Sunday, a full-stack insurtech startup based in Thailand, has raised US$9 million in pre-Series B bridge round of funding led by SCB 10X, the venture capital arm of the Siam Commercial Bank.

New and existing investors, including Vertex Ventures (Southeast Asia and India), Quona Capital, and LINE Ventures, also participated.

Also Read: How insurtech is changing the game in Southeast Asia

The Bangkok-headquartered firm aims to deploy the new capital to support its rapid growth plans in Thailand and Indonesia, while deepening its proprietary employee benefits platform and superapp ‘Sunday Service’ for health and motor insurance products and services.

Launched in 2017, Sunday uses Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning and digital platforms to offer personalised insurance products and services “that suit all types of individual and business risks”. It has developed risk prediction algorithms that power its premium pricing and recommendation engines for health and motor coverages.

The insurance venture also offers self-services, such as disease symptom checker on the Sunday Service platform. Claims notification for vehicle damages is also available to make claim journey easier.

According to Sunday, corporates and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are deeply rooted in its business model as it is the number one requested employee benefits globally.

In addition, telemedicine service is available through API integration with its provider-partners. Medication delivery service will also be offered. The app also recommend suitable hospitals for customers.

Also Read: Asian insurtech on the rise: An overview of the main players

Over the past two years, the company raised two rounds of funding — US$11 million Series A extension led by Quona Capital in December 2019 and US$10 million led by Vertex in February 2019.

“In times of great uncertainty, consumer demand will shift towards affordable core insurance products that truly help with risk management. As a team, we believe Sunday is uniquely positioned to deliver one-stop personalised insurance coverages and services that meet these evolving risks and growing demands from businesses and individuals in Southeast Asia,” said Sunday Co-founder and CEO Cindy Kua.

“Southeast Asia has more than 360 million internet users, who are the most engaged mobile internet users in the world. This makes it an attractive market for insurtech companies to offer online personalised products,” said Mukaya (Tai) Panich, Chief Venture and Investment Officer, SCB 10X.

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Image Credit: Sunday

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Despite COVID-19 looming over the world, disrupting businesses and delaying launches, San Francisco-based startup Onerent is set to launch its property management platform in Singapore.

However, this is not the first time the company made an entry to Asia, the startup already has a fully remote team working from the Philippines.

When asked about further expansion plans in Southeast Asia, Onerent Co-Founder and CMO Chuck Hattemer expressed ambitious goals. He said that they are planning to work in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Part of its Asia expansion strategy includes a partnership with investor Far East, who participated in the Series A funding round for OneRent.

“We wanted to work with people on the ground locally, and that’s why we partnered with Far East Organisation. Right off the bat, they have such a great legacy within the Singaporean market and a history of real estate development, sales and leasing. So, the first thing we did was immerse our team with Far East’s team to understand the way property was in Singapore,” co-founder of OneRent, Chuck Hattemer told e27 in an interview.

Also Read: PropertyGuru raises US$220M from TPG, KKR to accelerate growth in Malaysia, Vietnam

Founded in 2014, Onerent is a proptech company which aims to digitise the rental process holistically. Its ACE technology will allow renters to take a virtual tour of the home, over messenger, WhatsApp and apple business chat.

This technology can especially be seen as more attractive during COVID-19 since it promotes a contactless way of buying and selling property.

However, there are still local companies such as PropertyGuru and 99.co which offer similar services and have been in the market for a longer time. PropertyGuru has also recently launched a similar technology which allows a fully virtual guided tour with a salesperson.

What makes Onerent different, according to Hattemer, is that it has also been backed by Google’s chief of AI Jeff Dean. Its other unique aspect is that it offers users the option to get real estate tasks done over just “a chat experience”. Through the chat, users can ask questions about their property, negotiate, and even manage contracts.

” With COVID-19 shifting consumer behaviour, we have had a lot of interest from real estate operators and developers who have been doing things in a paper-pendant-stamp way and want to adopt technology,” Hattemer said.

