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Freshket nets US$3M to bring together farmers and food processors to supply fresh produce in Thailand

                                                          The Freshket team

Freshket, a Bangkok-based agritech startup, has raised US$3 million in Series A funding round led by Singapore-based Openspace Ventures, with participation from Thai PE firm ECG-Research and public-private joint venture Innospace.

Pamitra Wineka and Ivan Sustiawan (co-founders of Indonesian agritech startup Tanihub), existing investors Denis Asia Pacific (French/Singaporean food conglomerate), and Thai family office Seedersclub also participated.

Also Read: Indonesia’s agritech industry is at an inflection point

“This infusion of capital will allow Freshket to upgrade technologies, enhance efficiencies in our supply chain management and improve our customer service platform. Our planned technology investments will enable us to scale rapidly and move further upstream in the supply chain,” said Co-founder and CEO Ponglada Paniangwet.

Founded in 2017 by Paniangwet and Tuangploi Chiwalaksanangkoon, Freshket is an e-commerce marketplace that brings together farmers and food processors to supply fresh produce to B2B and B2C customers in Thailand.

Also Read: How TaniGroup faces challenges, opportunities in Indonesian agritech industry

For the B2B segment, the food service market in Thailand alone is worth over US$7.7 billion in annual purchases spread across more than 200,000 restaurants.

Hian Goh, Founding Partner of Openspace Ventures, said: “Freshket is addressing a massive market opportunity and is positioned at the intersection of Thailand’s agriculture and food & beverage sectors. We will help the company further develop digital technologies to facilitate growth for farmers, food companies, and restaurants alike.”

In February 2017, Freshket raised six-digit US dollars in its first round of venture funding from 500 Tuk Tuks and a corporate VC fund of an agri firm in Thailand.

Freshket is Openspace’s second investment in Thailand this year following its first investment in Finnomena. It has also earlier invested in Tanihub and Singapore grocery platform Redmart.

Image Credit: Freshket

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

PropertyGuru CEO Hari Krishnan

Singapore-headquartered PropertyGuru Group said today it has secured an additional investment of SGD300 million (US$220 million) in recent funding rounds by leading global investment firms global private equity giants TPG and KKR.

The proptech giant will use the funds to further invest in identified strategic areas of growth, including PropertyGuru Finance, its recently-launched mortgage marketplace, and PropertyGuru FastKey, an end-to-end sales enablement solution for property developers.

Hari Krishnan, CEO and Managing Director, PropertyGuru, said: “The additional investments from TPG and KKR will enable us to continue building Southeast Asia’s property trust platform and accelerate our momentum in key markets like Malaysia and Vietnam.”

Also Read: PropertyGuru’s CPO shares the secret sauce of building a highly productive remote team

The realty-tech group had earlier raised US$144 million from KKR in October 2018.

Launched in 2007, PropertyGuru provides solution to resolve home-seekers’ pain-points using data and digital tools. This way, it aims to improve transparency in the property ecosystem for consumers, developers, and agent partners across Southeast Asia.

Over the decade, the group has expanded into multiple markets in the region with a portfolio of property portals, including Batdongsan.com.vn (Vietnam), DDproperty.com (Thailand), and Rumah.com and RumahDijual.com (both Indonesia).

The group claims it provides “the widest option of more than 2.7 million homes” and in-depth insights and solutions for property seekers in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

It said the group recorded 24 per cent revenue growth y-o-y and continues to lead in Southeast Asia with 57 per cent market share.

Olivier Lim, Chairman of the Board, PropertyGuru Group, said: “We have scaled rapidly across Southeast Asia by anticipating and addressing consumer needs with a data-driven strategy, underpinned by a talented team of ‘Gurus.This year, amidst the changing business realities, the demonstrable strength of our platforms has solidified our relative market leadership and provides new opportunities to accelerate both organic and inorganic growth with new investments.”

In October last year, PropertyGuru had decided not to proceed with its proposed initial public offering (IPO) on the Australian Securities Exchange on account of the IPO market sentiments then.

