Posted on

A horse of another: Here’s the full list of Southeast Asia’s 20 unicorns

Back in 2014, Southeast Asia had only three unicorns: VNG, Garena (now ‘Sea’), and Razer.

Fast forward to today, the region has 20 unicorns. This stupendous growth can partly be attributed to the region’s growing number of internet users. It also demonstrates a tremendous opportunity — evident from the fact that US$19 billion was invested into tech startups in the region in H1 2021.

According to a report by Google, Temasek, and Bain, the digital economy in Southeast Asia is projected to hit US$300 billion by 2025. This could also mean the region is going to add more companies into the billion-dollar club.

As a tribute to entrepreneurs who put Southeast Asia on the map, e27 has compiled a list of all the 20 unicorns that are an inspiration for millions of to-be entrepreneurs.

Bukalapak

Founded by three friends, Bukalapak is one of the biggest success startup stories from Indonesia. Bukalapak, which means ‘open a stall’ in Bahasa Indonesia, helps millions of local small mom-and-pop stores to sell their goods online.

The e-commerce unicorn plans to get listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange on August 6. The firm, which counts the likes of GIC and Microsoft among its backers, is now set to create history by launching the biggest local listing in 13 years and the largest ever by a startup in the region.

Founding year: 2010

Headquarters: Indonesia

Total funding raised: US$784 million

Unicorn date: Jan 10, 2018

Carro

Started originally as an online marketplace for cars, Carro has registered significant growth. In 2021 alone, the firm posted a 2.5x revenue growth and it continues to be EBITDA-positive for the second year running. The startup also has plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 18-24 months.

Carro is a subscription-based service that allows customers to drive a car without the hassle of owning it. It also provides a range of services that offer car owners everything they need, including an in-house financing solution, after-sales services, and a flexible car ownership experience with Singapore’s car subscription service.

Founding year: 2015

Headquarters: Singapore

Total funding raised: US$589.5 million

Unicorn date:

Carsome

Carsome is the only unicorn that emerged from Malaysian so far and is valued at over US$1 billion. With operations across Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore, besides Malaysia, the firm claims to have an annualised revenue of US$800 million with plans to achieve US$1 billion this year.

The company provides end-to-end solutions to consumers and used car dealers — from car inspection to ownership transfer to financing. Every car that transacts on the platform goes through a comprehensive 175-point inspection, and every car purchase is backed up with an extended warranty and a money-back guarantee, it said in a statement.

Founding year: 2015

Headquarters: Malaysia

Total funding raised: US$107.4 million

Unicorn date: July 13, 2021

Flash Group

After recently raising US$150 million from a slew of investors, Flash Group is the only Thai company to make it into the billion-dollar club. Already placed in a competitive market, Flash Group is confident to dominate and intends to increase its domestic market share to over US$16 billion.

FlashGroup provides e-commerce logistics services and delivery services to Southeast Asian e-commerce platforms.

Founding year: 2017

Headquarters: Thailand

Total funding raised: Undisclosed

Unicorn date: Jan 2, 2021

Gojek

The only company to have the status of a decacorn in Indonesia, Gojek has reached a position which many startups can only dream of.

Started as a ride-hailing service with only 20 motorcycle riders, called “ojek”, Gojek has now grown to a fleet of over one million drivers today. The company has also widened its products and services, from courier delivery, food, and shopping services, to fintech. Its app is also deemed by many to be the most popular and most used in the region.

Also Read:  Ecosystem Roundup: Will the likes of Grab, GoTo crush competition in SEA?

Founding year: 2010

Headquarters: Indonesia

Total funding raised: US$5.3 billion

Unicorn date: August 5, 2016

Grab

Grab is one of Singapore’s most-valued super apps that offers not just ride-hailing services but also food delivery and logistics services through its app.

As of now, Grab has a footprint across Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia, and is valued at US$40 billion in 2020 following its SPAC deal.