 

Real-estate during COVID-19

While it is true that COVID-19 is shifting consumer towards a more virtual form of reality, it is also creating a lot of economic uncertainty. When it comes to real-estate, there have been mixed reports.

According to a Bloomberg report, Singapore’s home prices fell the most in three years in the second quarter of 2020, while analysts have also made predictions that the slide may not be over.

On the other hand, while housing properties are falling the resale volume of the island city’s non-landed private homes have hit a two-year high in August, according to the Business Times.

“If we look at the past long-term property trends in Asia, it has always come back after demand shocks. This might be a testament to the fact that Asia is still urbanising and the long-term demand for property and the related proptech sector is still trending upwards,” said Kay Mok Ku, Managing Partner of Gobi Partners, a leading ASEAN-focused VC firm.

Also Read: How proptech startup iMyanmarHouse remains profitable despite COVID-19

But some skeptics argue that it is too early to get a clear view of how this pandemic will unfold in the proptech sector.

In times like this, one of Onerent’s key strategies for growth is giving people virtual tour access and rebates.

“For our primary business, we allow people to do a full virtual tour. They can even book a self-tour through a lockbox on the property and visit the property without anyone being there,” shared Hattemer.

“In the US, when they sign a lease and move in, they have, 90 days to be able to decide if they want to move somewhere else instead. So even though they signed a one year lease, we give them some leeway, if maybe it wasn’t right, wasn’t the right fit. For some of those features, in Singapore, it will be decided with Far East and how they market their properties.”

Onerent is also planning to offer rent rebates, to help with the pressures of paying rent for someone who is leasing a home with the company.

After its success in the US market, with the help of local partnership OneRent has strong ambitions for its Southeast Asian debut.

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Image Credit: One Rent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Southeast Asian tech giant Grab is in advanced talks with insurance honchos Prudential and AIA and several others to raise US$300 million to US$500 million investment, as per a Reuters report.

The Singapore-based company aims to reach investment agreements as early as October, the report added, citing unnamed sources.

Also Read: [Updated] Report: Grab is raising US$200M at a US$14.3B valuation from South Korean private equity firm

The money is being raised for Grab Financial Group.

As per this report, the deal can also support Grab in its sales pitch for the Singapore banking licence.

When contacted by e27, a Grab spokesperson declines to comment on the report, terming it “market speculations”.

The report comes close on the heels of Grab’s US$200 million fundraise from South Korean private equity firm Stic Investments. Early this year, it also managed to raise more than US$850 million in funding from Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and TIS Inc.

As per CB Insights data, Grab is currently valued at US$14.3 billion.

There have also been reports about Grab’s ongoing talks for a potential merger with rival gojek. As per a DealStreetAsia report, the two companies are still deadlocked over management and geographical control.

Also Read: Google, JD.com, Tencent confirm leads in GOJEK Series F fundraising

gojek — which counts Google, Tencent and Temasek among its key investors -recently raised US$1.2 billion from undisclosed group of investors.

Grab recently laid off employees as the pandemic hit the company, mainly its transport business.

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Image credit: Grab

 

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Insurtech company Descartes Underwriting raises US$18.5M

The story: Descartes Underwriting, an insurtech company specialised in climate risk modelling and data-driven risk transfer hailing from France, announced that it has raised US$18.5 million in Series A funding round. The fresh round of capital comes 18 months after raising US$2.5 million in seed funding from BlackFin Capital Partners.

The investors: The investors in the round include global venture capital firms Serena, Cathay Innovation, and BlackFin Capital Partners.

The plans: The new financing will be used to support Descartes’ global expansion to the US and Asia. While headquartered out of Paris, Descartes covers a wide variety of geographies including Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia and plans to open new offices in New York and Singapore. Descartes will also use the funds to grow its product range, target larger deals and deepen its tech capabilities and data science team.

What Descartes Underwriting does: Founded in 2018, the insurtech company scales up parametric insurance, leveraging new technologies and data science to challenge traditional insurance models. Founded by a team of experienced insurers and reinsurers, Descartes works with corporate brokers to design and underwrite innovative, bespoke and affordable insurance solutions.