Also Read: Can SEA’s proptech come back to its pre-COVID-19 glory? Experts speak

As behaviours adopted during the pandemic reshape consumer habits and preferences in a new normal, digital transformation is accelerated across sectors.

As per the latest report by Bain & Company and Facebook, nearly 70 per cent of Southeast Asians are expected to be digital consumers by the end of 2020.

Image Credit: PropertyGuru

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Malaysian digital media group REV Asia to acquire iMEDIA for US$9.6M

Patrick Grove, Director and Major Shareholder, iMedia (left) and Voon Tze Khay, CEO and Co-founder, iMedia

Digital media group REV Asia Berhad today announced that it has agreed to acquire iMedia, a Malaysian digital media company focussing on content, technology, and social influencer marketing.

iMedia owns and represents digital properties in the country which the company claims to have a combined reach of over eight million Malaysians monthly.

iMedia is expected to make over US$723,000 in net profit after tax in 2021, which would see a total acquisition price of US$9.6 million, if achieved.

REV Asia noted that the founders of iMedia are taking the entire consideration in shares in REV Asia. As part of REV Asia, access to capital markets and liquidity is expected to allow the company to accelerate its acquisition and growth plans.

Nielsen Malaysia recently reported that digital advertising spent in Malaysia from January to May 2020 exceeded US$104 million, accounting for more than 22 per cent of total advertising spend in the country. This has placed iMedia to capitalise on the opportunity in digital advertising spend in Malaysia and other key Southeast Asian markets.

Also Read: Media Prima Digital set to buy Catcha Group’s REV Asia for US$24M, becomes largest Malaysian digital media company

Voon Tze Khay, CEO, and Co-founder of iMedia said, “There are hundreds of independent digital media and advertising businesses in Malaysia that would be better under one unified roof where they can share technology, data, content, sales teams, and clients. We aim to be that single digital home for Malaysian digital media properties. We are looking to invest in or acquire numerous companies in this exact space in both Malaysia and then across the region.”

iMedia’s social influencer marketing platforms were built in Malaysia, and they have powered influencer campaigns across the top 1,000 influencers in the country.

In 2016, REV Asia its group of companies announced that its 70 per cent-owned subsidiary, namely Rev Digital Sdn Bhd has entered into a Business Assets Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Netnion Technology Sdn Bhd for the proposed acquisition of popular Chinese social news and content websites, Viralcham and Rojaklah.

Shortly after, it followed with the acqusition of three popular Malay content portals called Siraplimau, Myresipi, and Kongsiresep.

In 2017, however, REV Asia was acquired by Media Prima Digital, a subsidiary of the Malaysian media giant Media Prima for US$24.2 million. The deal fully incorporated REV Asia into Media Prima’s digital platform, making the platform the largest Malaysian digital media company.

Image Credit: REV Asia

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Indonesian e-commerce startup Blanja.com ceases operation

blanja_ceo_resigns-1

Aulia E. Marinto and the Blanja team

Blanja.com, an Indonesian e-commerce platform co-owned by US behemoth eBay and state-owned telco firm Telkom, has ceased operation per September 1, its official statement read.

Blanja.com was founded in September 2012 as a C2C marketplace. According to the article released by Tech In Asia, it was known for its gadgets offering that’s bundled with an internet data package from Telkomsel, Telkom’s wireless network unit. In its development, Blanja also offered items such as beauty products as well as food and beverage.

In 2016, both Telkom and eBay reportedly injected US$25 million into Blanja.com.

Blanja.com had had a hard time competing with unicorns such as Tokopedia and Bukalapak, as well as Shopee, in terms of customer acquisitions and retainments.

According to iPrice data, by Q1 2020, Blanja.com fell to 27th place, with just over 400,000 monthly web visits.

Also Read: How aCommerce, Blanja, and Pinjam maintain employee retention

In 2018, Aulia Marinto who was the company’s CEO, resigned from Blanja.com to return to Telkom Group.

So far, the company only left steps on its site for its customers to withdraw their e-commerce balance from Blanja.com’s e-wallet before the end of September.

