Asean Tech Digest #65

Victor Tenneroni

8 min readAug 2, 2021

Your curated summary of ongoing disruption in Southeast Asian tech. Subscribe here to receive it by email 💌

Hey SEA fans,

Last two weeks, in the news:

🏢PropertyGuru to list on NYSE via SPAC at US$1.78b equity valuation

🦄 New unicorns: Carsome, Nium

📈Bukalapak to go public at US$5.8b valuation

Just funded 💸

🇸🇬 Fintech startup Pine Labs has raised a US$600m financing round from Fidelity, BlackRock — Bloomberg

🇸🇬 Superapp startup Grab has raised a US$375m financing round from Bells Ventures, Ci:z Investment, Elang Mahkota Teknologi, KTB Network, Parkave Capital Group, Signite Partners — e27

🇻🇳 Digital Conglomerate startup VN Life has raised a US$250m Series B from undisclosed investors — Tech in Asia

🇸🇬 Payment startup Nium has raised a US$200m Series D from Arjun Sethi, Atinum Investment, Beacon Venture Capital, Global Founders Capital, Gokul Rajaram, NCORE Ventures, Riverwood Capital, Rocket Internet, Temasek Holdings, Vertex Growth, Vicky Bindra, Visa Ventures — Bloomberg

🇸🇬 Stablecoin startup Terraform has raised a US$150m financing round from Arrington XRP Capital, BlockTower Capital, Galaxy Digital Partners, Pantera Capital — TechCrunch

🇮🇩 B2B marketplace startup GudangAda has raised a US$100m Series B from Alpha JWC Ventures, Asia Partners, Falcon Edge Capital, Sequoia Capital India, Wavemaker Partners — TechCrunch

🇮🇩 Grocery startup HappyFresh has raised a US$65m Series D from Gafina, LB Investment, Line Ventures, Mirae Asset Global Investments, Naver Financial, STIC Investments, STIC Ventures, Won & Partners, Z Venture Capital — TechCrunch

🇮🇩 Fintech startup OY! has raised a US$44.47m Series A from AC Ventures, Alfamart, Central Capital Ventura, MDI Ventures, Pavilion Capital, SoftBank Ventures Asia, Wavemaker Partners — e27

🇮🇩 Sea to table startup Aruna has raised a US$35m Series A from AC Ventures, East Ventures, MDI Ventures, Prosus Ventures, SIG, Vertex Ventures US — TechCrunch

🇸🇬 Crypto lending startup Vauld has raised a US$25m Series A from Cadenza Capital, CMT Digital, Coinbase Ventures, Gumi Cryptos, Pantera Capital, Robert Leshner, Valar Ventures — TechNode Global

🇸🇬 Plant-based chicken maker startup Next Gen Foods has raised a US$20m Seed+ from Bits x Bites, Chris Yeh, Dele Alli, EDB New Ventures, Febe Ventures, GGV Capital, K3 Ventures, NX-Food, Temasek Holdings, Yeo Hiap Seng — Green Queen

🇵🇭 Gaming startup Yield Guild Games has raised a US$12.5m Token Sale from undisclosed investors — Tech in Asia

🇸🇬 Supply Chain startup Tinvio has raised a US$12m Series A from AppWorks, Global Founders Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, MUFG Innovation Partners, Partech, Surge — TechCrunch

🇸🇬 Edtech startup Nas Daily has raised a US$11m Series A from 500 Startups, Balaji Srinivasan, Emilie Choi, Fresh.Fund, Graph Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Markian B., Metapurse, Michael Philippe, Ritesh Agarwal, Robin Sabban, Swann Maizil, TechAviv Founder Partners — TechCrunch

🇸🇬 AI startup CloudMile has raised a US$10m Series B from undisclosed investors — Channel Asia Tech

🇸🇬 Blockchain transaction startup Biconomy has raised a US$9m financing round from Bain Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Coinfund, Digital Asset Capital Management, Enabling Future, Huobi DeFi Labs, Mechanism Capital, Stani Kulechov, True Ventures — Inc 42

🇸🇬 Crowd Influencer Marketing startup Partipost has raised a US$8.5m Series A+ from iGlobe Partners, Quest Ventures, SPH Ventures, XA Network — TechNode Global

🇵🇭 Cross-chain exchanger startup Saber Labs has raised a US$7.7m Seed from Jump Capital, Multicoin Capital, Race Capital, Ryan Shea, Social Capital Suvretta Holdings IV, Solana Foundation — Coin Telegraph

🇮🇩 Microretail startup Warung Pintar has raised a US$6m financing round from East Ventures, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India — e27

🇰🇭 Automotive startup Iron Capital has raised a US$5.7m Series A from undisclosed investors — Deal Street Asia

