Mio, a Vietnam-based social commerce platform, has raised US$1 million in a seed financing round co-led by Venturra Discovery and Golden Gate Ventures.

Other backers include iSeed SEA, DoorDash executive Gokul Rajaram, and Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, co-founders of Meesho, India’s latest unicorn company.

This news was first reported by TechCrunch.

According to the publication, the newly raised capital will go into hiring, product enhancement and distribution centre.

Launched in June 2020, Mio helps women from Vietnam’s lower-tier and rural regions become micro-entrepreneurs through community selling.

Women can sign up on Mio with zero investment. The platform will then help them build, launch and promote their online business and sell their products.

Also Read: YC-backed Super raises US$28M to grow its social commerce platform in Indonesia

Since it’s not easy for them to go through the entire entrepreneurship process by themselves, Mio supports them with training, order management, fulfillment, and logistics.

Making use of the social media culture, most of Mio’s resellers target customers via platforms like Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and local messaging app Zalo.

The company claims that its resellers make about US$200 to US$300, earning a 10 per cent commission on each order and additional commissions based on the monthly performance of resellers they referred to the platform.

Social commerce is a concept that first took off in China and then slowly spread to different regions in the world. In the region, it constitutes 11.6 per cent of the total retail e-commerce sales, with just over US$186 billion in 2019.

One of the reasons for its popularity is because the whole concept offers brands and retailers social features to create shareable and immersive campaigns that can easily make product launches go viral.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global social commerce market is estimated to increase at a soaring rate of 31.4 per cent.

—

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image Credit: Chinh Le Duc

The post Mio raises US$1M to help rural Vietnamese women become micro-entrepreneurs appeared first on e27.

If you’re looking to highlight your company to the most active investors in Southeast Asia in a bid to secure your next capital to propel your company forward, look no further!

e27’s Companies Fundraising section will help you to gain extra visibility by featuring vital information about your company and your fundraising interest to all the investors out there. In this new section, Pro startups can now add a short 1-liner company description that will allow readers a quick glance to understand what the startup does and whether it is aligned with their portfolio.

And since visual aids are 43% more persuasive than those descriptions without visuals, Pro startups can now add a background photo that visually describes their company. Of course, important details are not left out; fundraising details, the country startup is based in, and the markets and industry tags are all included in this latest version. Here is how it looks like:

Companies Fundraising

Not yet an e27 Pro member? Now is the perfect time for you to sign up here and get featured on our Companies Fundraising section to get your company seen by the thousands of investors who visit our platform!

The post e27 Pro Startups gain extra visibility via the new Fundraising Highlight appeared first on e27.

Forge Global, a global private securities marketplace, has announced the closing of an oversubscribed funding round of more than US$150 million.

Backers include existing investor Deutsche Börse and new investors Temasek, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, LUN Partners Group, and True Global Ventures.

This round brings Forge’s total funding raised to date to over US$250 million.

Forge intends to use the fresh funding to continue to expand service offerings in the US and beyond.

Ecosystem Roundup: GoTo and the battle for dominance in SEA

Additionally, the company said it has received US’s Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) approval to operate as a single broker dealer with SharesPost, which Forge merged with in 2020.

Jane Atherton, Managing Director, Investment at Temasek International and Paul Hilgers, Managing Director of Deutsche Börse’s cash market business, will join Forge’s board.

Forge CEO Kelly Rodriques said: “With the momentum from the SharesPost acquisition and the support and backing of strategic investors including private market investing pioneer True Global Ventures, which first invested in SharesPost in 2010, we are in an excellent position to continue to build world-class solutions that bring data, technology and liquidity at scale to the private markets.”

Founded in 2014, Forge is a marketplace for private equity, giving private and institutional investors access to top pre-IPO companies. In other words, it is a marketplace where private shares are traded as freely as public company shares on the Nasdaq.

Since inception, Forge claims to have completed more than US$9 billion in transactions in nearly 400 private companies.

In the months since its acquisition of SharesPost, the company tallied three consecutive record-breaking quarters including in Q1 2021 when Forge completed 1,400 transactions totalling more than US$730 million of volume.

“The importance of private markets is growing — for companies and investors alike,” said Christoph Hansmeyer, Head of Group Strategy & M&A at Deutsche Börse. “Investing in Forge pays testament to our commitment to help companies access liquidity both publicly and privately, and allows global investors to participate in the wealth created in both the public and private markets.”

With more than 642 private unicorn companies globally totalling US$2 trillion in collective valuation and with many of those staying private for 10 years or more, unicorn companies are increasingly turning to the private market for liquidity solutions that Forge provides.

