As a venture capital (VC) firm, Rocketship VC was founded by a team with a strong history of entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley.

Prior to founding the firm, Partners Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan had co-founded Junglee and Kosmix –both companies were acquired by Amazon and Walmart, respectively. The two of them were also credited as the co-inventor of the concept that underlies the Amazon Mechanical Turk, which played a key role in the development of Machine Learning and Deep Learning.

This background story alone might be enough to get people to turn their heads towards the company. But Rocketship also has a unique approach to investment that sets it apart from its peers.

Six years since it was founded, Rocketship has invested in 44 companies across India, Southeast Asia (SEA), Latin America, Europe and North America. In August, it announced the closing of its second global fund at US$11 million from the likes of Vulcan Capital, Adams Street Partners and family office of Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon. Following an earlier US$40 million fund, this fund was intended for early stage startups in India and Southeast Asia.

To understand more about the company and its plan for Southeast Asia, e27 speaks to Rocketship VC Partner Madhu Shalini Iyer in this interview.

Data, data, data

Iyer begins by explaining how Rocketship uses data science models to figure out the companies that they want to invest in.

“We are a global investor ‘by chance’. We just started to invest based on what we are seeing with our data,” she says.

Also Read: Indian O2O startup Fynd brings latest in-store fashion online; raises US$500K from Rocketship

She continued by explaining how Rocketship’s team works with its database of startups which it claims to be the biggest in the world. “We curated and created an algorithm on top of it,  and we see companies that we find interesting. We started in 2014 when we begin to see activities outside of the Valley. So we talked to these founders and began to invest globally over Zoom calls –before the pandemic happens.”

She gives an example of how the firm discovered and invested in Khatabook, an India-based startup that helps small businesses digitise their financial transactions. With the use of their data, Rocketship was able to identify the potential of the startup even before the VC firms on the ground was able to.

“Spotting a company before it becomes [popular], before everybody else recognises it, is hard. It is something that we see our data giving an advantage over and over again,” Iyer stresses.

Iyer also explains how she had had other VC firms coming up to her and asking how Rocketship is doing their investment in a time of pandemic like this, where it is almost impossible to travel and visit founders at their offices. Again, their heavy emphasis on the use of data saves the day: It enables them to weigh in the potential of a startup without having to conduct extensive travels.

Prior to joining Rocketship, Iyer was the Chief Data Officer at Indonesia-based unicorn gojek. In addition to that, she also sat at the company’s board and had expanded the company’s presence to Singapore.

This was not Iyer’s only foray into the world of data. She was part of the founding team of Intuit’s Quickbooks Lending Platform where she helped grow the platform to US$300 million and holds three patents in the areas of user data augmented algorithms for financial inclusion.

Southeast Asia, the next frontier

With a focus on early stage companies, Rocketship is aiming for the Indian and Southeast Asian startup ecosystem with its new fund. When asked about any specific countries that the firm is aiming for, Iyer says that it has no preference over a particular country and will go where the data lead.

“What we look for in potential companies is a strong model, a good thesis about what they are building. Just being very product-focussed … a direction that is interesting for us as it shows up on our screen,” she elaborates.

Also Read: Why SOSV’s William Bao Bean thinks the pandemic is good for early stage startups

As a VC that is based in Silicon Valley, there are advantages that Rocketship can offer to its portfolio companies.

“One of the advantages that we have is, obviously, the connection to all major VC funds here,” Iyer points out. “The other thing is our data. There are not too many VCs that have a data science background in the capacity that we do, and we can really help founders with that.”

“The fact that we have all built and grown our own businesses is also a huge added value,” she continues.

During the pandemic, many investors have shifted their attention towards verticals that are gaining popularity at the moment, due to its ability to facilitate digital transformation in every aspect of life. As the data suggested, Rocketship is looking at opportunities in both B2B and B2C fronts.

“We are also looking at cloud-based collaboration … and it was kind of spiking, coming up on our screen more than other things. So we have been particularly interested in that,” Iyer says.

Closing the discussion with e27, Iyer says that she is “very excited” by the quality of the founders that she has seen in SEA.

“We are very excited to lean in and talk to people and figure out if you can make investments there. So, we are very actively looking at the region and hopefully, you will be seeing much more of us there,” Iyer says.