🇸🇬 Public Transport Booking Platform startup Easybook has raised a US$5m financing round from Emissary Capital — Tech in Asia

🇸🇬 Restaurant Management startup Easy Eat AI has raised a US$5m financing round from Aroa Ventures, Reddy Futures Family Office, Prophetic Ventures — TechCrunch

🇵🇭 E-commerce startup Edamama has raised a US$5m Pre-Series A from Foxmont Capital Partners, Gentree, Kickstart Ventures — Digital News Asia

🇮🇩 Workforce startup Vara has raised a US$4.8m Seed from Alpha JWC Ventures, Febe Ventures, GO Ventures, RTP Global, Surge, Taurus Ventures — TechCrunch

🇻🇳 Farmer to F&B startup Kamereo has raised a US$4.6m financing round from CPF Group, Genesia Ventures, Quest Ventures — TechCrunch

🇸🇬 Digital Asset Exchange startup Sparrow has raised a US$4.44m Series A4 from Gain Loyal — Global Legal Chronicle

🇸🇬 Remote Workforce Platform startup Multiplier has raised a US$4m Series A from GGV Capital, Golden Gate Ventures, MS&AD Ventures, Picus Capital, Surge, Titan Capital — AsiaTechDaily

🇸🇬 Carsharing startup Drive Lah has raised a US$3.2m Pre-Series A from Accelerating Asia, HH Investments VC, KFC Ventures, Robin Chase — e27

🇮🇩 Website builder startup Desty has raised a US$3.2m financing round from 5Y Capital, East Ventures, Fosun RZ Capital, In Capital, January Capital — Tech in Asia

🇸🇬 Digital Comics Reading startup INKR has raised a US$3.1m Pre-Series A from David Do, Monk’s Hill Ventures, Stu Levy — Tech in Asia

🇸🇬 Sports content startup 1 Play Sports has raised a US$2.5m financing round from H Capital Investment, Thinkuvate — Tech in Asia

🇸🇬 Edtech startup NewCampus has raised a US$2.5m financing round from 500 Startups, Juvo Ventures, M Venture Partners, Pavan Katepalli, SOSV, Twenty Seven Ventures, Zanichelli Venture — TechCrunch

🇻🇳 DeFi startup Spores has raised a US$2.3m financing round from Exnetwork Capital, Focus Labs, Maven Capital, NGC Ventures, OIG, SkyVision Capital, SL2 Capital, Twin Apex Capital, Vivian Capital — Crypto Potato

🇸🇬 Deeptech startup Hoow Foods has raised a US$2.2m Pre-Series A from Farquhar Venture Capital, TRIVE — e27

🇸🇬 Decentralized Trading Margin Protocol startup OpenLeverage has raised a US$1.8m Seed from Continue Capital, FBG Capital, LD Capital, Proceed Capital, Signum Capital, YBB foundation — Coin Telegraph

🇲🇾 Proptech startup Speedhome has raised a US$1.68m Series A from Allianz Malaysia, Gobi Ventures — Tech in Asia

🇵🇭 Fintech startup NextPay has raised a US$1.6m Seed from 1982 Ventures, Abhinay Peddisetty, Broadhaven Capital Partners, Chinmay Chauhan, First Asia Venture Capital, Foxmont Capital Partners, Gentree, Golden Gate Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Kickstart Ventures, Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, Razorpay, Rohit Mulani, Saison Capital, Tribe Capital — AsiaTechDaily

🇲🇾 Logistics startup Epost Express has raised a US$1.4m financing round from Warisan Quantum Management — Daily Express

🇸🇬 Pensiontech startup Pinbox Solutions has raised a US$1m Seed from 9Unicorns, Venture Catalysts — Entrepreneur

🇸🇬 Decentralized Document Platform startup EthSign has raised a US$0.65m Seed from Draper Associates, Hashkey Capital, imToken Ventures — The Block

🇸🇬 Social Distancing startup Hipla Technologies has raised a US$0.369m financing round from Deepak R., Puneet Aggarwal — PR Newswire

🇲🇾 Online Baby Store startup Babydash.com.my has raised a US$0.3m bridge round from Securities Commission Malaysia — TechNode Global

🇸🇬 E-commerce startup Una Brands has raised a debt financing round from undisclosed investors — Claret Capital Partners

🇮🇩 Entertainment startup Bintango has raised a Pre-Seed from Flash Ventures — LinkedIn

Startups and downs 🚀

🌏 Real estate classified platform PropertyGuru to list on NYSE via SPAC with Thiel Capital-backed Bridgetown 2, at an equity valuation of ~US$1.78b, with a committed PIPE currently at US$100m — LinkedIn

