Day: June 9, 2021

MooVita, an autonomous vehicle (AV) tech startups based in Singapore, has raised multi-million dollar amount in a Series A round of investment, led by Yinson Green Technologies Division, a subsidiary of Malaysian energy infrastructure company Yinson Holdings.

SMRT Ventures, the corporate venture arm of SMRT Corporation, also participated in the round.

This investment marks Yinson’s first foray into the mobility space.

MooVita will use the funds to accelerate the development, commercialisation and international expansion of its driverless solutions — beginning with the deployment of driverless solutions for public transportation and the urban environment.

As per a press note, these plans are aligned with Singapore’s “Sustainable Singapore Blueprint”, which sets out to achieve a cleaner and greener transport system by 2030.

Also Read: Vietnam launches first autonomous vehicle

“With this injection of capital, we will focus on advancing our driverless technologies, building a fleet of driverless shuttle buses and safe on-road operations, expediting the deployment of the MooVita’s driverless public transport solutions across Asian urbanscapes, starting from Singapore and Malaysia,” said co-founder Dilip Limbu.

Established in 2016, MooVita is specialised in designing and deploying roadworthy autonomous vehicles in urban cities worldwide. It is currently developing a component-based driverless software solution, which transforms various vehicle types into versatile autonomous vehicles for multitudinous driving conditions and applications, such as first/last-mile transportation, logistic transportation, agriculture, and utility solutions.

Headquartered in Singapore, Moovita also has offices in Malaysia and India.

MooVita’s early investors include Pioneer Smart Sensing Innovations Corporation (a consolidated subsidiary of Pioneer Corporation), SEEDS Capital and GreenMeadows Accelerator.

According to Digital News Asia, the company was also the first to receive approval to test its autonomous vehicle in Cyberjaya, Malaysia.

“Our plan is to replace existing infrastructure and develop innovative business solutions in order to make transportation sustainable through the adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies. The co-investment into MooVita presents a wonderful opportunity to contribute back to the sustainable transportation infrastructure in Singapore,” commented Yinson Group Vice President Eirik Barclay.

“We are adopting a targeted strategy where we tap into our existing strengths in logistics solutions, energy infrastructure, and renewables; and focus on the geo-markets where we’re currently active. We believe that this approach will help us to build profitable, disruptive businesses, that meet the needs created by the global climate action agenda,” added Yinson Group Chief Strategy Officer, Daniel Bong.

According to KPMG’s latest Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index, Singapore holds first place for autonomous vehicle (AV) policy and regulation and second for infrastructure — surpassed only by the Netherlands — and is widely recognised as a global leader in AV development.

Some of the other AV companies currently active in the region include nuTonomy, Red Dot Robotics, and OpenSourceSDC.

According to data compiled by Tracxn, there are 10 smart car startups in Singapore as of 2020.

—

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

Image Credit: MooVita

The post MooVita raises ‘multi-million dollars’ Series A to bring driverless cars to Singapore’s public roads appeared first on e27.

Indonesian telemedicine “super app” Alodokter has announced that it has secured an additional investment from MDI Ventures, a subsidiary of Telkom group, and Samsung Ventures.

The size of the investment was not disclosed.

This deal takes place nearly eight months after the Jakarta-headquartered startup raised a funding round led MDI Ventures in November 2020 as part of its US$30 million Series C extension.

The health-tech firm will use the funding to further expand and develop new products.

Started in 2014 by Nathanael Faibis and Suci Arumsari, Alodokter provides all-encompassing digital health services that include reliable health content, access to general practitioners and specialists (telemedicine), online booking of doctor’s appointments at hospitals, medicine purchase through e-pharmacy and affordable insurance packages.

Also Read: Halodoc snags US$80M Series C led by Astra to expand its telemedicine platform in Indonesia

The firm claims it has more than 30 million monthly active users and more than 43,000 certified doctors across 1,500 hospitals and clinics on its platform.

Since 2019, Alodokter has raised significant investment from investors such as Softbank Ventures, Sequis, Golden Gate Ventures, Philips, Heritas and Hera Capital.

CEO Faibis said: “…Key focus areas going forward include technology innovation, increasing the talent pool, and adding new features and functionalities…By integrating our ecosystem with additional state-owned enterprises, we expect to provide tech-enabled healthcare access to more Indonesian patients.”