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Image Credit: Rocketship VC

 

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Singapore-based logistics tech startup Tramés today announced that it has raised an undisclosed seed funding round led by Kamet Capital Partners.

In a press statement, the company said that the funding will be used to build the team and further develop its product to better serve the SME market.

Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Singapore, Tramés is an end-to-end supply chain orchestration technology company, which aims to create a streamlined and unified workflow for shippers and their logistics partners.

It aims to help clients by convening stakeholders and other partners onto a collaborative, digital platform, thus reducing physical paperwork and the number of manual touchpoints in any supply chain.

Its platform included features such as a blockchain-enabled document repository to facilitate collaborative drafting and confirmation of shipping documentation.

“In one industry report, it is said that one cross-border shipment goes to about 20 different individual stakeholders across multiple organisations and have 200 different touchpoints and updates being made to this particular shipment. This is a very highly manual process,” Tramés CEO Kevin Lim explained to e27 in an interview.

Also Read: In brief: Singapore’s blockchain accelerator Tribe goes virtual for batch 3

“This results in high shipping administrative costs, usually accounting up to about 20 per cent of total freight costs,” he continues.

When asked about what differentiates Tramés from other startups that are offering similar services, Lim said that the answer lies in the company’s enterprise-centric approach. This means that it is able to cater to the needs of enterprises who tend to have a more complex supply chain.

“We are able to create this end-to-end visibility across inbound and outbound processes,” Lim said.

The company started out after the team learned about the challenges that MNCs face in their supply chain and the opportunities that have not been tapped before. It started out by working with a coal-mining company.

Since its inception, Tramés has successfully established a partnership with a Fortune 500 global multinational corporation (MNC) in the energy management and automation sector, to orchestrate their international supply chains.

Logistics tech is one of the verticals that, according to many experts, experiences a surge of demand during the COVID-19 pandemic as companies are looking for ways to digitalise their operations.

“The good news is that there is no one specific type of technology or one specific type of business model that will be successful,” said Marc Dragon, Managing Director of Reefknot Investments, in a recent interview with e27 when being asked about the opportunities available for logistics tech startups.

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Image Credit: Tramés

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The COVID-19 emergency has forced individuals to rethink their approach to financial securities. The uncertainties caused has driven people to plan for their financial needs differently and more efficiently than they have done in the past.

According to a report released by Standard & Poor’s and the World Bank, only a quarter of Southeast Asians are financially literate –a situation that carries “significant costs.”

“Consumers who fail to understand the concept of interest compounding spend more on transaction fees, run up bigger debts and incur higher interest rates on loans. They also end up borrowing more and saving less money,” it explains.

Cheryl Wang, a former financial advisor, was moved by these reasons. Apart from that, one of the best advice that she had ever received was to increase one’s income and invest in career during the twenties and early thirties. However, she noticed that few people were taking the right steps towards it.

In July, Wang then decided to build PlannerBee to solve a challenge that Wang was herself facing as a financial advisor.

“I was dreaming up this app for years, from thousands of conversations I’ve had in the past ten years as a financial advisor. Handling a roster of more than 6,000 clients has allowed me to meet a huge variety of people, and examine so many different types of needs,” she explains.

“When I start out planning with a client, I always do a pretty lengthy and in-depth assessment of their finances. I kind of wished an app as Planner Bee existed, and one day I decided I’ll try to launch something like this myself,” she continues.

PlannerBee allows individuals to track their expenses and figure out if their investments and savings are in line with their goals with their smart goal-tracking capabilities. The app has been created keeping simplicity and ease of use in mind.

Also Read: Fintech company Achiko wants to help tackle COVID-19 with its new healthtech projects

Users can simply download the app on the iOS platform and sync their bank accounts and insurers, after which the platform securely encrypts the data on the cloud and Amazon data centres. Each user is then able to customise his budget plans according to their needs.

“What sets us apart from other close competitors is that we are focused on covering multiple countries, multiple banks, insurers and investment providers,” Wang tells e27.

Partnership with SaltEdge

Most recently, PlannerBee partnered with Canadian fintech company SaltEdge to sync the data of users seamlessly with numerous banks.

Some of the banks PlannerBee has been able to connect with via SaltEdge include HSBC, DBS, Standard Chartered, Maybank, and OCBC Bank. The app has also been recognised by the Singapore Fintech Association.