Founding year: 2012

Headquarters: Singapore

Total funding raised: US$10 billion

Unicorn date: May, 2015

J&T Express

Valued at US$7.8 billion, J&T Express has grown massively and is predicted by some to have the potential to compete with Chinese logistics companies.

A logistics delivery company, it is also the shipping partner for many notable brands, including OPPO, Tokopedia, Lazada, Shopee, and Bukalapak.

Founding year: 2015

Headquarters: Indonesia

Total funding raised: US$2.2 billion

Unicorn date: April 16, 2021

Lazada

Lazada is a company that reached its unicorn status only after it was bought by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba for US$1 billion.

As of today, it is a major player in online shopping and selling. Lazada has a presence in six countries in the Southeast Asia region including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Headquarters: Singapore

Total funding raised: US$4.2 billion

Unicorn date: April 12, 2016

Founding year: 2012

Nium

It is the latest to enter the unicorn club. Nium achieved US$1 billion+ valuation following a recent US$200 million Series D investment round led by US-based Riverwood Capital.

Also Read: Nium adds US$200M more to its war chest to become Southeast Asia’s latest unicorn

Nium is a global payments platform that enables businesses to send, spend, and receive money from anywhere in the world, in addition to empowering them to develop their own products that simplify cross-border payments. The firm issues approximately 30 million physical and virtual cards today and is licensed in 11 jurisdictions, including direct card issuing capabilities in 24 countries and in 40 currencies.

Founding year: 2015

Headquarters: Singapore

Total funding raised: US$280 million

Unicorn date: May 12, 2020

Online Pajak

With a valuation of  US$1.7 billion, the Jakarta-based startup has several notable investors backing the company including Sequoia Capital India, Warburg Pincus, and Altos Ventures.

The company was founded to combat the tiresome tax system in Indonesia. To make it easier, its platform integrates web-based data that can be used by taxpayers to calculate, deposit, and report taxes in one platform. Users can also manage taxes for free with additional premium features such as invoicing and payroll.

Its services are now used by companies such as Tokopedia, Gojek, Garuda Indonesia, PT Astra Otoparts Tbk, Huawei Tech Investment, Jasa Marga and more.

Founding year: 2015

Headquarters: Indonesia

Total funding raised: US$41 million

Unicorn date: July 15, 2021

OVO

OVO is Indonesia’s fifth unicorn and is currently valued at over US$2.9 billion. It serves over 110 million people spread across 300 Indonesian cities and claims to serve 98 per cent of the adult population in the region.

Through OVO users can get access to payments, transfers, cash-in/out, rewards, asset management, and investments.

Founding year: 2017

Headquarters: Indonesia

Total funding raised: Undisclosed

Unicorn date: October 8, 2019

Patsnap

PatSnap began in 2007 as a patents analytics startup in Singapore and grew rapidly after it set up base in China through the NUS Suzhou Research Institute (NUSRI) and BLOCK71 by NUS Enterprise (the entrepreneurial arm of NUS). It currently provides R&D intelligence and IP intelligence platforms for brands and enterprises

The company raised Series E financing from the likes of Tencent and Softbank placing it into the unicorn club, with a valuation of US$1.35 billion.

Founding year: 2007

Headquarters: Singapore

Total funding raised: US$351.6 million

Unicorn date: March 17, 2021

Razer

Founded 16 years ago, Razer is one of the oldest unicorns in SEA. Dually headquartered in Singapore and the US, it is also one of the first to sponsor professional e-sports players in the world. Razer is the only Southeast Asian company to be publically listed in Hong Kong.

Its early business was the production of gaming devices (such as mice and keyboards) but since then has expanded into mobile phones as well as payments.

Founding year: 2005

Headquarters: Singapore/US

Total funding raised: US$200 million

Unicorn date: October 2014

Revolution Precrafted

Revolution Precrafted made headlines when it became the first unicorn company to emerge from the Philippines. However, the startup recently faced allegations of hooking several businessmen into schemes and running away with PHP150 million (US$3.1 million) in suspicious deals.

