Taiwan-based AppWorks Accelerator has launched its inaugural virtual Startup Showcase. The event features 20 promising early-stage startups from Greater Southeast Asia (Taiwan and SEA).

The companies selected have displayed traction and leverage digital technologies to tackle problems in key markets across the region.

“COVID-19 has not only accelerated the importance of digital transformation, but also transformed the way entrepreneurs engage with the market, investors, and strategic partners,” said Jessica Liu, AppWorks Partner.

“With the GSEA Startup Showcase, we hope to provide an efficient gateway for quality founders to connect with and learn from peers, collaborators, and partners, regardless of location,” she added.

Also Read: Taiwan’s incubator AppWorks reveals 18 startups joining its demo day, to showcase Southeast Asia’s AI, blockchain capabilities

With the addition of startups recruited this year, AppWorks claims there are now a total of 395 active startups and 1,331 founders within its ecosystem, collectively producing a turnover of US$8 billion.

There are over 10 nationalities represented among the 20 pitching teams, of which 30 per cent have at least one female co-founder.

More than half of the founders have started at least one venture before, with some having exited to companies such as Yahoo and Societe Generale Group, while others have prior experiences in leading tech companies such as LinkedIn, Google and Microsoft.

From healthcare and human resources to productivity and education, here’s a snapshot of the participating companies:

Moladin: Empowers automotive sales agents in Indonesia to sell better and faster through its mobile-first marketplace. It recently raised a pre-series A round led by East Ventures.

Docosan: Allows patients in Vietnam to compare healthcare providers across a wide range of specialities, book appointments online 24/7, and manage their own health data. 

Workbean: An online platform that helps employers more effectively convey their culture and branding to prospective hires, with the aim of reducing the mismatch between companies and job seekers.

Mighty Jaxx: A global platform to buy toys and art collectibles. It partners with leading brands such as Warner Bros, Marvel, and Disney to design pop culture collectibles.

Also Read: Online designer toys and collectible platform Mighty Jaxx secures US$1.6M financing

SoopahGenius: Utilises Artificial Intelligence to help live streamers significantly decrease the time and cost of producing content from their raw materials.

Poseidon Network: Distributed global node network that collects and distributes idle resources from P2P devices, allowing everyone to build their own services in the cheapest way all around the globe.

Astra: Uses face recognition to help organisations manage part-time and remote employees more easily and efficiently across multiple locations and regions.

Accredify: Stores, displays and authenticates medical records securely through the use of blockchain technology.

AyoBlajar: An e-learning platform that provides basic learning content, live class, 1-on-1 mentoring, and LMS, focusing on high-school students.

Chip Chip: An online platform connecting Filipino teachers with Vietnamese kids for English conversation and study.

ZumVet: A televet solution for pet owners, providing them with services such as video consults, drug delivery and digital health records at the touch of a button.

Aiello: Conversational Artificial Intelligence SaaS platform for property management, hospitality and service industry.

Cognicept: Provides Human-in-the-loop (HITL) error handling with telerobotic networking technology and human remote operators.

Fatster: A mobile social network whose mission is to help overweight people find their best buddies to lose weight with.

Glints: Full-stack talent platform for professionals to connect, upskill and get matched with employers.

Minastir: Artificial Intelligence-based asset management solutions for fund managers.

Freehunter: Asian-focused freelance marketplace for designers, writers and programmers.

Pitchspot: Integrated workflow management and strategy planning canvas to enable innovative teams to work smarter, and faster.

GoBuddy: An all-in-one tool for online sellers, combining an e-commerce platform with booking and ticketing management.

GrowthSpot: A digital platform catering to sellers with limited knowledge and knowhow.

Check out the team pitches at the online startup showcase portal here.

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Image Credit: AppWorks Accelerator

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New Wave, a subsidiary of Philippines-based IP E-Game Ventures, has signed an agreement with Malaysia’s boutique investment firm Emissary Capital to set up a US$50-million fund for ASEAN startups.

The Emissary Capital Growth Fund 1 aims to build stronger collaboration between startups in the region, with a key focus on the Malaysian and Philippine market.

As per a press release, New Wave will invest up to US$7.5 million in the new fund as a Limited Partner. The two firms will form a joint venture to serve as General Partners to manage the fund’s investment decisions.

“We are looking to strengthen the corridor between Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as with the rest of Southeast Asia. Technology businesses today must have a regional outlook and entrepreneurs must demonstrate the ability to scale this way,” said Enrique Gonzalez, Director, New Wave.