“The ability to sync seamlessly with multiple banks, and safely pull all of that information into one place lies at the heart of effective financial planning. In my ten years of managing close to a thousand clients, taking the first step to assess all your cash and assets remains the biggest obstacle for most people in properly managing their finances,” she adds.

Planner Bee relies on Salt Edge’s platform which claims to be both “secure and compliant with the top banks’ requirements in over 70 countries.”

As of now, the app has 2,000 downloads after just three months since its launch. For the future, PlannerBee plans to keep on growing its team with the target to secure one million users across Asia in the next seven years.

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Image Credit: Cherie Wang

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The startup has over 20K GoGetters and claims to have helped over 5K businesses, including MNCs and SMEs

GoGet, an on-demand workforce and jobs platform in Malaysia, announced today it has closed a Series A round of US$2 million, led by Monk’s Hill Ventures.

The money will be used to scale GoGet’s services in the home market through product development, building and expanding its product and technology teams.

The startup will also expand its sales and digital marketing teams to grow user acquisition.

Also Read: GoGet, a platform for verified part-timers in Malaysia, wins UNCDF’s Finlab B40 Challenge

The GoGet platform connects MNCs, SMEs and business owners to verified flexible workers, called GoGetters. Companies can hire GoGetters through the app for part-time support at any time to help with logistics, including next-hour delivery, sales and marketing support, operations and admin support.

“The traditional labour market is inefficient during these challenging times. Businesses, especially SMEs, need to find innovative ways to cut costs while being profitable. Our robust technology provides these businesses a cost-efficient solution beyond what a traditional job matching service can provide. This includes quality control, compliance to standards, good user experience, and workflow integration,” commented CEO and Co-founder Francesca Chia.

“Our vision is to build a sustainable future of work by empowering both businesses and gig economy workers in ASEAN. We also believe that by addressing the gaps in protection for flexible workers, it is making flexible work sustainable for our future,” Chia added.

Today, the platform has over 20,000 GoGetters and claims to have created US$5 million in value of jobs and helped over 5,000 businesses from small to large to scale up operationally without incurring full time costs.

Its customers include Lazada Malaysia, IKEA Malaysia, and foodpanda, which are using GoGetters for regular tasks, including delivery, packing, and event support.

GoGet has also introduced gamification to upskill from basic skills to promoter skills and increase utilisation of their GoGetters. GoGetters also get access to financial products such as savings and insurance.

Also Read: Be a rainmaker: The only advice Monk’s Hill Ventures’ managing partner wants to give us

The venture also plans to open its platform for companies to utilise their technology to manage and digitise manual processes in their workforce. The company also has ambitions to expand across ASEAN.

“The nature of work is being redefined as companies and workers seek both flexibility and fit. This trend has been accelerated by the pandemic, as businesses are transforming in response and require more elastic workforce. GoGet provides a community of motivated and well-trained workers, but more importantly, its platform extends the corporate people management systems to ensure quality, compliance and seamless workflow,” said Kuo-Yi Lim, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Monk’s Hill Ventures.

In July 2019, GoGet won the UNCDF B40 Challenge at MyFinTechWeek 2019 in Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysian government has recently announced its support for the gig economy in a bid to cushion the economic impact of COVID-19, which led to massive number of job losses across the country.

Finance Minister Tengku Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz recently said the government would continue to support businesses, including SMEs and mid-tier companies, in key sectors that are still reeling from the impact of the pandemic.

In addition, the government will also play its role in upgrading the gig economy as it is fast becoming an integral part of the nation’s growth and transform the traditional sectors as well as streamline supply and demand in the job market.

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Image Credit: GoGet

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September was a packed month for the Product Team at e27.

Revamped Notifications System

We updated our Notifications System so that you can better follow activities and updates on e27. It’s a cleaner interface, we have worked on some of the previous kinds and we also managed to retain the old notifications. We want to continue to push activities directly to you so that you can be kept up to date in what’s happening in the e27 ecosystem.

Revamped Contributor Programme

We updated our contributor program (what I’m using now to write this up) to make it easier for you to create content on e27. It’s cleaner, faster and uses the latest TinyMCE widget. It also better syncs with our existing tags and categories in WordPress, so that you know for sure that you’re using the right tags and categories.