Global institutions are signalling increased interest in innovative new products and services.

Also Read: How this app is helping low-income workers to achieve financial stability

“The private securities market plays an increasingly important role in today’s financial landscape, and Wells Fargo recognises the significance of a digital platform like Forge in the ongoing evolution of this marketplace,” said Tom Richardson, Head of Principal Technology Investments at Wells Fargo Strategic Capital.

“Forge’s liquidity solutions simplify the complexities of private market transactions and introduces further transparency into the price discovery process,” Richardson noted.

In February 2021, Forge launched Forge Company Solutions, a comprehensive liquidity solution suite for private, high-growth companies to facilitate custom liquidity programmes including executive liquidity, company-sponsored employee liquidity, tender offers and direct listings.

The post Temasek invests in Forge to help grow its private securities marketplace beyond US appeared first on e27.

“We are here to change the general perspective that cannabis is bad, illicit, and harmful,” says Albert Goh. “We believe that cannabis is not any way more harmful, intoxicating or addictive than alcohol or cigarettes.”

According to UN Office of Drug and Crime, cannabis is the most widely cultivated, trafficked and consumed drug worldwide. As per one estimate, the global cannabis market, which was valued US$10.6 billion in 2018, will reach US$97.35 billion by the end of 2026.

Also Read: Cannabis tech startup Hempstreet blazes hot in India’s ancient medicine market

Despite the growing demand worldwide, the possession/use of cannabis is illegal/a grave crime in many countries around the world — barring a few such as the Netherlands, Canada, Jamaica, and Columbia. A call to legalise the drug, however, is gaining momentum.

Asia is not far behind in the growth of cannabis, which is expected to reach US$22.87 million by 2027 from US$2.32 million in 2019. Southeast Asia is also slowly opening up, with Thailand legalising medical cannabis. Several countries are also exploring legalisation.

This offers tremendous opportunities to cannabis entrepreneurs.

In 2019, Goh and team decided it was time to venture into the industry and they launched WeedHub out of Thailand.

WeedHub is an online directory for cannabis, which targets anyone who has smoked and/or consumed alcohol before.

“Our intention is to gather all businesses that sell or promote cannabis-based products (in this case, cannabidiol or CBD) and provide the audience with a more informed option and knowledge rather than depending on friend-of-a-friend sources,” Goh explains.

The startup was founded by Kotaro Ise and Goh, both serial entrepreneurs.

Ise earlier co-founded Ayasan, an online platform for home service in Southeast Asia, and Donz, a Japanese virtual restaurant in Thailand. Goh previously built co-working space providers UnionSPACE and vOffice.

While Weedhub is a currently just a directory, the founders have bigger plans with the startup. “We will be launching our WeedHubX Accelerator in Bangkok to empower the region’s cannabis-related startups, as well as WeedHub Festival/PopUp Market, our own end-to-end e-commerce platform and more,” Goh shares.

Dealing with regulations

Thailand is a growing market for cannabis. A Thaiger report says cannabis could become a major cash crop in the country and generate 8 billion baht for Thai pharmaceutical industry by 2025.

Medical cannabis has been legal in Thailand for the three years. Recently, the government also agreed to allow parts of the plant with very, low traces of the “high-inducing” component tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, to be in medicinal products and food.

Also Read: The business of medical cannabis and how it might change in the next few years

“Thailand has relaxed its law against CBD. Nowadays, 7-11 convenience stores are selling CBD-infused drinks. As for other countries, the gamebook we are playing would be similar to how the adult industry is,” he explains.

The company’s other target markets are Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam — where it has local partners to take care of payments, logistics, etc.

Where does WeedHub source cannabis from? “We are not ready to give the details yet as we are finalising a major deal with a public-listed cannabis company right now,” replies Goh, who also declines to share traction details.

While the industry is facing regulatory challenges, more and more countries are slowly relaxing their law against CBD usage nowadays, which is sending a positive signal.

“It is an exciting time to enter the market,” Goh says, “as cigarettes and alcohol companies are scrambling to get a foot into this exploding industry.”

A self-funded company for now, WeedHub intends to raise funds within the next four to six months. “We are in talks with several parties (non-VCs). We prefer to keep the details private for now.”

—

Image Credit: WeedHub

The post WeedHub tells you where you can source good quality cannabis from, legally! appeared first on e27.