Founded six years ago, the company is a developer of prefabricated designer homes.

Founding year: 2015

Headquarters: Philippines

Total funding raised: Undisclosed

Unicorn date: October 23, 2017

Sea

Formerly known as Garena, Sea is a leading Singaporean gaming and e-commerce company known for launching one of the most successful IPOs in the US. The company also owns Shopee, one of the region’s largest and most popular e-commerce platforms, and AirPay, a digital payment service with a presence in three countries

Also Read: Ecosystem Roundup: Grab’s delayed listing and SEA’s SPAC euphoria

Founding year: 2009

Headquarters: Singapore

Total funding raised: US$2.6 billion

Unicorn date: Unidentified date, 2014

Tokopedia

One of the earliest unicorns from Indonesia, the company is now merging with Gojek to create a multi-billion dollar tech company called GoTo.

Tokopedia is an e-commerce giant that aims to build a super ecosystem where anyone can start and discover anything. Today it works with various marketplaces, logistics, payments, and financial technology businesses, while also providing more than 500,000 payment points across Indonesia.

Founding year: 2009

Headquarters: Indonesia

Total funding raised: US$2.8 billion

Unicorn date: November 22, 2018

Traveloka

Founded by ex-Silicon Valley engineers, Traveloka provides access for users to discover and purchase a wide range of transportation, accommodation, lifestyle, and financial services products. The company claims that its app has been downloaded more than 60 million times.

As of July last year, Traveloka has a total of US$1.2 billion in its pocket.

Founding year: 2012

Headquarters: Indonesia

Total funding raised: US$12 billion

Unicorn date: March 16, 2018

Trax

With customers in over 90 countries, Trax provides customers with data science solutions that transform how in-store retail data is being collected, viewed, and analysed. With Trax, manufacturers and retailers can improve product availability, reduce distribution gaps, identify category opportunities and increase their sales.

Founding year: 2010

Headquarters: Singapore

Total funding raised: US$1 billion

Unicorn date: July 22, 2019

VNG

VNG is Vietnam’s first unicorn with a valuation that has surged more than 50 percent since it gained its unicorn status.

Its products and services are categorised into four business units — online games, payment, Zalo (video call), and VNG Cloud.

Founding year: 2004

Headquarters: Vietnam

Total funding raised: Undisclosed

Unicorn date: Unidentified date, 2014

VNPay

VNPay has recently joined the ranks of VN Corp to become the second unicorn to be valued at US$1 billion. The company was given the title under a report known as e-Conomy SEA 2020 by tech giant Google and its partners. The report further stated that VNPay was one of the startups that attracted the highest investments in the Southeast Asian fintech industry last year.

The payment company has over 15 million monthly users who access its app to transfer money, pay utility bills and buy bus tickets.

Founding year: 2007

Headquarters: Vietnam

Total funding raised: US$300 million

Unicorn date: December 7, 2020

Having an updated profile in the e27 Startup Database opens up opportunities for greater exposure among potential investors and collaborators. Create and update yours now.

Join our e27 Telegram groupFB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image Credit: 123rf

The post A horse of another: Here’s the full list of Southeast Asia’s 20 unicorns appeared first on e27.

Posted on

A new approach to hybrid working: Let the employees decide when, how and where to work

hybrid working

Across the world, companies are continuing to grapple with ongoing back and forth, yo-yo restrictions and changes in the office. As some countries come out of lockdowns, others go back in, forcing businesses and employees to quickly adapt and reintroduce legal capacity counts in the workplace. Hybrid work is one of the more popular ones. 

These changes often take their toll on staff, who are required to regularly relocate their office set-ups, coordinate home-schooling for children or readjust to a constantly changing environment.

We know now that hybrid working, involving both remote working and office working, is here to stay. But not all employees are interested in returning to the office– many workplaces have witnessed increasing pushback from staff as they confirm they would prefer to not incorporate daily commutes and white-box dividers in their day-to-day roles.

