Bonza, an Indonesian Big Data analytics startup, has secured US$2 million in a funding round led by early-stage VC firm East Ventures.

Elev8.vc, a B2B-focused VC fund based in Singapore, also participated.

The round comes almost a year after it raised an undisclosed seed funding.

Bonza intends to inject the newly raised capital to accelerate its vision to become a leading data platform company in Southeast Asia and to further develop its platform offerings.

Founded in 2020, the idea of Bonza hit co-founders Elsa Chandra and Philip Thomas when they witnessed how Big Data models accelerated the speed and quality of insights to make data-driven decisions in Traveloka, a company where both worked before.

During their time in Traveloka, they saw an opportunity to help other companies in Southeast Asia to tackle their data challenges and use data more effectively for decision making.

Also Read: Mosaic Solutions raises US$1.5M to provide data analytics, inventory management solutions to SEA’s industry

Bonza’s no-code approach for data analytics and AI deployment helps technical and non-technical teams to build and deploy data-driven solutions at scale.

With its platform, organisations can integrate disparate data sources in the organisation into a single source, build and deploy Machine Learning models — all within its user interface.

One of its use cases includes when its fintech consumer client created a real-time fraud detection engine and monitoring tool to reduce fraud rates within the platform.

The company claims to have achieved profitability within just a year of operations.

“Getting value from their data is a global problem that organisations face, and Bonza is on the mission to enable organizations to go beyond static dashboards and operationalize analytics and AI solutions at scale. When speaking to customers, we found many data teams spent more than 50 per cent of their time preparing data for reporting. With our platform, they are able to automate these data workflows and focus on building and deploying data solutions easily to drive impact,” Thomas said.

“Every business today, regardless of size, has access to enormous amounts of business-related data. The companies that will thrive are the ones that can nimbly harness these data – from disparate structured and unstructured sources — to provide real-time, evolving, and mission-critical insights,” added Aditya Mathur, Managing Director, Elev8.vc.

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Image Credit: Bonza

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Indonesian beauty-tech company Social Bella snags US$56mn; Investors are L Catterton, Indies Capital, East Ventures and Jungle; The company will use the capital for product innovation and continued expansion across SEA; Social Bella runs 21 omnichannel stores in nine cities in Indonesia and one in Vietnam.

Ex-CEO of Rocket Internet Asia launches new e-commerce venture Una Brands with a US$40mn seed round; Una Brands provides a “fast and fair way” for e-commerce biz owners to sell their firms that have annual revenue between US$300K and US$20mn; It is platform-agnostic and acquires businesses across leading e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, Lazada, Shopee and Shopify.

SCI Ecommerce raises US$38mn led by Asia Partners; The e-commerce enabler plans to set up local teams in Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines, and hire at least 100 people across SEA and China; SCI is planning to pursue an IPO in the US at the end of the year with a target market valuation of US$1bn.

E-commerce brand aggregator Rainforest launches with US$36mn funding; Investors include Nordstar (lead) and Insignia Ventures; Formed by former execs from Carousell and Fave, Rainforest is a serial acquirer of profitable Amazon businesses for a typical purchase price of US$1mn+; The company looks to acquire at least a few more Amazon-native brands from brand owners globally.

Vietnam’s digital entertainment company POPS Worldwide aims to close US$50mn Series D by Q3 2021; The funds to be raised will be used for expansion to Philippines and deepening footprint in Indonesia; It has earlier raised US$30mn in 2019; POPS helps global brands localise their content for Southeast Asian viewers; To date, it claims to have bagged 400mn+ fans and 50bn+ views.

Indonesian P2P lending firm focused on women micro-entrepreneurs Amartha secures US$28mn; Investors are Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II, MDI Ventures, Mandiri Capital and UOB Venture; It is a P2P lending platform; This comes fresh off Amartha’s US$50mn debt financing round from US-based Lendable in February this year.