This is the latest notable shutdown that has happened in the Indonesian e-commerce scene since the start of COVID-19 outbreak in the country. Previously, fashion e-commerce site Sorabel also announced its shutdown in July.

In our special report, Sorabel CEO Jeffrey Yuwono revealed that the company’s cash reserves were already depleted as the pandemic hit, even though it has managed to secure several investment offers. The pandemic had made the situation worsen as foreign investors were unable to travel to Indonesia to follow-up the deals.

In Indonesia, even unicorns such as Traveloka are struggling during the pandemic, despite their ability to continue on closing new funding rounds.

Image Credit: Blanja.com

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PasarPolis secures US$54M in oversubscribed Series B to scale its online insurance biz in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam

The PasarPolis team

PasarPolis, an Indonesia-based online insurance aggregator, announced today it has closed US$54 million in a “heavily oversubscribed” Series B round of financing.

Investors of this round include LeapFrog Investments, SBI Investment, AlphaJWC, Intudo Ventures and Xiaomi, in addition to its existing Series A investors, including Go-Ventures, the VC arm of gojek.

With the funds, the insurtech firm will be able to advance its Artificial Intelligence technology and leverage Big Data to build tailor-made insurance products for the digital ecosystem.

Also Read: PasarPolis confirms Series A funding round by Indonesian unicorns Go-Jek, Tokopedia, Traveloka

The Jakarta-headquartered firm also aims to make deeper penetration into its existing markets, including Vietnam and Thailand where it forayed into in May last year.

“Through this funding, we will continue this mission in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. As we move forward into a more digital world, the presence of insurtech has become an essential aspect of the industry. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased awareness and demand of insurance, but consumers’ online purchasing lifestyle has resulted in insurtech becoming indispensable,” said Founder and CEO Cleosent Randing.

The LeapFrog partnership will accelerate its efforts in making insurance available for emerging consumers, whereas Xiaomi will help it create an easily accessible insurance through mobile-first technology.

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

Founded by Randing and Michael Saputra, PasarPolis aggregates insurance products from over 30 insurance companies in Southeast Asia, and has built a network of over 10,000 agents across Indonesia.

In 2019, PasarPolis said it issued more than 650 million policies to first-time insurance purchasing consumers, ride-hailing drivers, delivery couriers and online SMEs.

In February, PasarPolis announced a partnership with gojek to launch GoSure, a platform that offers insurance products to users.

“With 30 insurance companies, and 25 digital partners, together serving over 4,000,000 new customers in June 2020 alone, the opportunity for PasarPolis to expand its offering and geographic reach is extraordinary. There is huge potential for positive social impact,” said Fernanda Lima, Partner, LeapFrog.

“As part of our investment, LeapFrog will focus on helping PasarPolis improve its consumer insights and product innovation capabilities, and expansion in other markets,” he noted.

In 2018, the firm had confirmed a Series A fundraise from gojek, Tokopedia, and Traveloka.

Since then, the number of monthly policies issued by the firm grew more than 80x and the number of partners grew 4x, it said in a statement.

As per a study, the insurance penetration rate in ASEAN remains low at approximately 3.6 per cent.

Image Credit: PasarPolis

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In Brief: Singapore’s Mobio Interactive, Myanmar’s Zay Chin raise funding; GoBear lays off employees

Mobio Interactive raises US$1.8M seed funding

The story: Singapore-based Mobio Interactive has raised US$1.8 million in seed funding, according to Mobihealthnews.

Investors: Verge HealthTech Fund, Atlas Asset Management, Creative Ventures and SOSV

More about the story: The startup will use the funding to improve its deep tech capabilities and clinical validations for its Am Mindfulness (Am) app.

Also Read:  Meet the first batch of e27 Pro Perks partners

About the company: Mobio Interactive builds software to prevent, measure and treat mental illness. Its Am app enables users to quantify stress through a machine learning tool without using a wearable device.

GoBear cuts off 11 per cent of its workforce

The story: Singaporean fintech startup GoBear has let go of 22 employees, (about 11 per cent of its workforce), according to Vulcan Post.

Out of the 22 employees, about 50 per cent are locals and the rest are permanent residents.