Apple, for example, recently declared staff at their Cupertino office will be required to return to the office for at least three days a week.

Despite not being a full five-day return to the workplace, the company received an uproar from staff in the form of a collaborative letter from employees that highlighted increasing concern about Apple’s return-to-work policy, which forced some colleagues to quit.

Opinions about returning to work differ across the globe, with staff in both the US and UK pushing back on office returns, while counterparts in Germany, France, Italy, Mexico, Singapore and Spain have noted a greater willingness to return.

So how can businesses appropriately manage ongoing restrictions while ensuring the majority of the workforce are happy, or that they won’t quit? It is crucial that we can take learnings from a newly introduced approach to working.

We need to give staff the agency to be able to make their own decisions about where the best place is to work– for them.

Also Read: Hybrid work is the way to go for Malaysia, and this is how leaders can get the most of it

Reframing of the office: converting it into a co-working space

A powerful and successful way of doing this is to reframe the way we view the office by converting it into a coworking space. Coworking spaces are highly collaborative workplaces where people come to because they want to be there.

There is a significant element of joy when staff can go to a home away from home, surrounded by an environment that inspires them and not feel confined by the traditional nine-to-five space that is too often un-stimulating and uninspiring.

We have an opportunity to provide spaces for staffers that directly influence them to feel more motivated to be there. The creative atmosphere of coworking office spaces has been proven to directly raise productivity.

When staff is confined to restrictive cubicles, they often forget they work within a large group of like-minded individuals. In an open office like a co-working space, employees can move around the workplace to find the best areas to work and bump into colleagues. 

By experimenting with different spaces in the office, staff are also encouraged to recognise when they may be naturally losing focus and can choose to move to a spot that works for them.

They can find a preferred desk, choose to opt-in for a permanent desk, find space to have “huddles” on certain topics, or simply come in for a coffee with a colleague.

These spaces also remove the element of feeling the pressure to impress managers and staff can instead concentrate on doing their job without either feeling the distraction of working from home or hitting walls when they are forced to work in the same space for a full day.

It allows staff to feel that they are a part of something much bigger, within a community, working towards a greater purpose.

Also Read: From our community: About being a startup mentor, hybrid work models, emerging tech hub in SEA and more

Let your employees decide when they want to come to the office

In what may seem contradictory to productivity, we’ve witnessed a dramatic increase in motivation and quality of work execution when staff are given the option to decide when they want to come in. 

If they only have important meetings in the morning, they can choose to come in for in-person meetings with colleagues or managers and decide if they’d like to complete the rest of their work from home.

We’ve created space for more social environments, where staff can find a location to create a divide between work and life. Staff can come in for a casual coffee catch-up, to brainstorm at a café, or socialise through fun, end-of-day rapport-building activities. 

From karaoke to painting, or music jamming, employees can come together in environments that stimulate them in a way that sits outside of the work environment. This helps build a workplace culture of community, rather than just work.

We have an opportunity to rethink the office, to create a better workplace experience for our staff. We know people who like their workplace are more engaged, more productive, and they stick around longer. Why wouldn’t we take this opportunity and do something with it? 

Consider the core purpose of the office

Is the office just a place for managers to see if their staff are doing work? Can work only be done if staff are being watched and observed? We know that micromanagement is toxic to engagement and productivity.

Good workplaces avoid micromanagement from the get-go – but we can also design office experiences that help individuals and teams have greater agency, motivation and ownership over their own work. 

Throughout the lifetime that was pre-COVID-19, the office was undeniably the place for all work. But forced isolation and remote working has taught us that staff do not need to execute long commutes just to do their work. It is no longer a necessity to sit within a box just so that we can pop our head over a cubicle to have a conversation with an employee.

It’s important for us to ask ourselves what problems the office is solving, and what opportunities it presents.

To come to the conclusion and prove that a co-working space conversion boosts productivity, we asked our team members directly what they wanted from their office experience.