Hangry swallows US$13mn Series A to scale its cloud kitchen and multi-brand concept in Indonesia; It plans to open 120+ outlets in total, with the aim to launch 20+ dine-in restaurants across Indonesia in 2021; Hangry follows an asset-light business model wherein it produces “quality food at affordable prices” to cater to the urban, mobile-first consumers in the archipelago.

FPT acquires majority stake in SaaS platform Base.vn; Base.vn has developed a job application tracking system, a task and project management platform, and internal request management platform; Base.vn has previously raised US$1.3mn in a pre-Series A funding round, co-led by Alpha JWC Ventures and Beenext.

Indonesian Big Data company Bonza secures US$2mn funding; Investors are East Ventures (lead) and Elev8.vc; Bonza is developing its platform offerings to better support the enterprises in deploying data and AI solutions through a no-code platform.

P2P lending platform Modal Rakyat secures OJK licence, funding from Fazz Financial; Modal Rakyat is a working capital enabler for startups and SMEs; Through its B2B2C platform, it unlocks ‘productive pay-later’ feature for various use cases of tech-startups ecosystem, ranging from logistic marketplace, POS, to payment point online banks; It claims to have 12K active lenders.

Joseph Phua’s Turn Capital acquires Dapp Pocket to create SEA-focused retail crypto exchange; The crypto exchange OMO is aimed at being the gateway for SEA new and mainstream adopters to the world of crypto; Dapp Pocket, a blockchain company in Taiwan.

Singapore’s fintech startup Few¢ents lands US$1.6mn seed; Investors include M Venture Partners, Hustle Fund and angels; Few¢ents helps digital publishers monetise premium content such as articles, video, and podcasts, through a pay-per-content service that sits on the publishers’ sites; It accepts 50 currencies from around the world.

EDB New Ventures launches new Corporate Venture Launchpad programme; It aims to support large and established Singaporean companies in building new ventures in new areas of growth beyond their existing core businesses; Set to run as a one-year pilot, the programme is investing US$7.4mn to undertake 20 concept validation sprints.

Temasek-backed Big Idea Ventures closes US$50mn debut alternative fund; LPs include Le Groupe, AAK, Meiji Co., Buhler, Enterprise Singapore; Fund 1 has backed companies like Shiok Meats; The fund also backs an accelerator programme in NY and Singapore, which identifies and nurtures top talent in the foodtech space in the US and Asia.

Meet the 4 Luminaries startups that made a pivot to tide over COVID-19 crisis; How RewardNation, Greenhouse, Travelhorse and Sqreem Technologies used the pandemic to its advantage and to explore different options.

UN’s WeEmpowerAsia launches accelerator for female entrepreneurs in the care sector; UN Women Care Accelerator will run for 6 months and will provide training, mentorship and funding support to five selected startups; Seedstars and Bopinc will co-lead the training, exchange and mentorship.

500 Startups, Enterprise Singapore launch programme for emerging entrepreneurs to build startups from scratch; 500 Ignition Singapore will help emerging entrepreneurs with product research, MVP development and business plan ideation; Key mentors joining the programme include Leesa Soulodre (General Partner, R31Ventures), Jin Tanaka (co-founder and Managing Partner, Shogun Capital), Jaspreet S Dua (EIR, 500 Startups).

Indonesia’s Cermati Fintech Group raises funding; Investors include MDI Ventures (lead) and Djarum Group; It operates Cermati.com (a financial marketplace in Indonesia), Cermati Protect (a digital insurance brokerage), and Indodana (a digital fintech lending company).

How Singapore’s tech community is helping India in its battle against COVID-19; Several Singaporean investors are running crowdfunding campaigns in partnership with Temasek and Giving.SG to raise money towards this cause.

Facebook launches 2nd edition of Community Accelerator in Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand; It also announces expansion into 3 new markets Singapore, Malaysia, India; An 8-month programme, it will connect community leaders to experts, coaches, and a customised curriculum to create a plan to strengthen their community and meet their goals; Up to US$7.5mn will be distributed to participants through a series of grants up to US$50K per participant.