Also Read: 3 startups thriving amidst COVID-19 lockdown in the Philippines

“Our fund is looking to invest in Southeast Asia’s growth companies led by founders that have proved resilience and success,” he added.

With both countries harnessing the digital economy to hasten COVID-19 recovery, the investment firms are keeping a bullish outlook on Malaysia and the Philippines as growth hubs, especially for tech-based startups.

Kuala Lumpur and Manila are seen to be among the top emerging startup ecosystems in the world, ranking 11th and 31st respectively in the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2020 (GSER 2020). 

Also Read: How Malaysia has become a global digital investment destination

In 2019, the Philippines officially enacted the Innovative Startup Law which aims to incentivise MSMEs in the country, while Malaysia has been working towards enabling businesses to innovate through the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).

Despite the disruptions of the pandemic, fintech is a common sub-sector strength identified in the report by both markets, evidenced by the proliferation of e-wallets and digital payments-focused business models. Other strong sub-sectors noted are Malaysia’s e-sports growth and the Philippines’ high e-commerce demand.

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Image Credit: Photo by Eugenio Pastoral on Unsplash

 

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In its latest report on the global fintech ecosystem, Startup Genome named Singapore in the top five list of top global fintech ecosystem while Jakarta shares the 17th position with Atlanta.

Jakarta’s entry to the list was pushed by the number of exits and funding round that the city has experienced. It is also home to leading unicorn startups in the region; these startups are either focussing on the fintech verticals or has a fintech service as one of its offerings.

Last year, in its Global Startup Ecosystem Report, Startup Genome already highlighted Jakarta as a “challenger” for leading startup ecosystem globally.

The report considered factors such as performance, funding, talent, focus, and legacy when shortlisting the fintech ecosystem in the list.

With the rise of these fintech hubs in the APAC region, according to the report, Europe and North America no longer dominate the top 20 global fintech ecosystem.

In addition to Jakarta and Singapore, other Southeast Asian cities such as Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Manila as emerging fintech hub in the Southeast Asian region.

Also Read: From 30 to 400: TNG Fintech Group founder and CEO Alex Kong shares how to grow your human capital

Early stage fintech funding declines

The Startup Genome report also looked at how fintech funding the global ecosystem fared.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic –which has been known to affect startup funding in the various ecosystem– the report noted that there was already a decline in the global fintech funding.

It explained that the year 2018 was considered as the peak for investment in the fintech vertical. In fact, in the last year’s edition of Startup Genome’s Global Startup Ecosystem Report, fintech had already been put into the mature subsector category.

“Early stage funding (pre-seed, seed and Series A) has plateaued almost everywhere. China in particular has seen a drop. The notable exceptions are Europe and Americas (excluding the US), both of which have seen an increase,” the report detailed.

“Series B+ funding is doing better with China being the only region down in 2019, but this is due to a whopper year in 2018, led by a US$14 billion funding round for Ant Financial,” it continued.

It also explained that the increasing share of Series B+ funding rounds for fintech companies indicated “industry consolidation with more money being poured into winners.” It is also considered “ultimately necessary” as fintech commercials require large volume for profitability.

When it comes to popular sectors, the report noted on the rise of digital-only banking –including services such as wealth management and broader service bundles– and artificial intelligence which was dubbed as a “natural complement” to fintech due to its ability to help provide hyper-personalised solutions.

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Image Credit: Blake Wisz on Unsplash

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Kredivo, an Indonesia-based digital credit platform, announced today it has secured a credit line funding of US$100 million from US-based investment company Victory Park Capital (VPC).

This credit line is the largest in Kredivo’s history and within the fintech industry in Southeast Asia, it said in a press note.

The funding also marks VPC’s inaugural investment into the Southeast Asian market.

Also Read: How fintech is making credit more accessible for Southeast Asian SMEs

The fintech startup will utilise the funds to develop and diversify its loan book, all of which comes from third-party funds.

Kredivo’s Co-founder, Umang Rustagi, said: “The large line of credit funding available through this facility will accelerate business scalability and realise our target of serving up to 10 million new users in the next few years.”

Gordon Watson, Partner at VPC, said: “Kredivo is able to demonstrate a unique combination of growth, market reach, risk management and financial inclusion in Indonesia, which is one of the most developed markets in the world.”