We also allow file/image uploads now, something we shared in our release notes in August, so that you can upload the pictures, infographics, etc. you need to make your content stand out. Try it out here.

Quarterly plan for e27 Pro

Due to popular demand, we launched a Quarterly plan for our e27 Pro membership program. Previously we only had yearly and two yearly plans. If you’re looking to claim one of the Perks we have, or you want a few months to try our Pro offering the Quarterly plan is a good way to test it out. You can check it out all our Pro offerings at our freshly revamped Pro Memberships page.

Help.e27.co: Our one-stop site to sort your e27 issues

As e27 gets bigger and more robust, we need a better way to support our users. We’ve launched a help site at help.e27.co to answer the top FAQs from our users.

You can access this from the top nav bar as well. We are here to support you and answer your queries with respect to profile related questions, pro membership questions, Perks, ecosystem roundup etc.

Pro labels

We have launched Gold PRO labels on different parts of the site so that you can better differentiate between what’s available for non Pro users and and Pro users. As the Pro member offerring is enriching with more and more features, we want to better distinguish what is available to Pro users and how upgrading to Pro can really help you.

Privacy policy updates

We recently updated our Privacy Policy. Check out our latest updated Privacy Policy here.

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A B2B fintech startup, it helps financial institutions provide individuals with access to financial education and information, besides capital

ThitsaWorks, a fintech startup in Myanmar, has received an undisclosed minority investment from early-stage VC firm BOD Tech Ventures.

The Yangon-headquartered startup will use the funds to further scale its operations and achieve its larger goal of furthering financial inclusion in the country.

Also Read: Border-crossing and financial inclusion: The story of fintech in ASEAN

Founded in 2016 by Nyi Nyein Aye (CEO) and Thynn T. Win (CTO), ThitsaWorks provides tech solutions for large and small financial institutions to collect, manage and analyse data needed to run effective operations and to manage risks.

ThitsaWorks provides individuals with access to financial education, financial information and capital. It helps financial institutions digitise their operations, access consumer insights and credit analytics of unbanked population.

The company manages a financial inclusion chatbot, Pite Pite, to provides digital financial literacy and lead generation services for financial institutions.

The fintech venture claims its solutions are being used in 70 financial institutions, including banks, non-bank financial institutions and micro-finance institutions in Myanmar and its services currently benefit over 2.5 million borrowers.

With this new investment, ThitsaWorks will continue its work with financial institutions to provide access to credit for the remaining millions of families in Myanmar that are still in need of micro-finance solutions.

Also Read: How fintech is disrupting the Southeast Asian payments market

John Kaaiohelo, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of BOD Tech Ventures, said: “We believe that ThitsaWorks will accelerate the digital transformation of Myanmar’s financial sector, and are convinced that our investment will further Financial Inclusion in Myanmar’s local communities.”

“We believe that digital transformation will help MFIs operate efficiently and effectively, particularly under the current environment brought on by COVID-19,” added Aye, CEO of ThitsaWorks.

Founded in 2016, BOD Tech Ventures is an investor and operator of early-stage tech-enabled companies in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Cambodia. So far BOD Tech has invested in Hercules (logistics), Flymya (online travel agency), Get (B2B wallet), YangonD2D (food delivery), and mmbusticket (bus ticketing), among others.

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Image Credit: ThitsaWorks

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Saying that 2020 has been a challenging year would be an understatement. This year, businesses were faced with some of the most unprecedented obstacles amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that put many sectors on a standstill. Many startups across Asia and beyond underwent shutdowns and layoffs in their struggle to stay afloat.

As we are navigating towards the “next normal” after the pandemic, businesses and entrepreneurs need to explore ways to survive, sustain, and scale-up for a stronger economy. This is where digitalisation and innovation figures in helping build a resilient and successful future, as suggested by a TENCENT study.

Recently, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) launched their annual flagship event Elevator Pitch Competition (EPiC 2020), inviting applications from innovative entrepreneurs worldwide. Given the international travel restrictions and lockdowns, HKSTP will stage the event virtually for the first time, reaching out to more global startups, investors and corporate partners to unlock the opportunities behind.

“EPiC is one of the most important events pushing forward the development of innovation and technology (I&T) in Hong Kong that we should continue to drive. A virtual event that brings together startups and investors from across the region is opportune. The event would not only give startups a chance to brush up their presentation skills but it will also allow them to verify their ideas by talking to the investors. Being agile to disrupt and pivot is of the essence for startups to tide over these difficult times,” said Albert Wong, CEO of HKSTP.

