Malaysia-based private investment RHL Ventures injects the Series A round of investment alongside investors such as the Axiata Digital Innovation Fund

Signature Market, a Malaysia-based direct-to-consumer healthy snack e-commerce platform, announces that it has raised a Series A round from the country’s private investment firm RHL Ventures. RHL Ventures joins other investors like Axiata Digital Innovation Fund.

Signature Market will use the undisclosed amount of funding to claim its position in the industry and scale across Southeast Asia.

Also Read: Bukalapak confirms new funding round by Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund

Signature Market was first founded as Signature Snack in 2014 and its goal is to make healthier food products more accessible and affordable. It was established by Edwin Wang and John Cheng.

By selling all natural and organic products direct-to-consumer on its website, the company said it has the flexibility to bypass costlier distribution channels thus allowing them to sell the best product quality and freshness.

For now, Malaysia remains their focus but the company has longterm plans to be in other Southeast Asian countries, noticing the similar strong demand for healthy food products in the region.

“We decided to back Signature Market as they’re using technology to create a new way for people to access healthy snacks; helping Malaysians eat more nutritiously and lead healthier lifestyle,” said Rachel Lau, Managing Partner of RHL Ventures.

Also Read: Indonesia’s online bill payments Sepulsa rebrands into Alterra

According to Nielsen, global demand for healthy snacks has been on a constant rise over the past few years, and Signature Market came on strong in Malaysia with its claim of 100 per cent natural ingredients with no preservatives.
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Dropee said that it will use the funding to kickstart market expansion, hire new talents, and introduce new product features

The B2B eProcurement marketplace from Malaysia, Dropee, has closed a MYR1.4 million (US$341,000) seed funding led by Vynn Capital. Participating in the round is Prasetia Dwidharma.

Dropee has said that the financing will be directed towards market expansion, new product feature release, and hiring.

Also Read: Malaysia’s healthy snacks e-commerce Signature Market raises a Series A round from RHL Ventures

Dropee sets itself as a one-stop business-to-business (B2B) eProcurement marketplace that connects suppliers with small and medium enterprise (SME) business owners in real time. Using the platform, suppliers and brand owners can streamline the product fulfillment process and facilitate bulk purchases through a suite of enterprise solutions.

Dropee, founded in 2016 by Lennise Ng and Aizat Rahim, offers features such as an automated ordering placements to reduce stocking issues, a digitalized documentation, such as auto-generated purchase documents and cloud storage accessibility, which reduces human error and eliminates inefficiencies. It also has tools to easily compare suppliers, prices, and products all on one single platform, simplifying the decision-making process through greater transparency. Other features revolved around procurement and supply chain ecosystem management.

The goal of the solution is to ease the fulfillment output and deliver great customer experience to attract new customers and increase order volumes. It currently specialises in the Food & Beverage, FMCG, and retail market segments.

“We believe the way to achieve a more meaningful relationship between businesses is by increasing transparency across the supply chain. Our goal is to build an altogether new kind of supply chain network that is both resilient and responsive,” said Lennise Ng, Co-founder and CEO of Dropee.

Currently, Dropee focusses operations in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Johor.

“We believe that in the next few years, the supply chain landscape will be completely different. Many companies will leverage their digital supply chain as a competitive advantage and Dropee’s technology is designed to their existing supply chain ecosystem, thus improving their brand value and customer loyalty,” said Aizat Rahim, Co-founder and COO of Dropee.

Also Read: Indonesia’s online bill payments Sepulsa rebrands into Alterra

This year, the company aims to expand the business into neighbouring countries of Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Previously, it raised financing from undisclosed angel investors and a grant from Cradle Fund.
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Image Credit: Dropee

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Clairco is currently working on a Machine Learning-based feature that will enable the product to predict the air quality on hyper-local level

Last month, around Christmas, the Delhi pollution levels hit their worst in 2018, with the air quality going from ‘severe’ to ’emergency’ rating. Cold air, lack of winds, vehicles fumes, and pollution from coal-fired power plants and industries contributed to this. Reports indicate that other Indian cities are not far behind.