Operated by Singapore-based FinAccel, Kredivo provides instant credit financing to customers for purchases on e-commerce, offline and cash loans, processed based on real-time decisions. Users can buy now and pay later with low-interest rates.

The firm’s trading partners benefit from instant point-of-sale (PoS) funding with a 2-click checkout via Kredivo.

Its parent FinAccel is backed by Mirae Asset, Naver, Square Peg Capital, MDI Ventures, Jungle Ventures, as well as several other investors.

Also Read: P2P lending startup Modalku raises debt funding from Dutch VC firm to widen credit access in Indonesia

Given that credit card penetration remains at 3 per cent in Indonesia due to limitations of conventional financial institutions in distributing unsecured credit, Kredivo claims its services are able to bridge the credit gap within the archipelago.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Chicago, VPC invests in large companies as well as emerging business segments in various industries in the US and the world, which often lack access to traditional sources of capital.

A week ago, Investree, an Indonesia-based fintech lending platform, received a commitment of US$15 million from US-based Accial Capital to provide loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia. The two firms have been working closely with each other since 2017 and have been funding a sub-segment of Investree’s SME loan portfolio.  

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Image Credit: Photo by Ibrahim Rifath on Unsplash

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The local winners of the Seedstars World Competition (SSW) 2020 have been announced with 15 startups from Asia included in the batch.

The next phase will take the local winners to the regional stage where 10 startups will receive US$50,000 in the growth program investment as well as the chance to compete at the Grand Finale for a shot at the “Global Winner prize of US$500,000 in equity investment”.

The regional stage will include a one-month long programme to help startups get investment-ready. It will include action-driven webinars on key business metrics; online office hours, where startups can discuss challenges they are facing; domain groups and one-on-one mentoring sessions; investor meetings for potential funding opportunities; and peer-to-peer learning and networking sessions.

“Sourcing for early-stage tech startups used to be linked to the ability to find one hidden gem out of hundreds of applications. Times have drastically changed, especially in Asia. With the development of technology, a surge in internet adoption, and a fast-growing market, new entrepreneurs are capturing these opportunities by using technologies to solve our daily problems. I wish the best of luck to all the winners for the next stage of the SSW 2020/21 Competition, and I hope we will see an Asia-based startup becoming the Global Winner this year,” said Seedstars Asia Regional Manager Giovanni Corradini.

The Swiss VC fund has a portfolio of 59 startups across the globe. It claims to have more than half of its companies to have successfully gone on to raise follow-on capital from later stage investors such as Omidyar, Sequoia and YCombinator.

Also Read: Meet the 3 startups from emerging markets that will pitch at Seedstars International Demo Day

Here are the 15 selected startups:

shurjoMukhi Limited (Bangladesh)

An online payment gateway for online banking, bill payment and shopping. 

One Click Shop Bhutan (Bhutan)

An e-commerce grocery store.

PlasGate (Cambodia)

An SMS gateway and aggregator.

BOXS (Hong Kong)

BOXS Universal Interface connects all technology to optimise and automate company workflow.

iSchoolConnect (India)

Improves school admissions by utilising marketing, recruitment, assessment and engagement.

TukangSayur (Indonesia)

Allows users to shop for economical, fresh and hygienic vegetables through a smartphone.

Finology (Malaysia)

Fintech company primarily serving clients in banking, insurance and property industries.

Message Owl (Maldives)

A B2B and B2C SMS platform which allows businesses to send SMS Messages (Promotional and Transaction).

Also Read: E-payment solution Duithape wins Seedstars Jakarta

Kiu Myanmar (Myanmar)

Empowers MSME/SMEs to improve their business efficiencies by channelling loans to grow their business.

Diyalo Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Nepal)

Software company that develops level applications for web and mobile devices.

ELN Limited (Pakistan)

Provides online vocational training to over 25 countries in education, quality assurance, health and safety.

Smartfuture (Singapore)

Offers integrated IoT and AI-enabled white-label platform for telemedicine to healthcare providers.

Healthnet (Sri Lanka) 

An online registered and licensed pharmacy that delivers medications at the doorstep.

Foodie (Thailand)

An online food delivery platform that also includes breakfast and tiffin services.

Also Read: Sayurbox wins Seedstars Jakarta, will represent Indonesia in world final stage in Switzerland

Bot Ban Hang (Vietnam)

A leading messaging and omnichannel commerce for online businesses.

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Image: Seedstars

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