The ASEAN fintech ecosystem has grown tremendously over the last 5 years, with more than $37 billion funding raised by startups in ASEAN. With COVID-19 accelerating the need for rapid digitalisation in the financial industry, it has enabled many fintechs to grow tremendously as well. Meanwhile, non-fintech companies have also seen a great opportunity in embedding various financial services through Embedded Finance.

As this trend continues to expand and the emergence of smarter digital solutions in the fintech sector continues to flourish, startups both in the fintech and non-fintech sector have to equip themselves with the proper skills and knowledge needed to adapt more seamlessly to our fast-changing times.

Fintech Forward powered by AWS and Saison Capital

AWS and Saison Capital have collaborated to launch Fintech Forward — a 10-week online programme for fintech startups, non-fintech startups that are working on embedded finance, or decentralised finance business models in ASEAN. The 10-week programme is designed to support early-stage fintechs that are building the future of finance in ASEAN.

Founders attending the programme are poised to learn key insights, strategies, founder stories, and business and technical learnings from industry insiders to accelerate the digital growth of their startups.

The sessions on Fintech Forward will cover topics such as fundraising, product management, compliance, fintech architecture, and go-to-market (GTM) strategy, among others. These sessions will be led by leaders from Saison Capital, their mentor network, and mentors from AWS.

Also read: How can corporate executives, startups, and VCs stay ahead of the innovation curve?

In addition, there will be guest speakers from fintech, embedded finance, and blockchain startups across ASEAN and many more who will share their stories of operating in their respective markets. Learnings from these key stakeholders will be instrumental in helping startups grow, expand, strategise, and adapt to a smarter and stronger digital future.

AWS and Saison Capital will select 10-15 companies to participate in the 10-week online programme starting in the second week of June 2021. Selected startups may be eligible to receive up to $100,000 in AWS Activate credits, as well as be part of sessions with fintech domain experts and technical experts with deep experience building on AWS.

The perks of joining the programme

Other than the $100,000 in AWS Activate credits that startups are eligible too, they will enjoy access to a strong network of industry stakeholders. By being part of the Fintech Forward, founders can connect with the team from AWS, Saison Capital, and other sector experts.

In addition, the program has a robust support system from a range of experts in a wide range of fintech sub-sectors. The selected startups will be immersed in an educational environment filled with masterclasses on sales, fundraising, fintech, hiring, strategy, security and compliance, infrastructure scaling, and so much more.

Moreover, accepted participants will be able to access an array of insights and tools. Fintech Forward’s educational curriculum led by sector experts that spans across all the key underlying foundations to develop a business as well as the GTM Roadmap. Lastly, they will receive valuable insights from startup veterans from various geographic contexts on how to scale and grow in new dynamic markets such as Southeast Asia.

Building the future of Finance in ASEAN

Saison Capital is a single LP fund, backed by Credit Saison, one of Japan’s largest consumer credit companies/credit card issuers and a Pan-Asian fintech wholesale debt provider. Saison Capital invests US$100k to US$3M directly into Pre-Seed to B stage companies across South East Asia and India. As a fund with a fintech bias, they have invested into household names like Grab Financial Group, Shopback, Ula, Bukukas, Tazapay, alongside marquee investors like Temasek, Sequoia, RTP Global, AC Ventures, and Whiteboard Capital. They have also been LP investors into top regional funds like Beenext, CyberAgent, and top global funds like Quona and Better Tomorrow Ventures.

“Together with AWS, the Fintech Forward programme will be a platform for us to further scale our support to founders who wish to accelerate their understanding of financial services and the opportunities available in the region,” said Chris Sirisereepaph, Partner at Saison Capital.

Also read: Sendbird reaches unicorn status amidst growing need for mobile communications

Sirisereepaph added, “given the huge headwinds of digitisation in the last year, we believe it has never been a better time to build companies that will greatly improve the access of consumers and SMEs to goods and services, regardless of income or geography.”

From idea to IPO, AWS empowers fintech startups to deliver exceptional customer experiences by providing the deepest and broadest sets of innovation tools, including machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) services. Fintech startups such as Coinbase, Robinhood, Wise, Carta, Xendit, and many more are working with AWS Fintech Team to serve their customers around the globe.

As fintech startups face traditional and emerging risks in an increasingly complex regulatory environment, they rely on AWS infrastructure, services, and industry experience to protect their business and customers.

Interested startups may apply now on Saison Capital website. The deadline for applications is 9 June 2021, at 2359PM GMT+8. Startups are encouraged to apply as early as possible as interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis.

– –

This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by 
AWS

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.

The post How fintech startups can fast forward their growth appeared first on e27.