The company also hired former LendingClub COO John Donovan to its Board of Directors

Tima, a Vietnamese fintech company with a large P2P lending network, announced today it is beginning the process of raising a Series C investment round.

Upon completion, this late-stage round would be a big deal for the Vietnamese ecosystem. It would mark another successful late-stage investment after Topica raised a US$50 million Series D in November.

Tima raised a US$3 million Series B round in October that valued the startup at around US$20 million.

In 2016 it raised a Series A round from Dunearn Singapore Fund and G Capital.

Also Read: Vietnam-based restaurant tech startup KAMEREO raises US$500K

The company also announced it has appointed John Donovan, the former COO of LendingClub, to its Board of Advisors. LendingClub is an American P2P lending company that has facilitated US$46 billion worth of transactions since its inception in 2006.

“As consumers go online around the world, they look to access financial services in a more efficient and fair way. I look forward to working on the Board of Tima to help this happen in Vietnam” said Donovan in an official statement.

Also Read: Southeast Asia-based VC ATM Capital makes first close of new US$200M fund

Tima claims to have over 30,000 lenders on its platform and nearly 2.8 million borrowers.

For lenders, Tima uses bank accounts at Nam A Bank to hold and manage the money they are willing to lend. Borrowers use this avenue to pay off their debts.

A partnership with VietinBank helps Tima manage financial risk on its platform. VietinBank uses its insurance service help borrowers pay off loans if they run into unforeseen financial trouble.

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The company helps businesses to build an interconnected data sensing environment

Singapore-based IoT startup Overdrive has completed its US$2.9 million Series A round, which was solely funded by Southeast Asia B2B-focussed VC Tin Men Capital.

Founded in 2015 by CEO Aston Chia and COO Zen Chin,  who were university schoolmates in Australia, the company has developed an IoT platform that enables businesses to build an interconnected data sensing environment, extracting data from different sources such as goods or vehicles and machinery.

The platform is then configured to optimally deliver business objectives such as real-time tracking and monitoring, exception alerting and command centre visualization.

Overdrive has implemented its platform in large companies and institutions such as Nanyang Technological University, Fedex, Ascendas, and Ministry of Manpower in Singapore, as well as  Volkswagen and Mazda in Malaysia via its local partner.

The company said its tech is unique because it features both an open architecture to ingest both in-house and partnered intelligence modules as well as an ability to tweak device-level firmware and connectivity — making the platform highly robust and scalable.

“Overdrive has built a powerful and dynamic platform in allowing any devices and sensors to communicate with each other and with data and video capabilities,” said Chia, in an official press statement.

Also Read: Vietnamese financial marketplace Tima launches Series C effort

“In order to keep our current and potential customers invested in our vision, we continue to upgrade our platform aggressively to stay ahead,” he added.

Chia said the newly-raised financing will help Overdrive to scale up its industrial asset tracking tech for the supply chain, construction and facilities management sectors, with a focus on delivering solutions in the Singapore and Malaysia markets.

“We are scaling up our R&D bandwidth as we speak and have already embarked on a few industrial level implementations with customers in Singapore and Malaysia, with more markets and sectors, being targeted over the next 18 months,” added Chin.

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Image Credit: Overdrive

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The investment is led by Mirai Creation Fund II a fund from Toyota Motor Corporation and SPARX

Pricebook, the gadget discovery platform from Indonesia, shared today that it has secured its fourth round of funding led by Mirai Creation Fund II (two), a fund invested by Toyota Motor Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and SPARX.

Joining the round is existing investor KLab Venture Partners Co., Ltd.

The amount raised was not disclosed.

Pricebook plans to use the fund to further accelerate the O2O integration with its offline sellers through the website and social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram. It also plans on staying on top of its gadgets and electronics coverage.

Also Read: ClassPass buys top Asia competitor GuavaPass

Pricebook collects product information like reviews, specifications, and online articles, and availability in both online and offline stores through their channels, allowing shoppers to make decisions only after getting all the necessary information.

To date, the company claims to have millions of users each month accessing the information shared on Pricebook’s website and social media.

Besides becoming the platform for gadget information, Pricebook also offers marketing solutions for manufacturing brands and financial companies.

The company’s official statement reads as such:

“Pricebook’s strength lies in the adaptation of Indonesian behavior online and offline. Over the years of operation, Pricebook has realized that, though Indonesia’s internet population and the e-commerce market is rapidly growing, the gap between heavy online shoppers and those not remains to be wide.”

“Heavy online shoppers made purchases based on pricing data, while many others preferred to see the product and the seller before purchase, a big market full of inefficiency, hence the O2O shopping discovery platform,” it continued.
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Also Read: Vietnam-based restaurant tech startup KAMEREO raises US$500K

Image Credit: Pricebook

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Quona Capital is the international venture capital firm that focuses on fintech with a financial-inclusivity mission

Indonesian Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform, KoinWorks, just announced its latest Series A funding raised from the international fintech-focussed venture capital firm Quona Capital.