More about the story: This news comes weeks after the company raised US$17 million from Walvis Participaties and Aegon.

The reason: The company has said that the layoffs are due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic and is a way to “future proof” the business.

“We have had to take measures to adapt our business to overcome challenges and future-proof it for what lies ahead, by focusing on our growth engines of digital lending and digital insurance brokerage,” Adrian Chng, CEO of GoBear said.

The company: Founded in 2015, GoBear was initially meant to be a metasearch engine before making a transition into financial services. It currently has over 100 commercial partners, including banks and insurance providers, and is used by over 55 million people.

Myanmar’s Zay Chin raises funding

The story: Online grocery store platform Zay Chin has raised an undisclosed amount of funding to enables customers to shop for groceries from wet markets in Myanmar.

Investor: Indonesia’s UMG Idealab

More about the story: The fresh funding will be used for regional expansion, operational upgrades, and technological enhancement to create a better shopping experience.

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

According to the company, traditional wet markets grocery products are high in demand among local housewives in the country.

Image Credit: GoBear

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Shout it from the rooftops: how visibility helps True Digital Park gear for success

The sprawling innovation hub

In today’s fast-paced environment, a “do-it-alone” approach is not exactly the best strategy for growth. Companies that initially grew organically need to look for new ways to drive collaborative innovation that delivers on what their customers need today – and in the future.

This is especially true when your mission is to be an interconnected ecosystem for startups and tech entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia. Located in the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, True Digital Park (TDPK) is Southeast Asia’s largest startup campus, a digital innovation hub with leading tech giants, startups, government agencies, incubators, VCs, support services, and much more.

True Digital Park’s 17-acre campus and work space

Not too long ago, TDPK unveiled the ‘Work Space’, with the tagline “One Roof, All Possibilities,” and with the overarching vision of becoming the next global innovation hub at the heart of Southeast Asia. 

Despite the challenges due to COVID-19, TDPK has certainly found all possibilities under one roof. In this year alone, the campus managed to welcome over 200,000 visitors. That’s more than double the amount of visitors they received in 2019. Currently, TDPK houses 110 companies and over 4,200 tenant employees. Dr. Tarit Nimmanwudipong, General Manager of True Digital Park, believes that this year’s success is in part accredited to all the partnerships that have made TDPK visible on a regional scale.

Also read: One roof, all possibilities at the heart of Bangkok

Visibility through the e27 ecosystem platform 

In a recent interview with e27, Dr. Nimmanwudipong mentioned that “True Digital Park couldn’t have made it without partners. Not just startups, VCs, government, or tech giants. We also need media partners.”

“And e27 has helped us shout out that Southeast Asia now has True Digital Park as the largest tech and startup hub.” he adds. 

Throughout 2018 and 2020, TDPK has leveraged e27’s coverage to build its brand awareness campaigns to elevate TDPK as the next global innovation hub. Dr. Nimmanwudipong further added that the campaign with e27 made it possible for “several organisations looking for partnerships and individuals looking to join our events or networks [to reach] out to us because they heard about us from international media, e27 included. These individual contacts that came from all over the world are a big part of what will strengthen our interconnected ecosystem.” 

TDPK has also been a sponsor for e27’s Echelon Asia Summit. This valuable partnership opened the opportunity for them to meet startup founders, key executives, and decision-makers from corporates, investors, and representatives from different government sectors across the region.

One roof, all possibilities

Building an interconnected ecosystem in a time of crisis and the future 

We find ourselves in extraordinary times. But despite upheaval from the global COVID-19 pandemic, TDPK’s mission to remain an interconnected ecosystem for startups and tech entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia remains unchanged. 

For starters, the pandemic has triggered a migration of all campus activities to online platforms. This has prompted TDPK to not only create virtual meeting activities, but also find a way to build business collaboration virtually. 

Dr. Nimmanwudipong pointed out that “The show must really go on because everyone needs to be ready from the day the sky is clear post-Covid. Building an interconnected community wherein each business knows they are not alone with the potential to build stronger businesses with partners locally and internationally is very critical.” 

