Dekoruma.com, an online marketplace connecting interior designers and construction service providers in Indonesia, has secured an undisclosed amount in pre-Series C funding from InterVest Star SEA Growth Fund 1 and existing investors, says a DealStreetAsia’s report

InterVest Star SEA Growth Fund 1 is a US$100-million fund, co-managed by Indonesia’s Kejora Ventures and Korean VC InterVest.

Co-founder Dimas Harry Priawan said Dekoruma.com will use the funding to develop its its interior design and project management app SOMA.

Founded in 2016, Dekoruma’s platform enables both homeowners and construction service providers to purchase construction materials, furniture and furnishings.

For homeowners, it provides fully automated services in selecting service provider, procurement process, installation and financing options.

Dekoruma claims it has been able to scale up its capacity to run more than 500 simultaneous unique “design & build” projects at any point in time. Each project is valued at approximately IDR 70-100million, and can be managed by more than 100 interior design partners based in Jakarta.

Also Read: Indonesia’s Dekoruma raises Series B funding, aims to expand in the market

In late 2018, the company raised Series B round of funding, led by GDN, which was joined by by AddVentures and existing backers Skystar, Beenext, and Convergence.

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Photo by Tony Lee on Unsplash

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Singapore-based online retailer IUIGA announced today it has raised US$10 million in Series A round of funding, led by Konimex Technologies, a subsidiary of Indonesian conglomerate Konimex Group.

The fresh money will be invested across IUIGA’s Singaporean and Indonesian operations, with Indonesia being the key focus for 2020.

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IUIGA will also invest in Big Data and Artificial Intelligence to deepen its e-commerce personalisation.

“Most immediately, we’re intending to grow our Indonesian operations with the target of doubling the office’s headcount in the coming six months. Indonesia’s potential is immense, with its burgeoning tech-savvy demographics. We want to be right in the action and unlock the economic potential in growth by 2025,” said Jaslyn Chan, Chief Growth Officer of IUIGA.

Indonesia has always been an attractive market for e-commerce companies because of its large and diverse population. There has always been competition looming from giants like Tokopedia and Bukalapak. However, Chan believes that direct-to-consumer retail opportunities are still untapped in the region.

Launched in 2017, IUIGA sells products ranging from kitchen products to apparels to electronics. The products, claims the company, are “hand-picked from some of the world’s best, undiscovered manufacturers under their Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) business model”.

Also Read: Why crowdfunding will be the new normal for Malaysian companies

By working closely with the manufacturers, the brand opens up opportunities to sell directly to consumers without incurring unnecessary costs by going through middlemen.

The strategic investment from Konimex will help the company broaden the reach of its omni-channel business model across Southeast Asian markets.

Furthermore, IUIGA plans to expand its physical footprint into fulfilling its growing omni-channel demand.

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Image Credit: IUIGA

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The Indonesian chapter of Silicon Valley-based accelerator Plug and Play, GK-Plug and Play, has announced the 15 startups of its sixth batch.

The organisation also announced that the final pitch will be done virtually, following up a three-week training and videotaping of the pitch sessions.

Aaron Nio, Director of GK-Plug and Play, stated, “After the virtual final pitch, we will stick to our Expo Day agenda later, examining the situation carefully when the time comes.”

The 15 startups represent multiple tech industries such as food and agritech, health, Internet of Things, and so on.

Assemblr, a 3D and interactive augmented reality platform to help creators create content

Cubeacon, an IoT device startup that was founded in 2014 and has recently finished a smart building and smart airport project

ETAB, a platform that focusses on service and transportation industry, combining relevant content in HD with an advertisement

Gomodo, an e-commerce web-building startup with distribution solution to cater to offline service, for tourism and activities

Also Read: GK-Plug and Play Indonesia names new partners, graduates 16 startups

Member.id, a technology consulting firm that is data-empowered in helping business designs loyalty programme

My Health Diary, an AI startup that builds a personalised, prevention-oriented treatment

OKE Garden, an online service that combines products from decorative plants farmers and garden farmers

PearlPay, a payment gateway that seeks to give affordable banking solutions for financial institutions and underserved individuals

Transfez, a licensed remittance company that serves individuals and businesses to send money across the world from Indonesia

WhatsHalal, a startup that seeks to become an ecosystem of guidance and provider of halal-certified food for the Muslim community.

Otomo, a travel tech startup that allows customers to book a private tour or cheap rental car, bus, to yacht and jet for leisure or work in Bali, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and other cities in Indonesia

Otoklix, a startup that seeks to transform conventional car workshops by capturing customers’ transactions in a front-end system.

DotX, a startup that allows underserved community to access banking service using a smartphone

Dorent, a one-stop solution platform for warehouses and other services

Nalagenetics, a medtech startup that focusses on dose personalisation and prescription

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The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), others unveil US$6M scheme to support fintech startups

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), along with Singapore FinTech Association (SFA), AMTD Group and AMTD Foundation, have jointly announced a S$6M (US$4.2M) package MAS-SFA-AMTD FinTech Solidarity Grant to support fintech companies.

Also Read: Going big? Then Go e27 Pro.

It will add on the S$125 million support package announced by the MAS on April 8 for companies in the financial sector.

The grant aims to help fintech companies maintain their operations and encourages them to continue innovation and growth.

Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer of MAS, said, “There is a surge in demand in the financial services industry around the region for solutions to address the need for remote digital services amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Fintech firms have a great opportunity to step up actively during this period to provide these solutions. The Business Growth Grant will help fintech firms offset their costs.”