Donald Wihardja, CEO MDI Ventures, said: “Alodokter has a proven track record of growing their comprehensive healthcare solution. All the innovations, from telemedicine to insurance, have been developed to cater to Indonesia’s needs for accessible and affordable healthcare services. The funding from MDI will further extend the growth of health services through the potential collaboration with several BUMN entities in Indonesia.”

“With the increasing demand for the use of health services, this follow-on funding aligns Telkom’s mission to increase innovative products within the SOE environment and continues to be committed to providing solutions to millions of people in Indonesia,” explained Director of Enterprise & Business Service Telkom Group, Edi Witjara.

Previously, Alodokter had raised seed funding in 2015 and US$2.5 million in Series A led by Golden Gate Ventures in 2016.

In April this year, Halodoc, another Indonesian telemedicine startup, raised US$80 million in a Series C funding round led by local automotive conglomerate Astra.

—

Image Credit: Alodokter

The post Alodokter raises fresh capital, claims 30M MAUs and 43K doctors on its telemedicine platform appeared first on e27.

UNObank receives digital banking license in Philippines

The story: UNObank has received approval from the central bank Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to operate a digital bank in the Philippines.

About UNObank: A company under Singapore’s DigibankASIA, it offers anyone in the Philippines to save, borrow, transact, invest, and protect their finances easily with speed and ease.

More about the story: The BSP has granted three digital bank licenses, two of which are conversions from previous bank licenses.

Tonik, another Filipino neobank, also received the license.

“The BSP’s vision and foresight to digitise the local banking industry is future-forward and apt because ultimately it will help align the Philippines as a modern banking center for the region,” says Manish Bhai of UNOBank.

Carousell ropes in former Razer executive as new CFO

The story: Carousell, a Singapore-based mobile listing service company, announced today the appointment of former Razer executive, Edwin Chan, as its Chief Financial Officer.

Also Read:  Ecosystem Roundup: Why SEA’s exits market looks bright

New role: He will oversee Carousell’s overall capital strategy, including corporate development, fundraising, as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Additionally, corporate controllership and accounting, financial reporting, investor relations, legal and compliance functions will fall within Edwin’s remit.

Gojek’s GoSend courier drivers protest over low incentives

The story: Drivers of Gojek’s delivery arm, GoSend, are planning to strike a protest today, according to messages distributed via WhatsApp groups. This was first reported by Kr-Asia.

The reason: GoSend is planning to cut incentives for deliveries by more than half the current rate.

More about the story: Yulianto, a GoSend drive and a spokesperson of the protest, said that the protest will run for three days in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi, and Bandung.

–

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

Image Credit: UNOBank

The post In brief: Gojek’s courier drivers protest over low incentives appeared first on e27.

Autopair, an online automotive parts trading company in Thailand, has raised an undisclosed amount in a pre-Series A financing round.

Summit Auto Body Industry, one of Thailand’s largest suppliers of automotive parts, led the round.

Prior to this, Autopair has raised US$500,000 in seed funding from KK Fund in 2018.

Autopair said in a statement that it will use the fresh capital to help approximately 1,000 independent automotive workshops digitise their work processes through its newly launched digital business management platform.

Additionally, it has also announced plans to expand into markets like Indonesia and Malaysia.

Despite the slump in domestic car sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact on the industry has been offset by the corresponding increase in demand for car maintenance.

However, Autopair believes that independent automotive workshops have not fully capitalised on these opportunities due to high fragmentation and a reliance on traditional, inefficient operational processes.

Also Read: Carsome snags US$30M Series D to strengthen its C2B and B2C offerings

Founded in 2018, Autopair’s goal is to transform the automotive aftermarket industry via its online automotive parts trading platform.

Its SaaS offerings are ‘Smart Procurement’ and ‘Smart Workshop’ are its core features.  Smart Procurement provides a virtual inventory of parts, wholesale discounts, as well as a 90-minute contactless delivery of service parts at competitive prices.

The second product streamlines business solutions for calendar scheduling, tracking, managing labour efficiencies as well as inventory management and customer relationship management (CRM) tools for estimates and invoices.

The company has over 50,000 virtual stock-keeping units and its solutions are available in 29 provinces in the region.

In the past three years, Autopair claims to have recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 385 per cent.

Some of its clients are industry leaders including Bridgestone Corporation, Toyo Tires, Nitto Automotive, and Nankang Tires.