Manny Pacquiao launches digital payment platform PacPay

The story: Technology startup Pac Technologies Pte Ltd announces the partnership with Remsea Pte Ltd, a fintech remittance firm licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), in an effort to further both companies’ initiatives in the fintech space in Asia and beyond. Co-founded by boxing world champion Senator Manny Pacquiao, aims to launch PacPay this year.

Also Read: 7 lessons entrepreneurs can learn from Manny Pacquiao

What is PacPay: PacPay is a digital payment platform for global influencers, brands, and fans, providing users with seamless, faster, and safer cross-border prepaid solutions to make payments conveniently. Via PacPay’s rewards programme, users can connect with their favourite influencers for brands easily, participate in exclusive private events, and enjoy what it describes as ‘money-cannot-buy’ privileges and experiences.

During a media conference held in Manila last year, Sen. Pacquiao revealed his plan to develop PacPay. Fans of the legendary boxer have since indicated strong interest, many of whom have pre-registered for the highly-anticipated card programme.

Waze closes sales office in APAC

The story: In news shared by SGSME.sg, global navigation app Waze reportedly halts operations in Singapore, following the layoff of about five per cent or 30 people of its global workforce, due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

The affected sales offices are the ones in Asia Pacific -Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia- as well as in its smaller Latin America markets of Colombia, Argentina, and Chile.

The Chief Executive Noam Bardin’s official note said that “Waze users in many cities and countries are driving less or have stopped driving entirely due to the ongoing pandemic”.

The note emphasises that the affected employees will receive a severance package that includes career transition opportunities within Google, outplacement services from the date of the notice through six months after employment, financial help and eligibility for year-end bonuses, and healthcare benefits.

What is Waze: The Waze app is an Israeli startup, Google-owned company, that uses user-generated data to help riders on the road finding other routes to avoid traffic jams or speed cameras.

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Image Credit: Louie Martinez on Unsplash

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Kim An Group, which runs a fintech platform under the same brand in Vietnam, has received an undisclosed sum in Series A investment from Patamar Capital, Viet Capital Ventures and East Ventures.

The proceeds from this round will be used to develop Kin An’s core technology, optimise its credit scoring platform and better connect customers to financial institutions in Vietnam, it said in a statement.

Kim An connects banks and financial companies in Vietnam with local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through an online platform as well as its 80-plus branches nationwide.

Also Read: Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam the most attractive fintech hubs in SEA: Study

According to Shuyin Tang of Patamar, there is widespread interest in providing financial services to MSMEs, the backbone of the nation’s economy. However, very few have cracked the code in terms of how to serve this segment effectively.

“Kim An is one of those rare companies that have done so,” she said. “Having invested in these types of business models for over a decade, at Patamar we have learnt that serving this segment demands a deep understanding of the behavioural patterns and needs of MSMEs and their owners, as well as outstanding operational capabilities to execute successfully day-to-day.”

As a tech-enabled service provider for Vietnamese banks and financial companies, Kim An has proven that it can deliver on both these fronts. “With the investment from this round and through leveraging technology, we believe Kim An is poised to scale rapidly to meet the tremendous demand in the market,” she added.

Additionally, Kim An Group has signed partnerships with Nam A Bank and FE Credit to expand the scope of co-operation and develop consumer loans for individual customers, household business, and micro enterprises.

Binh Duc Hanh, Chief Sale Officer of Kim An Group, said: “After nearly two years of partnership with financial institutions, more than 25,000 loans have been disbursed to customers through Kim An Group. We aim to help accelerate financial inclusion in Vietnam by being extended technological arms of credit institution to bring their best products and services to customers.”

Also Read: Big banks and fintech startups: Rivals or allies?

As per a recent study by MDI ventures, Finch Capital, and Dealroom.co, Vietnam is one of the most attractive fintech hubs in Southeast Asia.

Almost 90 per cent of Vietnamese consumers opt to pay cash on delivery for their online purchases, a much higher proportion than other regional markets. However, digital payments technology is evolving rapidly. Payments through mobile banking services surged 144 per cent per year over the past five years.

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Image Credit: Kim An Group

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