To be Thailand’s largest startup destination, “TDPK must look beyond the sheer size of the campus and create a larger mass of new talents and businesses in Thailand and the region.” Dr. Nimmanwudipong adds.

Also read: True Digital Park’s “Togetherness of Possibilities” drives digital transformation in Thailand

One Region, All Possibilities

“Two heads are better than one.”

The famous saying tells us that there is no better approach to solving challenges than collaboration. Whether creating internal partnerships between colleagues or departments, to larger partnerships between businesses, harnessing the strengths and abilities of others from different corners of your ecosystem is one of the most strategic ways for businesses to scale innovation and solve complex challenges. 

The importance of building an interconnected ecosystem for startups and tech entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia goes beyond a physical space. As businesses are equipped with access to real-time information, the outcome is improved efficiency and better business decisions. 

TDPK’s collaboration with e27 proves that priorities are shifting to transform internal systems and external communications into a digital ecosystem, and that putting the word out to a wider and relevant audience can bolster their vision of creating an interconnected ecosystem in the region.

True Digital Park worked with e27 for a series of campaigns to tap into e27’s network of startups and reach out to a wider targeted audience. We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us here to get started.

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In August, digital transformation took centre stage as startup investors embraced a whole new normal

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hits the global market and forced everyone to rethink how things are being run, digital transformation and its risks have already stolen the attention of many business players, as reported in this Wall Street Journal article.

But with the pandemic restricting movement in various countries, the Southeast Asian (SEA) startup ecosystem saw a surge in popularity of platforms that enable digital transformation for conventional businesses among investors. In August, e27 covered at least four of such funding rounds.

Each of these companies is covering the different aspect of digital transformation. Wahyoo and BukuKas are working with medium- and small-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia while Intrepid Group’s reach also includes major consumer-facing brands.

In fact, from the VC side, MDI Ventures had announced a new US$500 million fund that aims to help the digitalisation of Indonesian state-owned firms.

Another trend that has been widely discussed among investors, including Paul Meyers and Jussi Salovaara in an e27 Webinar episode, is the rise of M&A and strategic acquisitions. In August, we saw the acquisition of TradeGecko by global SaaS giant Intuit, which proved that the SEA market remains a promising destination for global companies. In addition to them, there were also the acquisitions of EmpatKali by AfterPay and iMoney by JurisTech.

Also Read: OKR is a startup lifesaver. Here is how to craft them

Popular sectors

As with the previous months, there are sectors that continue to be popular among investors in SEA such as fintech (Clik raised US$3.7 million in seed funding while Incomlend raised US$20 million in Series A) as well as e-commerce and logistics (Anchanto raised US$12 million, KitaBeli raised an undisclosed seed, and SIRCLO raised US$6 million in Series B).

We also saw investments in edutech (Doyobi), gaming (Potato Play), and alternative protein (Lever VC’s first fund).

In the agritech sector, particularly in Indonesia, fishery became the centre of attention as eFishery and Aruna announced their funding rounds.

In Singapore particularly, the deep tech sector continued to see funding trickled in as Gero.ai, TADA, and See-Mode secured their funding rounds, both raising more than US$2 million.

For the unicorns, Grab was reported to be in the process of raising US$200 million from a South Korean private equity firm. The company has declined to comment on the report.

What this means for the ecosystem

August was the month where we saw most of the predictions about the SEA startup ecosystem coming true. In addition to the M&A activities and the popularity of platforms that enable digital transformation, we also continue to see investor favourite during the pandemic flourishing –from e-commerce to medtech to logistics.

Also Read: Why e27 Pro member Incubate Fund remains optimistic about the startup ecosystem in Japan

We predict that this trend will continue in September –perhaps even all the way to the end of 2020. As the dominating theme of the year, the pandemic will continue to affect investors’ appetite and setting up trends in the ecosystem.

What can startups do to seize this opportunity? There are many approaches to explore. While a startup should always be ready to make adjustment through a pivot, they can start by trying out new strategies such as collaboration with external parties or adjusting your financial prjections.

Image Credit: Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

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