The pitching competition, which offers a total of US$200,000 in cash prizes, is scheduled to take place on 6th November, followed by the Global Matching programme from 9th to 12th November and the “Investment x Corporate Innovation Conference” on 13th November.

A legacy of success

Marking its fifth anniversary, EPiC has been supporting and motivating innovators to shape their unique entrepreneurship journey for the past years. Last year alone, the competition attracted a record number of over 650 entries from 48 countries and cities. Singapore-based startup Osome, an online platform that provides outsourced company incorporation, company secretary, accounting and immigration services, was last year’s Fintech award winner. This recognition coincided with their launch in Hong Kong.

“With EPiC, we received an opportunity to pitch our idea to the local tech and venture capital community alongside other promising startups. The cash prize we received has been a nice reward but the most significant benefit is the opportunity to network and build up our brand at an early stage of our presence in the city. Multiple partners we have started working with mentioned that they remembered us from the event. I would definitely recommend participating in EPiC to any startups that are about to expand to Hong Kong,” Vladislav Sharuda, co-founder of Osome, shared.

Also read: September update: New Notifications, New Contributor Programme, Quarterly Pro Plans and more

EPiC 2020 will help startups gain access to go-to-market support, exposure to funding opportunities and a chance to build a network with global stakeholders and industry leaders. The participating startups will pitch their innovative business ideas virtually via a 1-minute video to a judging panel who will select the top 10 finalists to be announced during the final pitching competition. The top 10 will battle to be named EPiC champion of 2020 with a 5-minute presentation plus an interactive Q&A session.

“The startups have to be very precise in articulating their value. I would recommend that they start by quickly stating the problem statement and telling the investors how they’re going to solve that problem,” said Gordon Yen, one of the judges of EPiC 2020 and the founding management partner of Radiant Tech Ventures.

Helping startups scale globally through collaborative innovation and partnerships

The new normal is spurring I&T within organisations and their future success will increasingly hinge on companies being open to novel ideas and a collaborative business approach. At the core of HKSTP is the goal of fostering I&T and helping innovators scale their businesses across the region and beyond. In line with this vision, they are creating a collaborative ecosystem with different stakeholders.

The Global Matching programme seeks to connect entrepreneurs with key industry stakeholders, including investors and corporate leaders, enabling them to explore business and investment opportunities and quickly get their innovative solutions to the markets in the Greater Bay Area and Asia.

Also read: How PlannerBee aims to put a financial advisor in everyone’s pocket

“All investors obviously look for winners—companies that can actually identify a problem in a potential market, and provide an efficient solution to address that problem. Obviously, investors generally measure that in terms of ROI but at EPiC, we start with a focus on identifying whether a startup is providing real value for the target customers or not. When we see real value in a large enough market, then we go on to analyzing the pricing and returns,” said Yen.

EPiC 2020 will conclude with the “Investment x Corporate Innovation Conference”, which will bring together I&T leaders and global pioneers with a focus on conversations about regional investment opportunities and ways to drive corporate innovation and growth.

Hong Kong to continue its efforts in driving I&T development

In Asia, Hong Kong has been a major investment hub and reports suggest that the city will continue to remain a financial centre attracting capital from across the region and the world. The Hong Kong government recognises this potential and has been pushing for growth through digitalisation and innovation for recent years.

“The world is disrupted by technology and we have to ride on this momentum. I&T is important for the future of Hong Kong to create economic diversity and more job opportunities. The challenge for us is to help turn the scientists into innovators, and into entrepreneurs,” said Wong.

Also read: Ecosystem Roundup: Startup funding in SEA continues decline in Q3; Digital banking heats up in Vietnam

With the objective of bringing the world forward amidst the pandemic by leveraging the technology-based disruptions and innovations, the time is ripe for innovative entrepreneurs to give their businesses a head start as they prepare to embark on the road to the future of the “next normal”. The business climate is expected to be even more cutthroat, and EPiC 2020 will serve as a platform for startups to look for new business opportunities.

Applications are open till 19th October 2020 23:59 hrs Hong Kong time. Interested startups and entrepreneurs can visit the official site for more details.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation

We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us at e27.co/advertise to get started.