🇸🇬 Fintech Bambu has acquired Tradesocio (UAE) — Tech in Asia

🌏 Graph database platform Neo4j (US) has expanded to Singapore, following its US$325m Series F — interview with Nik Vora, VP for APAC — Disruptive Tech Asean

🇻🇳 AI company Pique has been acquired by e-wallet MoMo — LinkedIn

🇸🇬 Antler’s new cohort is here — KrASIA

🇮🇩 Interview with Nipun Mehta, founder of B2B marketplace Ula — Indo Tekno

🇮🇩 Interview with Daniel Harzman, CEO of retail ops efficiency platform Nimbly — Insignia Business Review

🌏 How Covid has impacted corporate expenses — French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore

🇻🇳 Online retailer Tiki to add insurance from AIA insurance to its financial services offering — Nikkei Asian Review

🇸🇬 YC-backed coworking app Deskimo launches in Singapore — TechCrunch

🇮🇩 Fintech Payfazz has secured an e-money license in Indonesia — Deal Street Asia

The Unicorn Belt 🦄

🇮🇩 Bukalapak to raise US$1.5b in Indonesia’s biggest IPO at US$5.6b valuation — Bloomberg

🇹🇭 Gojek’s Thai business has been acquired by AirAsia SuperApp for US$50m in shares — Reuters

🇲🇾 Car marketplace Carsome has acquired 19.9% of iCar Asia for US$200m from internet conglomerate Catcha Group (Malaysia) — TechCrunch

🇸🇬 Fintech Nium to acquire Wirecard’s (India) forex unit — TechCrunch

🌏 Grab and Hyundai deepen partnership to explore battery-as-a-service, car as a service and EV financing — Yahoo

🇸🇬 Grab is expanding its sustainability goals and product integrations in Singapore — Grab

🌏 Grab’s Google StreetView: KartaView — Grab Blog

🇮🇩 What is the role of the Central Analytics and Science Team at Gojek? — Gojek Tech

🌏 Grab expands partnership with pay later firm Adyen — Fintech News

Venture Capitalists 🎢

🇸🇬 Vertex’s corporate bond oversubscribed at US$332m — Vertex Holdings

🌏 Temasek and DBS to launch a US$500m debt fund — TechNode Global

🌏 Sheila Patel has been appointed VP of B Capital — Forbes

🇵🇭 Gentree to invest US$40m in early stage startups — Tech in Asia

🌏 Gender-focused impact fund Beacon has received investment from Sasakawa Peace Foundation (Japan) — Deal Street Asia

Corporates 👨‍💼

🌏 Google offers US$2.5m grant to UNICEF, IFRC for Covid relief in SEA — Business Today

🇸🇬 TotalEnergies (France) has acquired 85% of Singapore’s EV charging points — TotalEnergies

🇻🇳 Vietnam’s Vinfast to launch electric cars in US, Europe in 2022 — Channel News Asia

🇸🇬 SP Group has started trialing vehicle-to-grid — Channel News Asia

🇸🇬 Bicycle parts maker Shimano invests $179m to build Singapore plant — Nikkei Asian Review

🇸🇬 Nanofilm and Temasek have launched a hydrogen JV — The Business Times

🇸🇬 Bosch launches Singapore SEA innovation hub with EDB New Ventures — The Straits Times

🇸🇬 Tim Cook about Apple’s 40-year presence in Singapore — 9to5Mac

Smart Nations 🏛️

🌏 Germany looks at SEA as a major future trading partner — UOB

🇲🇾 Malaysia on the way to ban Binance — Investvine

Food for thought 🍜

🇮🇩 Overview of Indonesian edtech — Old Rope

🌏 Axie Infinity and the birth of a new game model — SuperJoost Playlist

The Fountainhead ⛲

🇮🇳 Edtech Byju has acquired Epic (US) for US$500m — TechCrunch

🇮🇳 YouTube has acquired social commerce startup Simsim — TechCrunch

🇮🇳 Zomato reaches US$13b in market cap following IPO — Yahoo Finance

🇮🇳 Fintech Paytm has filed to raise up to US$2.2b in an IPO — TechCrunch

🇮🇳 Swiggy raises US$1.25b led by Softbank — TechCrunch

🇮🇳 WFH from the point of view of BimaPe’s CEO — LinkedIn

🇨🇳 Edtech companies to become non profit, , gov’t says — YahooYahoo

🇨🇳 A brief history of video game censhorship — the Guardian

🇨🇳 Why there is noapp like Shopback in China — The Low Down Momentum

Also 🤫

🇲🇾 Malaysia Airlines is selling A380s on LinkedIn — LinkedIn

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