Some responded that they wanted to work at home some of the time, while others wanted to spend more time at the office. The most important factor was that they wanted to make that decision on their own terms.

Also Read: The hybrid work model will outlast the pandemic. But will one model fit all?

Employees want three main things from their office:

  • To be a part of something bigger, experiencing a community feeling that working for a company with a strong vision gives.
  • The decision about whether to work face-to-face or via online platforms depends on what the goal of the task or project is. For some meetings, like a project kick-off or a problem-solving workshop, a face-to-face meeting can help the meeting flow better. But collaborating online is often sufficient for weekly collaborative sessions.
  • The ability to to informally collaborate and run into colleagues within a face-to-face environment: some of the strongest ideas come out of serendipitous idea-sharing and collaboration. 

It is our role as leaders to respond to what employees need. People want team spaces and meeting spaces. They also want somewhere they can have a remote meeting or work quietly for themselves for a while. They want open spaces where they can bump into people.

Most importantly, they want places that foster connection and community, and it is important to listen to staff to identify what they need and facilitate these spaces with intent. This is how staff can remain motivated and stay within a team that helps them work to their best potential.

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast or infographic

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

Image credit: amenic181

The post A new approach to hybrid working: Let the employees decide when, how and where to work appeared first on e27.

Posted on

How we increased our investor engagement by 10x with one small change

 

investor relations

As a startup founder, you should not only focus on new fundraising but also taking care of your existing investors, keeping them engaged and updated on your company, amongst the hundreds of others in their portfolio. Yet building connections and relationships, which are key elements of investor engagement, are tough when physical meetings are restricted.

It was especially challenging for me when we pivoted from the travel space to working on remote productivity during the pandemic. There were many fast, moving parts that everyone got lost while reading the monthly updates while we build RewardNation from scratch.

Emails and calls alone don’t cut it anymore

For investor engagement, we’ve always sent monthly email updates to our shareholders, who are spread across three continents. But when you’ve not met for almost two years, an email with some bullet points feels impersonal and cold.

We also do video calls to catch up and have discussions with our shareholders and are fortunate to have so many smart and kind people to learn from. But these conversations are infrequent, happen only when we reach out for help, and mainly one-to-one.

Which got me thinking: How can we make the best out of this group of brilliant individuals, and keep all of them connected and engaged even remotely?

Creating instant engagement loops

Turns out, the solution was in our hands all along. Although it’s mainly used by larger remote teams, we created an account on RewardNation and invited our group of shareholders to it. Instantly engage even the busiest investor.

Anyone can send a recognition message instantly with just a quick text. Low effort, instant results.

Also Read: Active investors get a special feature in brand new Investor Side Widget

When we added everyone into the account, I was shocked (and elated) that our shareholders started engaging on it without any prompts!

We’ve also been using it to thank individuals for their help. It’s the least we can do, and makes everyone feel good too.

See what other shareholders’ been up to

With all recognition messages being published publicly, everyone is now connected on the platform with frequent and full visibility on company happenings, while not being spammed unnecessarily.

 

You will only receive an email notification when someone gives you a recognition.

Keeping it fun with custom rewards

With RewardNation ultimately being built for remote team productivity and motivation, there’s also a Rewards component on the platform. Users can turn their recognition points into either unique Company Rewards, or choose from 1,000 gift cards worldwide.

For our shareholders, we customised some just-for-fun Company Rewards (as seen above), simply to give everyone a laugh.

They been loving it so far, and this has been a great way to keep our support network connected in a more informal way, instead of just a few bullet points in monthly emails as per the usual investor engagement approach.

(Screenshot from a message sent by a shareholder, photo changed)

This is no substitute for the human connections formed during coffee meetings, dinner drinks, and office parties.

But it helped me learn how to build community in a different way during the COVID-19-era, and I’m happy to be able to keep even the busiest of our shareholders engaged.