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Investors include oil and retail major OR, Krungsri Finnovate, and Durbell

Flash Express, a Thailand-based full service e-commerce logistics startup backed by Alibaba, announced today it has closed its Series D funding round of US$200 million, led by PTT Oil and Retail Business Public Company Limited (OR).

Krungsri Finnovate, Durbell (one of Thailand’s leading consumer goods distributors and a TCP Group company), as well as existing investors, also joined the round.

The proceeds from this round will be used to further invest in Flash Express’s technology and operations in the home market and also to expand into a Southeast Asian country, a spokesperson for the company said to e27, without elaborating further. 

Also Read: 5 reasons to be bullish on logistics tech in Asia

“…we are also prepared to create and develop new technologies to achieve even greater delivery and logistics efficiency. More importantly, we intend to assist SMEs in lowering their investment costs which we believe will provide long-term benefit for the overall Thai economy in the digital era,” Flash Express CEO Komsan Lee said. 

To this date, the two-year-old startup has raised roughly US$400 million in total from leading VC funds and corporations in Asia.

Founded in 2018, Flash Express entered the Thailand market as a free door-to-door pickup and delivery service 365 days a year. Recognising the pain points that customers face, the startup emphasises to use fully in-house developed technology and Big Data to standardise and digitise the delivery process. 

The startup claims it is now the second largest private express delivery provider, with over 5,000 service branches covering all 77 provinces of Thailand and delivering more than one million parcels per day. 

Best Express is the other leading player in this segment. Both Flash Express and Best Express are backed by Alibaba Group. 

Kerry Express is the other leader in the e-commerce delivery sector that filed for an IPO in late August.

Rajsuda Rangsiyakull, Senior Executive Vice President for Corporate Strategy, Innovation and Sustainability at OR, believes that this alliance will help strengthen their business expansion and investments in new S-Curve businesses.

Moreover, not only will it enhance the joint business potential in driving forward the shipping and energy industries, it will also enable the company to expand into other businesses that can meet future customer demands and suit future consumer behaviour.

Also Read: 5 growth stage startups that are leaders in Thailand’s ecosystem

TCP Group CEO Saravoot Yoovidhya stated: “This investment in Flash Express will allow Durbell to become stronger and boost its product distribution potential to cater to the future demands of the ever-growing logistics market.”

“I am confident that our two businesses will mutually complete one another’s potential and thus render us a logistics powerhouse as well as help us achieve our collective goal of helping Thailand transform into a true digital economy,” Yoovidhya added.

Krungsri Finnovate Managing Director Sam Tanskul commented: “This business alliance is a great opportunity for both organisations to create and develop new industry models. The partnership will focus on the strategic front and also support and development of strategic financial platforms for the Flash ecosystem. Moreover, thanks to enhanced ability to adapt to the world’s varying situations, the Thai people will be able to seamlessly go about their daily lives in this new world.”

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Image Credit: Flash Express

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iSeed SEA has already invested in two companies and it plans to make 20-30 deals in total, with an average cheque size of US$100K

AngelList’s India CEO Utsav Somani and its former top executive Wing Vasiksiri have joined hands together to launch a new micro-fund, targeting tech startups in Southeast Asia.

Christened iSeed SEA, the fund is an extension of iSeed India and counts a clutch of renowned investors and entrepreneurs among its backers, including Naval Ravikant (Founder & Chairman of AngelList), Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal (Co-founders of Snapdeal), and Jonathan Swanson (Founder & Chairman of Thumbtack).

Also Read: East Ventures forms new US$88M seed fund for startups weathering COVID-19, announces first close

“We have already hit the first close and are actively investing,” Managing Partner Vasiksiri told e27, without divulging more details. “We are sector-agnostic and primarily focusing on Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand.”

So far, iSeed SEA has invested in two companies and committed to making four more investments. In total, the micro-fund plans to make 20-30 deals, with an average cheque size of US$100,000 per deal.

Knowledge Council

iSeed SEA has created a Knowledge Council of world-class operators to help its portfolio founders, said Vasiksiri. The council has Sriram Krishnan (ex-Product at Twitter), Prasanna Sankar (Co-founder of Rippling), Sahil Lavingia (Founder of Gumroad), and Anne Dwane (Founder of Village Global), amongst others. “They’ve committed to working with our portfolio founders to bring best practices from the US to India and Southeast Asia.”