To be fair, pollution is a pressing issue globally. Cities, especially in the industrial countries, have been grappling with air pollution issues for long. While many governments and private players across the world have taken several measures, such as introducing eco-friendly vehicles, none of them has helped reduce pollution levels in a big way.

Perhaps, this Bangalore-based startup can change this. Clairco has come up with an Internet of Things-based air quality monitoring and purification device, which is using low drag nano-tech air filters that can be retrofitted to any type of air conditioners (ACs) and turn them into smart air purifiers. According to its Founder and CEO Aayush Jha, this saves a lot of money which are otherwise spent on expensive air purifiers.

“Air quality has been continuously deteriorating globally. Millions suffer as India’s and China’s air quality deteriorates,” he tells e27. “In India, it has reached alarming levels and it kills hundreds of people every year. As per a WHO estimate, 11 out of 12 most polluted cities are in India. Although there are multiple air purifiers available in the market, none of them is smart enough to effectively address this problem. There is no mechanism to measure the quality of air in any of these devices. This is where our solution, Clairco, comes into picture.”

Also Read: Indian students develop an innovative billboard that purifies air

A SaaS product, Clairco helps businesses ensure clean air in a measurable and affordable way, says Jha. The device boasts of several features, including real-time air quality monitoring (indoors and outdoors), air quality guarantee, and data monitoring. While all other companies charge an upfront costs, Clairco charges a monthly subscription of INR2  (US$0.028) per square feet.

“With all B2B customers, we install two air quality monitors — one each indoors and outdoors — which give real-time pollutant readings,” adds Jha. “All our B2C customers will be able to see air quality in their office, school and park, and plan their day accordingly (like weather maps remind us to carry an umbrella, Clairco will remind users to carry masks). This data driven environmental intelligence will help reduce user’s exposure to pollutants,” he explains.

The concept of Clairco struck Jha when his parents relocated to the capital city of Delhi a couple of years ago. “They moved to a location Ghaziabad, which is probably the most-polluted city in the world. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in the city breathing really bad air. I searched for an air purifier in the market, but could not find one which is smart enough to check pollution levels. This is when I thought of developing a smart device,” he shares the story.

Incubated at Brigade Real Estate Accelerator Programme (Bangalore) in early 2018, Clairco is already working with a few unnamed businesses, including a leading fitness company and home rental brans, in India. It is also in talks with several other organisations for a partnership. “By March 2020, we will have air quality data of over 2,000 locations in Tie 1 cities in India,” Jha adds.

The startup is also working on a Machine Learning-based feature which will enable the product to predict the air quality on hyper-local level.

Also Read: The Indian startup that turns air pollution into ink raises US$119K in a reality TV show

Clairco has already raised a round of funding from Anand Subramanian, Senior Director, Ola Cabs. It is now in the market seeking pre-Series A round of US$1 million to expand its management team as well as hiring junior level employees.

A Law graduate, Jha previously is a founding member and former Head of Business Development of Bumper.com, a marketplace for automobile repair (funded by SAIF partners). Before that, he was the CEO of Bright-Box India, a connected cars startup (later acquired by Zurich Insurance Group). He has also founded a a startup ThinkWheels (a marketplace for automotive service) in the past.

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Business travel startup Travelstop from Singapore is now available in Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam

Travelstop, business travel SaaS platform based in Singapore, has announced its expansion to seven Asian markets. Countries, where the AI-powered platform will be available, include Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam.

Travelstop was founded by ex-Expedia employees, approaching business and travel using SaaS platform that helps to simplify traveling in business by automating expense reporting.

Travelstop manages to find a niche in traveling by catering to the need of business traveling management, something that the company admits to being largely untouched in Asia although boasting a massive US$1 trillion annual global spend. Because of this, Travelstop’s success also lies in the adoption of its system by companies like RedDoorz, Funding Societies, S P Jain School of Global Management, and Dot Property during its beta launch last year.

Also Read: Malaysia’s cab-hailing startup EaziCar to raise US$73K via equity crowdfunding

In 2018, the startup raised seed funding and now the company follows through with the localised versions in each of the seven mentioned countries.

