC, Beacon Venture Capital, Growing Together 2.
🇸🇬 Quantum Computing startup Entropica Labs has raised a US$1.8m Seed from Elev8, Entrepreneur First, V1 Capital, TIS Inc, Lim Teck Lee Group, Wavemaker Partners, SGinnovate.
🇵🇭 Home Services startup GoodWork has raised a US$1.6m Seed from Kairos K50, Elysium Ventures, Chaac Ventures.
🇸🇬 Invoice SaaS startup FoodRazor has raised a US$0.9m Seed from Cocoon Capital, Found Ventures.
🇸🇬 The total amount raised — and disclosed — by Ninjavan for its Series D in Q1 ’20 is US$279m, from GeoPost, B Capital, Monk’s Hill Ventures, Carmenta, Golden Gate Ventures Growth Fund, Intouch Holding, and Grab.
🇸🇬 12 startups of Block 71’s Smart Port Challenge 2019 have received US$35k in grant funding from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.
Startups and downs 🚀
🇹🇭 Fintech startup J Fintech has been acquired (51%) by credit card company KB Kookmin Card (South Korea) for US$20.2m.
🇮🇩 The story of Tiger Fang, founder of trucking startup Kargo.
🇸🇬 Lending startup Aspire has partnered with e-commerce company Lazada to offer up to US$70k in working capital loans to merchants, within 3 hours of application.
🇮🇩 Hotel aggregator Airy Rooms has shut down.
🇸🇬 Fintech startup Revolut has hired new executives, including the former COO of insurtech Singapore Life as Asia CEO.
🇻🇳 E-commerce company Leflair has filed for bankruptcy.
🇸🇬 Robotics startup Sesto has launched HealthGuard, an autonomous mobile disinfectant robot.
🇲🇾 Online used car selling platform Carsome will spend US$12.76m for its Carsome Dealer Alliance Support Programme, with rewards and credit lines for dealers and customers.
🌏 Emerging Markets Property Group has acquired proptech startup Lamudi’s operations in Philippines, Indonesia, and Mexico.
🇸🇬 Robotics startup Boston Dynamics (US) has deployed its robots in Singapore’s parks to monitor social distancing.
🇻🇳 Fitness startup WeFit has filed for bankruptcy.
The Unicorn Belt 🦄
🌏 Batch 3 of Grab Velocity is out.
Venture Capitalists 🎢
🌏 Cross-border VC fund Cathay Innovation has raised a US$550m fund II, out of which one third will be dedicated to American and SEA companies — and another third to China.
🇮🇩 MRT Jakarta, which operates the Jakarta subway, has launched a 6-month accelerator program.
🇲🇾 The Malaysian Technology Development Corporation will invest US$2.3m and US$460k in equity crowdfunding and P2P financing through its partners pitchIN and Microleap.
🇮🇩 Telkom Indonesia’s MDI Ventures has appointed Donald Wihardja as CEO, formerly VC Partner at AC Ventures.
Corporates 👨💼
🇸🇬 Razer has set up 20 vending machines to give for free (?) 5 masks…after you sign up for RazerPay.
🌏 Facebook has partnered with startups Fave & StoreHub to provide improved lead generation to local businesses and gift cards to customers.
🇲🇾 Conglomerate Sunway iLabs has launched an e-commerce program to digitize SMEs, with mentorship from players such as Alibaba, AirAsia.
🇵🇭 TV news broadcaster ABS-CBN, one of the most watched television stations in the Philippines, has been shut down by the government.
Smart Nations 🏛️
🇸🇬 Goodbye TraceTogether, hello SafeEntry.
🇸🇬 MAS, the Singapore FinTech Association, AMTD Group and AMTD Foundation have announced a US$4.2m Solidarity Grant for fintech startups.
🇲🇾 The Malaysian government has allocated US$23m for startup relief via Malaysia Debt Ventures.
Food for thought 🍜
🌏 Digitizing payments: is building a PoS software the right go-to-market?
🌏 How Asia used technology to rapidly stop Covid.
🌏 Please stop bullying autonomous vehicles.
The Fountainhead ⛲
China 🇨🇳
○ The ingredients for a rebalance in financial power are here.
India 🇮🇳
○ Food delivery startup Zomato has collected US$350k from 26k individuals for its Gold Fund to support restaurants and has cut 13% of its workforce.
○ How the state of Kerala is winning against Covid — only 4 deaths to date, by initiating WHO protocols as early as end of January, a preparation mindset that came from the 2018 Nipah outbreak.
○ B2B e-commerce marketplace Moglix has expanded to the UK and set up operations in Europe.
○ Following Facebook, Silver Lake has invested US$747m in telco Jio Platforms.
Also 🤫
○ Zoom has beaten TikTok as most downloaded app globally in April — in the non-gaming category.
○ Mount Everest has become 5G-enabled with Huawei.
○ Trying to understand why flat logs are here to stay.
— — — — –
Like this revue ? Leave your thoughts here 🧠
And see you in two weeks. To receive upcoming issues by e-mail, subscribe here.