Southeast Asia is emerging as the fastest-growing tech ecosystem. With a population of over 670 million across 11 countries, 13 unicorns have emerged and many more will be built in the coming years.

In Vasiksiri’s opinion, however, there are still gaps in the seed-stage tech investment industry in Southeast Asia. “Most of the seed funds that have done well in the region have moved on to raise larger funds. I believe that your fund size is your strategy and these larger funds can’t be pure seed funds anymore. They have to shift their attention and strategy to deploy larger amounts of capital in Series A rounds which is why you see this space getting more competitive.”

“You see the same pattern in the US where every four to five years a new crop of seed funds emerge. We see the same thing happening in Southeast Asia now. I believe that more capital in the ecosystem is a net positive for everyone. It allows founders to start new companies and run more experiments, innovation is driven by startups not large corporations,” he noted.

Also Read: Influx of tourist capital accelerated the pace of ups & downs of Indian startups: Utsav Somani of AngelList

iSeed SEA, claims Vasiksiri, is differentiated in a way that it is bridging the tech ecosystems of the US, India, and SEA. “In Southeast Asia, capital doesn’t always come with expertise so we want to change that and bring our network to serve founders. We want to innovate on the VC side of the ecosystem to give founders the same level of service that founders get from funds in Silicon Valley.”

To a question on how seed-stage funds have performed in the the first half of 2020 amid the COVID-19 crisis, he said. “From my perspective, seed-stage funding hasn’t seemed to have slowed down. The funds we work with are still actively investing and deals are closing. I can’t say the same for Series A and beyond rounds though, with a larger cheque, it’s hard to fund a founder you haven’t met in person so that has stalled with insiders leading bridge rounds for their portfolio to extend their runway.”

“We’re also seeing more global attention on SEA, Sequoia India raising new funds to invest in the region, Lightspeed Venture Partners officially launching their SEA practice, and even new special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) targeting the ecosystem. Overall I think it is an exciting time and expect this momentum to continue post-COVID-19,” he concluded.

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Image credit: iSeed SEA

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ASX-listed FDV has signed an agreement to acquire Fincaraíz (Colombia), Avito (Morocco) and Tayara (Tunisia) from Adevinta

Malaysia-based Frontier Digital Ventures (FDV), which operates property and automotive marketplaces in emerging markets globally, has raised US$67 million via share placement.

The money will be used to fund the acquisition of three companies from Norwegian online classifieds major Adevinta ASA. The ASX-listed FDV has entered into agreements to acquire 100 per cent interests in Adevinta units Fincaraíz (a real-estate marketplace in Colombia), and Avito and Tayara (general classifieds portals in Morocco and Tunisia, respectively).

Following the new acquisitions, FDV’s portfolio will consist of interests in 15 online marketplace businesses active in 20 markets across Latin America, Africa and Developing Asia.

Also Read: ‘Companies shut down not because of crises but only when founders give up’: Joseph Phua of M17

FDV was founded in 2014 by Patrick Grove and Shaun Di Gregorio after they had partnered together to build iProperty Group. Grove was co-founder/chairman and Di Gregorio was Group CEO.

The Kuala Lumpur-headquartered FDV is focused online marketplaces with a particular focus on property and automotive verticals and general marketplace websites.

Since its IPO in August 2016, FDV saw its valuation increase from ~US$36 million to over ~US$360 million, an increase of ~10x.

“We learnt how to build iProperty in Malaysia and how big a property marketplace could be if you did certain things correctly. We also realised that great entrepreneurs in emerging markets neither had access to capital and mentorship nor the case studies we had. After leaving iProperty, we designed FDV to provide both financing and mentorship to these great local entrepreneurs,” said Co-founder Grove.

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Di Gregorio (CEO) aims to leverage the experience building iProperty into the leading property platform in Southeast Asia and replicate it in emerging markets around the world.

“It has been great to build a global business from Malaysia, with primarily Malaysian leadership. In many instances, we were one of the first internet investors in some of these markets, such as Pakistan and Myanmar. These latest acquisitions see FDV evolve into becoming a leading operator ofemerging market marketplaces,” said Gregorio.

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Image Credit: FDV

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