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast or infographic

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

The post How we increased our investor engagement by 10x with one small change appeared first on e27.

Posted on

Connecting to Investors is made easier for you with the new Investor page!

Fundraising startups especially in their early stages often struggle to get connected with investors. Some of them are not even given the chance to pitch their products and services to investors for various reasons. One of the biggest challenges is the warm introductions — general platforms just don’t support an easy and more targeted way of connecting with investors. This is why we keep improving what we do. 

We just launched a new look for the Investor Directory page! With this new look, Pro members (don’t worry about getting a Pro membership, you may try it for 14 days – free!) are now able to send the Connect requests to as many investors in a much easier way! No need to click through each profile since the Connect button is already visible in the main page. 

Here’s a snapshot of the new look:

 

Also, we’ve added the Recommended Investors below. This is to ensure more targeted Connections. The page recommends investors relevant to your company whether it be the vertical, or funding stage. 

We made these changes with the aim to make your fundraising journey more efficient, and hopefully make more meaningful connections. 

Are you currently fundraising and looking to Connect to investors? When the investor views your fundraising information and agrees to Connect, we’ll handle the warm introductions! Pro membership allows you to Connect to as many investors and get the chance to pitch your product.

Are you an investor looking for your next portfolio company? e27 Connect is for you! Create or Claim your investor profile on e27 and start receiving Connect requests from the most innovative tech companies in Asia. We’ve got the fundraising information, pitch deck and introductions covered!

– –

Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

The post Connecting to Investors is made easier for you with the new Investor page! appeared first on e27.

Posted on

In Brief: Culture Amp snags US$100M; Valar Ventures injects US$25M in Vauld

Didier Elzinga, CEO and co-founder of Culture Amp

Didier Elzinga, CEO and co-founder of Culture Amp

Culture Amp raises US$100M from TDM Growth and Sequoia

The story: Employee experience platform Culture Amp has received fresh funding of US$100 million in a Series F round co-led by TDM Growth Partners (TDM) and Sequoia Capital China, setting its valuation at over US$1.5 billion.

Lead investors: TDM Growth Partners (TDM) and Sequoia Capital China. Besides, this round also sees the participation of a new investor, Salesforce Ventures, and existing investors Felicis Ventures, Blackbird Ventures, Index Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Skip Capital, Grok Ventures, and Global Founders Capital.

Plan: The firm noted in its statement that it would use the funds to broaden its clientele. We are contacting the firm for further details. 

What is Culture Amp?

Founded in 2011, Culture Amp has been drawing on its 10 years of innovation to utilise behavioural science and data analytics to help businesses personalise the employee performance management process. With offices in the US, UK, and Australia, the firm is now supporting over 4,000 organisations with 25 million employees across the world. Salesforce, Unilever, PwC, KIND, SoulCycle, and BigCommerce are named as some of their clients. 

The business achieved over US$100 million in recurring income last year. Besides, its revenue is reported at US$45.8 million, according to the document filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.  

Last year, Forbes listed Culture Amp as one of the world’s top 100 private cloud companies in the world.

Also Read: Sequoia Surge’s new cohort comprises a vegan makeup startup, an innovative email marketing platform and more

India’ Vauld secures US$25M funding led by Valar Ventures

The story: Vauld, the worldwide platform for generating wealth with cryptocurrency, announced today that it has received a $25 million Series A investment.

Lead investor: Valar Ventures. Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, CMT Digital, Gumi Cryptos, Robert Leshner, Cadenza Capital, and others also took part in the round.

Plan: A part of the capital will be used to drive international growth and licensing as long as its retail crypto banking and investing platform expansion. The company also plans to strengthen the team by getting at least a hundred new roles onboard. 

What is Vauld?

Headquartered in Singapore, Vauld partners with Binance and Bitgo to build an asset-backed borrowing and lending platform for crypto wealth which currently supports over 30 cryptocurrencies. 