“I believe that with an uncertain future in uncertain times, the best strategy is to be part of the disruptive wave instead of standing against it,” said Kornkrit Jurangkool, President of Summit Auto Body Industry.

“Autopair has demonstrated its success in digitising the automotive aftermarket industry to date, and given our connections throughout the industry and ecosystem, we believe we can help drive Autopair’s business forward,” he added.

—

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

Image Credit: Autopair

 

The post Autopair raises funding to digitise auto workshops in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia appeared first on e27.

wagely, a financial wellness platform that enables earned wage access (EWA) in Indonesia, has received US$5.6 million in a strategic round of investment, led by Integra Partners (formerly known as Dymon Asia Ventures).

Also participated in the round were ADB Ventures, PT Triputra Investindo Arya (one of Indonesia’s largest privately held groups), Global Founders Capital, Trihill Capital, 1982 Ventures, and Willy Suwandi Dharma (former President Director of PT Asuransi Adira Dinamika).

Also Read: Impact-tech investor ADB Ventures in talks to raise US$100M debt fund

The Jakarta-headquartered startup will use the capital infusion to accelerate the adoption of its platform.

Founded by Tobias Fischer (previously with Grab) and Sasanadi Ruka (formerly with Tokopedia) wagely gives employees access to their earned wages and financial education.

EWA is a concept wherein an employ can withdraw a part of his/her already earned salary before the payday. For example, you have worked from 1st-10th June, while payday is on the 25th. You can withdraw a part (say, 50 per cent) of your prorated salary for that month (10 days) before the payday comes.

This is aimed at reducing financial stress for millions of low- and middle-income workers, who struggle with unexpected financial expenses between pay checks.

wagely claims it serves tens of thousands of employees across many industries, including restaurants, factories, hospitals, and retail stores.

“More than 100 million Indonesian lower- and middle-income workers are living paycheck to paycheck and struggle with unexpected financial expenses between paychecks, which in turn impacts businesses with higher turnover, lower productivity, and more employee loans,” said CEO Fischer.

“Our workplaces are changing rapidly, especially since COVID-19 struck. Now the way people are getting paid is changing, too, and at scale. wagely provides a financial flexibility that is perfectly suited for today’s agile and progressive workforce,” he added.

Its financial wellness solution is used by companies such as British American Tobacco, Ranch Market, PT Mustika Ratu, and PT Kencana Energi Lestari.

“wagely offers our employees financial stability in times of uncertainty. It is incredibly important and a crucial step for the long-term resilience of our business,” said Wilson Maknawi, President Director at PT Kencana Energi Lestari.

“With no changes to our payroll process, wagely’s solution has proven to increase our business savings and helped our employees to avoid predatory loans while providing savings and budgeting tools that increase their financial literacy,” he shared.

As concerns over COVID-19 continue to grow, employers around the world, including Walmart, Pizza Hut and Visa, are turning to EWA solutions to reduce turnover, enhance productivity, and increase business savings.

Dailypay, a leading US-based EWA provider, just recently raised US$500 million and reached unicorn status.

Other noted EWA providers are US-based Payactiv, UK-based Wagestream,  Mexican firm Minu, and US-based Even.

Payactiv already counts more than 2 million users and has processed more than US$5 billion in earned wage access, highlighting the tremendous potential of the space.

Also Read: 1982 Ventures partners with 3 Korean investors to help country’s startups enter SEA

Daniel Hersson, Senior Fund Manager at ADB Ventures, commented: “wagely offers workers what they did not have before: a fair and accessible financial tool to help them manage life’s inevitable contingencies and emergencies, including those caused by climate change.”

Over 70 per cent of the Southeast Asian adult population is still underbanked and lacking access to affordable and responsible financial services, while many of the 140 million low- and middle-income workers (72 per cent of the Indonesian workforce) who live from paycheck to paycheck are exposed to the cycle of debt caused by overdraft fees, high-interest credit, and payday loans.

Taking this opportunity, the earned wage access solutions offer a sustainable alternative to employees. With the COVID-19 pandemic and increased levels of financial stress that is directly impacting employers, wagely has become even more important to employees and employers and is well-positioned to further support millions of Southeast Asians with its holistic financial wellness platform.

—

Image Credit: wagely

The post wagely bags US$5.6M to give Indonesia’s low-paid workers access to their earned wages appeared first on e27.