KoinWorks made for Quona Capital’s first fintech investment in Indonesia, inking the deal just after the startup reached a total of 100,000 investors.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Quona as its mission is to back fintechs that truly works to make differences in society and to achieve inclusivity in finance,” said Benedicto Haryono, CEO dan Co-Founder KoinWorks.

Also Read: Southeast Asia-based VC ATM Capital makes first close of new US$200M fund

Quona Capital and KoinWorks are forming a joint collaboration, sharing the same mission of championing technology as a means to improve the quality, access, and reach of financial services for those overlooked by traditional banks.

So far, Quona Capital has backed financial inclusivity focussed startups in Latin America, Africa, the UK, and Asia.

According to the 2017 Global Findex database, Indonesia accounts for 33 per cent of the underserved population in terms of financial services. As shared in the Wave 3 Report FII Tracker Survey — conducted by InterMedia and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — only 26 per cent of Indonesians meet the global financial services standard.

KoinWorks’ recent innovation includes a RoboLending feature that allows investors to fund companies without having to shadow and to choose which business they want to support. RoboLending does the work of deciding based on portfolio and investment returns.

Also Read: Singapore IoT startup Overdrive raises US$2.9M Series A from Tin Men Capital

Before this fresh funding, KoinWorks has been backed by Mandiri Capital Indonesia, Gunung Sewu, and Convergence Capital, all in 2018.
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Image Credit: KoinWorks

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Also, True Digital Park inks four partnership deals and Tokyo Century increases Grab stake

Tesla breaks ground on first China factory — [Financial Times]

Elon Musk today announced plans to build Tesla’s first China factory by the end of the summer with the goal producing its first Model 3 vehicles by the end of 2019.

According to the Financial Times, the plant will be called Gigafactory 3 and is expected to have the capacity to produce 500,000 cars a year.

The goal of the plant is to produce only Model 3 vehicles meant for the China market. Model 3s built for the global consumer will be built in the US and more high-scale vehicles (which will also be sold in China) will also be built in America.

Shanghai Giga will produce affordable versions of 3/Y for greater China. All Model S/X & higher cost versions of Model 3/Y will still be built in US for WW market, incl China.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2019

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The Tesla stock price has risen 5.77 per cent today.

Bangkok’s True Digital Park inks partnership with four tech giants — [Press Release]

True Digital Park, the large-scale startup-focussed infrastructure project in Bangkok, announced today it has partnered with tech giants Cisco, Microsoft, Epson and Ricoh to help build a “state-of-the-art work environment”.

Examples of some of the technology being implemented are heat maps, facial recognition technology, smart office appliances, AI products and an ‘innovation experience center’.

The breakdown (copied directly from the press release) is as follows:

• Cisco: Cisco will incorporate Heat Map that collects data on space utilization within True Digital
  Park for further analysis, management and effective communication with the users; and Smart
  Lighting that operates power control at the office and meeting rooms to ensure Smart Office
  and Smart Building.
• Microsoft: To enhance the security standards at True Digital Park, Microsoft would introduce
  an AI-driven face detection and facial recognition system to automatically monitor incoming
  and outgoing foot traffic instead of relying traditional card-based alternatives. This new system
  is powered by Cognitive Services on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
• Epson: Epson’s innovative “Laser Projector” delivers better resolution and longer service life
  than those of conventional projectors. Epson will also provide interactive projectors at board
  rooms and high-contrast projectors at large conference rooms. All projectors support wireless
  connection to ensure efficient and engaging meetings.
• Ricoh: Ricoh’s multifunctional printers will be installed to support activities handled by start-
  ups and users at the convention centers inside True Digital Park. Ricoh Experience Center
  will also be established as a platform to ignite creativity under the concept of open innovation.

ClassPass buys top Asia competitor GuavaPass — [e27]

ClassPass, a product that allows people to book gym classes at various locations, has bought its top Asian competitor GuavaPass.

Both companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. It is expected to be finalised by the end of January.

ClassPass will bring onboard about half of the GuavaPass staff and use the acquisition to facilitate rapid expansion across Asia and the Middle East.

The specific locations are Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Shanghai and Singapore. GuavaPass will cease operations in these cities. The brand will be used in other markets but will still be under the ClassPass umbrella.

Tokyo Century boosts investment in Grab — [Press Release]

Tokyo Century, a Japanese financial services company, has boosted its investment in Southeast Asian ride-hailing company Grab, raising its total investment to US$175 million.

According to a press release, part of the investment is going towards Grab Rentals, which rents private-hire vehicles for people to use in Singapore.

The goal of this is to help facilitate more flexible driver arrangements as well as finance the upcoming launch of a fleet of electric vehicles.

Overdrive raises US$2.9 million — [e27]

Singapore-based IoT startup Overdrive has completed its US$2.9 million Series A round, which was solely funded by Southeast Asia B2B-focussed VC Tin Men Capital.

Founded in 2015 by CEO Aston Chia and COO Zen Chin, who were university schoolmates in Australia, the company has developed an IoT platform that enables businesses to build an interconnected data sensing environment, extracting data from different sources such as goods or vehicles and machinery.

The platform is then configured to optimally deliver business objectives such as real-time tracking and monitoring, exception alerting and command centre visualisation.

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