“Many companies in Asia have offices in multiple countries across the region. Our goal is to provide these users with the best possible experience in their local language, currency, and supporting the regional tax, reporting formats, payment options while ensuring that we offer the most relevant booking options,” said Prashant Kirtane, Travelstop’s co-founder and CEO.

With new features such as “Book for Others” feature, it aims to improve the productivity of travel managers to book travel for employees within a company, allowing for control on the business travel booking process or in countries where technology acceptance is generally lower.

Beside “Book for Others”, Travelstop also introduces “Business Travel Policies” to make sure business travel bookings that are outside of travel policies are automatically flagged during the booking process, allowing companies to improve overall compliance to things like budget and reduce costs.

In addition to the new features, Travelstop has added an iPhone-based app for business travel management on-the-go.

“Our goal is to make employees more productive; they no longer have to return from their business trips and spend hours dealing with the much-dreaded expense claims process,” said Altaf Dhamani, Travelstop’s co-founder and Chief Product Officer.

Also Read: Go-Jek acquires majority stake in Philippines’s blockchain fintech company Coins.ph

Since its launch in August 2018, the startup has raised US$1.2 million in funding from investors led by SeedPlus, a US-based venture capital firm, and travel industry veterans from Expedia and Yahoo!

The company claimed to have the largest selection of flights in the region, with over 800 carriers, including most regional and low-cost carriers.
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Image Credit: Travelstop

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The oversubscribed round is joined by the Indonesian startup’s existing investors

Indonesia’s Warung Pintar, a micro-retail tech startup has announced today a Series B funding round totaling US$27.5 million.

Existing investors who participated include SMDV, Vertex, Pavilion Capital, LINE Ventures, Digital Garage, Agaeti, Triputra, Jerry Ng, and EV Growth. The new investor coming on board is OVO.

“Warung Pintar has significantly push mitra’s (term to call its partners) income up to 41 per cent. We will continue to strive in transforming micro-retail so they can have a more competitive advantage in the midst of the retail landscape and build a better economy for themselves,” said Co-Founder & CEO Warung Pintar, Agung Bezharie Hadinegoro.

Also Read: Vietnamese e-wallet service MoMo raises Series C funding led by Warburg Pincus

Empowering underserved population and building equal opportunities have been the recurring theme of Warung Pintar’s main mission, one that’s received a nod from Managing Partner of Vertex, Chua Kee Lock, “I believe Warung Pintar is well-positioned to accelerate SME digital adoption in Indonesia,” he added.

OVO, the newest investor in the company said that joining the funding aligns with OVO’s mission of financial inclusion. “This venture underlines OVO’s conviction to be part of Indonesian’s SMEs growth in the digital economy era,” said CEO Jason Thompson.

Jerry Ng, CEO of BTPN, added an important layer to the potential of Warung Pintar’s operation.

“From Warung shoppers, warung owners to investors, Warung Pintar understands its customers’ wants and needs, their socioeconomic, and cultural context. By engaging and bringing them into our growing digital ecosystem, the company is able to deliver both financial values and create meaningful impact for its customers,” said Ng.

Warung Pintar started off with only two kiosks on January 2018, and now has boasted more than 1,150 kiosks.

The strength of Warung Pintar -literally translated as “Smart Kiosks” – has been its community.

“One of the reasons all this growth are possible is because of the hard work from all Warung Pintar team -whom we called AnWar (Anak Warung) – translated to people who like hanging out in Warung. Currently, we have more than 200 AnWars (and growing), helping us in building a better economy for Indonesia. Together with Warung Pintar, they continuously leverage on the quality of technologies and services that Warung Pintar can offer,” said Hadinegoro.

Also Read: Artificial intelligence and the art of building presentations

Warung Pintar claimed to have 110 per cent of Social Return On Investment — which means every investment that Warung Pintar gives to each Mitra will improve their life quality in areas like the ability to afford children’s education and healthcare, socio-economic relationships among each other, and the skill of entrepreneurship by 110 per cent.

Last December, Warung Pintar officially extended the business opportunity to the people of Banyuwangi regency (East Java Province in Indonesia) and aims to grow to more than 5,000 kiosks at the end of 2019.
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Image Credit: Warung Pintar

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