Facebook partners with Fave to help local businesses in Singapore

Social media giant Facebook has partnered with Southeast Asia’s mobile payments and rewards platform Fave to help Singaporean businesses affected by COVID-19.

Through this partnership, Facebook (and Instagram) will use its platforms to provide social media users with Fave’s digital gift cards (e-cards) from local businesses operating under Singapore’s circuit-breaker measures, with a special focus in retail, hospitality, and food and beverage (F&B) sectors.

Currently, around 400 local businesses in Singapore like Crave, Jollibean, Nippon Home and Pixie Nail Spa have signed up for the e-cards.

“By joining forces with Facebook and Instagram, we aim to extend support to local businesses further with utmost speed and urgency. Our partnership will accelerate our local businesses’ ability to adapt and digitalise while providing a much-needed income boost to keep them afloat during these challenging times,” said Ng Aik-Phong, MD of Fave Singapore.

SESTO Robotics launches disinfectant robot to address the urgent need for better hygiene

Singaporean robot company SESTO Robotics has launched a dual-function autonomous mobile disinfectant robot SESTO HealthGUARD to address the urgent needs of hygiene during COVID-19.

The robot will be valuable not only to ensure clean facilities but will also help to maintain social distancing.

The robots can be set up via a tablet or laptop and can be used to clean large surfaces more efficiently through its multi-nozzle sprayer.

“Our self-navigating, fully-autonomous SESTO HealthGUARD is ready for round-the-clock thorough facility disinfection. Applying our knowledge in deep-tech and robotics, the team at SESTO Robotics hopes to accelerate public health and safety with innovation and technology,” said Ang Chor Chen, CEO of SESTO Robotics.

Alpha Startup Digital Accelerator announces winners of its first batch

Malaysia’s first Digital Accelerator programme, the Alpha Startup Digital Accelerator (ASDA), has announced three startups out of 15 as the winner of its first batch, they are – BlueDuck, Internspoon and Nanobar.

The three companies have been awarded around US$14,000 [RM 60,000] in total to kickstart their business ideas.

BlueDuck is a prop-tech startup which saves property investors time and money by automating expensive manual processes with cloud-based solutions and flat fee services.

Nanobar is a small vending machine, appropriate for any hotel room countertop, to help online brands have a physical store through spot purchasing in-room.

Internspoon is an internship platform that matches interns to employers.

Singaporean startups join Scaler8 for long-term opportunities in Germany post-COVID-19

Six deeptech startups operating in the medtech and AI have joined Scaler8, an expansion programme that helps Singaporean companies expand to Germany, with the goal to produce and scale solutions to fight against the virus.

They are:

TeleMedC: A remote diagnostics medtech startup for eye diseases.

Biorithm: A wearable device that enables continuous and automated monitoring of fetal and maternal heart rates.

Also Read:  Roundup: Samsung-backed HR-tech startup Swingvy launches in Taiwan; Filipino ride-hailing firm Angkas pivots to deliveries

Cognicept: Focuses on efficient robot communication via human-in-the-loop (HITL) error handling with tele-robotic networking technology and human remote operators.

dDriven: Creates live, cross-functional digital replica of business and manufacturing operations using its no-code platform

Attonics Systems: Bridges gaps between high-end spectroscopy and industry demands for intuitive, mobile and affordable sensing solutions

RADICALi: Provides an intuitive and user-friendly system for compliance teams to collaborate remotely and manage workflows

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Image Credit: Mike Enerio

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Singaporean deeptech company Dathena has told e27 that it has closed a US$12-million Series A financing round, led by early-stage VC firm Jungle Ventures.

Other investors in the round include Caphorn and SEEDS Capital, an investment arm of Enterprise Singapore.

Dathena will use the capital for R&D and hire staff across sales, marketing, and customer success functions in New York City.

It also plans to expand its co-sell partnership with Microsoft into the US, helping Azure Cloud and Microsoft 365 customers to automate data protection and comply with data privacy regulations.

“Our mission is to build trust in the digital world even as companies navigate these challenging times and are inundated by torrents of data from exponentially multiplying sources,” said Christopher Muffat, Founder and CEO of Dathena.

“This Series A funding round will help us accelerate our product development and go-to-market efforts, giving more companies the chance to benefit from our flexible, cost-efficient, and uncompromising data security solutions,” he noted.

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The data distress

Numerous companies today are facing security challenges, especially during the pandemic, as cybercriminals have been reportedly ramping up attacks on businesses. This indicates that there is a strong need for enterprises to protect sensitive data and information.  

While several companies move their services to the cloud, new security methods are required to mitigate the risk to protect against corporate and reputational damages.

Citing the findings of IT security firm Check Point, Channel Asia recently reported that advanced persistent threat (APT) specialists are persistently targeting countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Brunei.

To address this issue, Dathena promises to deliver efficient, cost-effective data security, privacy, and compliance for clients operating in highly regulated spaces, using its patented artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

Also Read: Singaporean deep tech company Dathena eyes North America growth with new HQ launch

Founded by risk management expert Muffat, Dathena uses Machine Learning and AI tools to help companies prevent data loss, govern data, and meet employees’ demands for cloud-based tools.

The company claims that it has delivered up to 99 per cent accuracy in data classification, coupled with an 80 per cent reduction in information security operational costs, for clients in fields such as financial services, healthcare, and Defence.

At present, it has more than 200,000 users across a range of industries and has established its presence in Singapore, Thailand, France, Switzerland and the US.

Previously, Dathena raised an undisclosed funding round in March 2019, led by MS&AD Ventures, with participation from existing investors CerraCap Ventures and Demetis.

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Image Credit: Dathena

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