The company claims to provide the best rates for earning interest by lending cryptocurrency, up to 12.68 per cent annual percentage yield with weekly payments. There will be no deposit or withdrawal fees and no fixed cap on users’ daily withdrawals. 

From 1Q21 to 2Q21, the firm’s assets under management increased by 124.4 per cent quarter-over-quarter. Last year, its worldwide user base was said to have grown by more than 200 times, reaching people in more than 160 countries. 

The company has raised $27 million USD total capital since inception.

Also Read: How ASEAN is shaping up to be a blockchain frontrunner

Facebook Veteran Andy Hwang serves as JobHopin’s Board Advisor

The story: Andy Hwang, former Director of Business Integrity at Facebook, is announced to be an angel investor and officially set his foot on the advisory board of JobHopin, a Vietnam’s career management and recruitment platform 

Plan: Andy Hwang will mentor and advise JobHopin alongside other active Board Advisors including Johan Nyvene, the founding CEO of HSC- 2nd, and Thomas Hornbeck, a serial tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Silicon Valley venture-backed Got It!.

What is JobHopin?

Founded in 2016 in Vietnam, JobHopin offers consumers real-time market intelligence by analyzing data from both online and offline sources. It claims to provide recruiters with more than 2.1 million digital profiles together with solutions for 4,000 companies and 10,000 recruiters hiring across the country. 

The firm is said to have grown its sales by more than 300 per cent year over year since the beginning of 2018. Earlier this year, JobHopin raised US$2.45 million in a Series A round co-led by South Korea’s SEMA Translink and KK Fund, increasing the total capital injection to more than $3 million since its inception.

Andy Hwang, the new angel investor and member of JobHopin’s advisory board, is a Singapore-based angel investor and business counsellor with 10 years of working experience at Facebook. He helped Facebook launch in Singapore and across Asia and supports businesses to secure and build trusted connections with people. 

Also Read: Monk’s Hill Ventures head of talent’s guide to startup jobs search in Singapore

East Ventures’s initiative IDPB Safeguards Oxygen raises US$1M to support COVID-19 fight in Indonesia

The story: Indonesia PASTI BISA (IDPB) Safeguards Oxygen, an initiative by East Ventures, just finished a two-week fundraising campaign that received US$1,202,709 from 788 individual and corporate donors.

Plan: The money generated will be utilised to provide 1,450 oxygen concentrators to hospitals in Indonesia that are in need. IDPB Safeguards Oxygen is seeking to raise another US$10 million as part of the larger ongoing initiative Oxygen for Indonesia. 

Corporate donors: Individual and corporate donors, including Indonesia’s e-commerce unicron Bukalapak, media conglomerate EMTEK, among others.

Indonesia PASTI BISA (IDPB) Safeguards Oxygen

Indonesia PASTI BISA (IDPB) Safeguards Oxygen is an initiative by East Ventures. Image Credit: East Ventures

 What is IDPB Safeguards Oxygen?

Collaborating with three companies backed by East Ventures – Bonza, Waresix, and Advotics, IDPB Safeguards Oxygen is a contribution platform that provides end-to-end solutions to assist the country’s efforts to eradicate COVID-19. 

It employs Bonza’s data platform to map and forecast oxygen demand throughout Indonesia, and Waresix’s distribution network to get the oxygen concentrators to the people who need them. Following then, Advotics assists in tracking the progress of each oxygen concentrator ordered till it arrives at the target hospitals.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Health is currently using the platform’s contribution monitoring system to disburse relief funding, and IDPB Safeguards Oxygen has delivered 1,600 oxygen concentrators on behalf of the Ministry of Health as of July 28, 2021.

Temasek Foundation, the Ministry of Health of Indonesia, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Singapore, IndoTech SG, the Indonesian Professionals Association Singapore (IPA SG), and KawalCOVID19 are notable partners of the initiative.

Image Credit: Culture Amp

The post In Brief: Culture Amp snags US$100M; Valar Ventures injects US$25M in Vauld appeared first on e27.