How to create SaaS content for increased acquisition and retention; In this article, you’ll learn how to identify and better understand your potential audience’s needs; You’ll find tips for creating marketing content throughout the SaaS sales cycle and engaging the public and potential investors.

How to retain local talent as global demand for remote tech workers surges; Embracing a strong workplace culture is the key strategic plan for local companies; Companies should follow lean structure, be low in the hierarchy, be open to experimentation, be highly geared to learning, low regulations and roadblocks, and provide healthy and positive collegial environment.

10 surprising things that rely on AI; AI has transformed many aspects of our lives for the better; It even played a role in developing vaccines against COVID-19; But you may be surprised just how many things we take for granted that rely on AI.

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Image Credit: Rainforest

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Rainforest, an e-commerce brand aggregator, has officially announced its launch with a seed financing round of US$36 million.

The funding round consisted of US$6.5 million in equity financing, led by Nordstar, with participation from Insignia Venture Partners, and a US$30 million debt facility from an undisclosed US-based debt fund.

Rainforest will use the funds to acquire promising Amazon FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) brands, invest in technology, and hire top talent to join their Singapore-headquartered and globally distributed team.

Also Read: Ex-CEO of Rocket Internet Asia launches new e-commerce venture Una Brands with a US$40M seed round

Rainforest was founded in 2020 by experienced startup operators in commerce, marketplaces, and SaaS. JJ Chai (Rainforest CEO) formerly led growth and strategy for Carousell and was Airbnb’s former Southeast Asia Managing Director. Jason Tan (CFO) was former CFO at OVO and Fave. Per-Ola Röst (CTO) is an Amazon SaaS software entrepreneur and also a 7-figure Amazon FBA seller.

As an e-commerce brand aggregator, Rainforest acquires consumer e-commerce brands, providing entrepreneurs a healthy exit. It also invests into the acquired brands to grow them globally.

The company will be initially acquiring Amazon-native brands from brand owners globally, focusing on Asia-based Amazon FBA sellers. Its mission is to fulfil the potential of microbrands, growing brands with great products to delight customers worldwide.

Amazon’s third-party GMV was US$300 billion in 2020, growing at 50 per cent year on year. With over 30 per cent of the top third-party sellers based out of Asia, Rainforest is well-positioned to acquire these brands and scale them faster while providing sellers with an attractive exit opportunity.

Operational since January 2021, Rainforest has acquired three brands to date in the home and personal care categories. “It’s a great pleasure to provide these entrepreneurs a cash exit. We’ll be working hard to take their brands to the next level and hope to do the same for many more e-commerce entrepreneurs,” said CEO Chai.

Also Read: Why brands fail on e-commerce and what they can do about it

Coincidentally, Singapore also witnessed the rollout of another e-commerce brand aggregator today. Una Brands, started by former CEO of Rocket Internet Asia and founder of foodpanda and ZEN Rooms Kiren Tanna, has also raised US$40 million in seed funding.

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Image Credit: Rainforest

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Facebook has launched the second edition of its Community Accelerator program in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

Besides, it has announced the expansion into three new markets — Singapore, Malaysia and India.

The accelerator is part of Facebook’s community leadership programme, a global initiative that is focused on investing in leaders that drive change in the world through community building, empowerment, and encouragement.

Slated to run for eight months, the programme promises to provide each participant with US$50,000 in funding, along with US$1 million in additional funding for a subset of communities.

Non-financial support in the form of training, mentorship and connections with experts and coaches will also be provided.

Also Read: Meet the 14 startups presenting at Facebook accelerator’s pitch day

Last date to apply for the programme is May 31, 2021.

Only the communities that have had a presence in Facebook Groups for over a year with a minimum size of 1,000 members can participate.

Grace Clapham, Director at APAC Community Partnerships and Programmes at Facebook, said: “Online communities have been around since the beginning of the internet, but we’ve seen them grow tremendously in the last year, as a result of COVID-19. There are now more than 70 million admins and moderators running active Facebook Groups.”

“Often, it is everyday people who start and run these groups as a labor of love – with no training or support. Through the Community Accelerator programme, we have helped community leaders from around the world and in APAC to build, grow and scale their communities. With the launch of this year’s Community Accelerator programme, we look forward to discovering the next cohort of community leaders in Asia, and help them to unlock their full potential and create meaningful impact,” she added.

Since announcing the first edition in March 2020, 77 communities from 13 countries have participated in the Facebook Community Accelerator programme.

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Have you ever wondered where did your lunch come from?

No, the answer is not as simple as “the hawker centre near the office”. There is an entire system involved to bring that bowl of chicken rice to our table. This complex system begins in the production process of the food itself: growing the livestock, planting the rice in the field. After that, there is the matter of bringing in the agricultural products in the city, making it accessible for the uncle who sells the chicken rice.

Even after you are done eating, there is still another process of managing the waste from your meal.

This complex process –in addition to affecting our survival for the day– can also affect how our future look like. History has proven many times that progress in human civilisation is strongly related to how humans produce their food.

As detailed by National Geographic,  12,000 years ago, changes in the agriculture sector “triggered” a massive change in society that its development has been dubbed the Neolithic Revolution.

“Traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyles … were swept aside in favour of permanent settlements and a reliable food supply. Out of agriculture, cities and civilizations grew, and because crops and animals could now be farmed to meet demand, the global population rocketed — from some five million people 10,000 years ago, to more than seven billion today.”

This is why, especially after the changes brought by the pandemic, we believe that we are now standing at the crossroad that will take us into our future –starting from what we put on our plate. The tech innovation that we are using in producing, distributing, and managing our food supply will determine the quality of our life today, and beyond.

This matter has become more urgent if we are putting the local context into it. For example, in Singapore, the government has been making effort to push for stronger local food production in order to curb dependency on imported food. This effort has also included the works of startups such as ACE for fishery and Sustenir Agriculture for fresh produces.

In Indonesia, startups such as TaniHub Group and JalaTech are working to improve the livelihood of farmers while making food more accessible for the customers.

Certainly, the investors do not want to be left behind as we begin to see more and more funding being announced in the foodtech vertical.

This is certainly an opportunity that innovators do not want to miss.

Also Read: Foodtech startup Next Gen Foods shares the secret behind their successful expansion, fundraising

What is on the menu for e27

As part of our mission to empower entrepreneurs with tools and resources to build and grow their company, e27 aims to provide content that helps startup founders, investors, and other professionals in the ecosystem make an informed decision for their businesses.

To achieve that, we have prepared a series of articles that will focus on the different branches of foodtech ecosystem.

There are different definition to what constitute the branches of the foodtech industry. But Forward Fooding, a US-based foodtech innovation hub, conveniently divided the industry into eight macro-categories:

• Agritech
• Consumer apps and services
• Food delivery
• Food processing
• Food safety and traceability
• Kitchen and restaurant tech
• Next-gen food and drinks
• Surplus and waste management

We are preparing eight articles that will look into the challenges and opportunities available in each category, and the startups that are working in the sector.

In addition to content produced by our team of in-house writers, we have also published written pieces by our contributors –and are looking forward to publishing more. If you are working in the foodtech vertical and would like to share insights and knowledge to the SEA startup ecosystem, feel free to check out our Contributor Programme feature.

Apart from all of the above, we are also opening up opportunities to collaborate with organisation and individuals who have the mission to build the foodtech ecosystem in the region. If you have great ideas that you would like to discuss with our team, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

We are looking forward to seeing the innovation that you are bringing to the (dinner) table.

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Image Credit: Cristiano Pinto on Unsplash

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