Banking major DBS and Singapore sovereign fund Temasek have signed an agreement to jointly launch EvolutionX Debt Capital, a US$500-million development-stage debt financing platform. 

Based in Singapore, EvolutionX aims to accelerate growth and nurture the next generation of technology leaders.

It will invest in ventures originating from an increasingly digital economy, spanning sectors such as financial services, consumer, healthcare, education, and industrial development. 

EvolutionX is currently focusing on offering non-dilutive funding to development stage technology-enabled businesses in China, India, and Southeast Asia, among others.

DBS’s worldwide banking networks will leverage Temasek’s investment experience to further catalyse Asia’s fast-growing technology ecosystem through EvolutionX.

Also Read: Temasek invests in Forge to help grow its private securities marketplace beyond US

The platform will currently be co-led by joint interim CEOs, namely Amit Sinha, Group Head (Telecoms, Media and Technology), Institutional Banking Group at DBS, and Aftab Mathur, Director of Investment (Innovation) at Temasek. It will appoint a full-time CEO in the coming months.

“We aim to provide a meaningful alternative for technology-focused growth companies in Asia that may face debt funding needs between the venture debt and late-stage debt financing phases,” said Rohit Sipahimalani, Chief Investment Strategist at Temasek. 

According to Tan Su Shan, Head of Institutional Banking at DBS, growth debt is quickly gaining traction as an alternative form of funding for high-growth technology businesses that have previously relied only on equity financing. This provides more resources to nurture and finance the growth of Asia’s future unicorns.  

“Apart from helping founder entrepreneurs avoid dilution of share equity in the company’s initial stages of development, growth debt also serves as a complementary tool to tide these companies, which are often cash strapped, through the unexpected market and economic headwinds by extending their cash runway,” added Shan.

Temasek currently offers venture debt to early-stage tech startups via Innoven Capital.

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Image Credit: Temasek

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Malaysia is the latest to join the countries taking action against Binance as its market regulator has ordered the company to cease operations in the country.

The cryptocurrency exchange is accused of illegally operating in the country by the Securities Commission (SC) of Malaysia.

The commission has issued a public reprimand against the firm, its CEO Zhao Changpeng, and its three entities registered in the UK, Lithuania, and Singapore.

Also Read: How Binance acquired 35 per cent market share in a year with its new crypto derivatives line

All these four entities have been ordered to cease operations, including their media and marketing activities in Malaysia, within 14 business days from 26 July 2021.

It means that the exchange can no longer circulate, publish, and send advertisements and other marketing material to Malaysian investors.

The market regulator has also advised investors to stop dealing with and investing through Binance. In addition, people who have accounts with the exchange have been warned to cease trading through its platforms and withdraw their investments immediately.

The order also restricts Malaysian investors from accessing Binance’s Telegram group.

Also Read: Thailand’s Brooker Group to invest US$48M into Binance, Uniswap, other DeFi projects

Binance has been under immense pressure from the market regulators of various countries across the globe. Last month, Italy’s financial regulator issued a warning against Binance after it was found out that the platform was not authorised to offer services in the country.

Apart from Italy, countries like Germany, Poland, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, the US, and the UK are also on a collision course with the exchange.

Early last months, Barclays customers in the UK were blocked from transferring funds to Binance after the latter faced heat from global regulators. The bank told customers they would no longer be able to send credit and debit card payments to Binance.

Meanwhile, the crypto exchange has announced plans to shut down crypto derivatives trading in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

As per Cruncbase, since its inception, Binance has raised a total of US$35 million in funding over 10 rounds from investors including Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India.

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Image Credit: Binance

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Get to meet 30 of India’s most promising startups at the 9Unicorns and Venture Catalysts D Day, happening on Aug 11-13. Click here to reserve your slot.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the new buzzword in everyone’s mind. The impact of AI in our lives has surpassed common understanding, due partly to the grave misrepresentation in many sci-fi movies depicting the innovation as something inherently opposed to mankind. The horrific ‘Man vs Machine’ trope used in most of them has cluttered our minds. In order to fully appreciate such innovation and maximise its potential, we must first understand exactly what is AI.

AI is a branch of computer science that involves the simulation of human intelligence in machines. These cognitive traits can be thinking, perceiving, learning, problem-solving, and decision making that enables the machines to work as efficiently as humans. It works on the principle of machine learning and deep learning where computer programs can automatically learn from new data and perform like humans.

Understanding the boom

The latest release of the International Data Corporation of Worldwide Semi-annual Artificial Intelligence estimates that the revenue for the artificial intelligence market, is expected to grow 16.4% year over year in 2021 to $327.5 billion.

Also read: How Thailand’s Ricult uses deep tech to improve the lives of smallholder farmers

By 2024, the AI market might grow beyond the $500 billion mark with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.5% and total revenues reaching an impressive $554.3 billion.

The NITI Aayog estimates that adopting AI means a 15% boost for the gross value added (GVA) for the Indian economy by 2035.

The age of AI

AI can increase access and affordability of quality healthcare. In the field of agriculture, AI can contribute towards enhancing farmers’ income, increasing farm productivity, and reducing wastage. It can also improve access and quality of education. It can be leveraged to build efficient infrastructure for the increasing urban population like developing smarter and safer modes of transportation to address traffic and congestion problems.

Promising young startups offering unique AI solutions

Let us look at some new-age AI-based solutions to have a better understanding:

Janani.life: Founded by Nilay Mehrotra, Janani.life is a sexual dysfunction and infertility treatment provider based in Bangalore. It seeks to marry medical care with the latest technology so that it becomes easy to conceive. By leveraging AI a tool is being built so that embryologists can work with objectivity while choosing the right embryo. This will in turn improve the success rate of IVF thereby decreasing costs.

Alpha AI: Not everyone is an expert in the machine learning tools and algorithms which form the bedrock of AI. As businesses are making the smart choice to shift to AI-driven technologies, they need to develop the right strategy tailored to market conditions.

Alpha AI which has the required expertise and experience in the design, deployment, and application in this field steps in to help businesses design as well as redesign the AI system based on the prevalent business needs. It also provides corporate training and mentoring for the same.

AI for all

AI is going to be a gigantic disruptor in this globalised world. Contrary to the public sentiment which jumps to false conclusions that Artificial Learning will lead to large scale loss of jobs one needs to look deep and understand the new talent that would be created in the field of new-age technology and the new jobs that would be added to the market that would, in turn, lead to value creation.

As the 4th Industrial Revolution is around the corner India should embrace AI with an open mind and transform itself to a knowledge-based economy. The aim should be to support more start-ups and creative ideas to ensure that we do not miss the bus and everyone can reap the benefits of this new technology.

Leveraging AI for a better future

As we move forward towards an increasingly digital world, AI’s place in improving human life will only take on a progressively prominent role in society. As we are ushered into this era, startups with promising AI solutions will be key in defining our collective success as a people.

Also read: CloudMile raises US$20M to expand: accelerating the digital transformation agenda in Asia

Janani.life and Alpha AI are only some of today’s most promising startups that help us leverage AI to improve the conditions of many people across different sectors. Through these unique solutions, we are able to intelligently approach different issues concerning various important aspects of human life including healthcare, business, and media.

These startups will be pitching at the 9Unicorns Venture Catalysts demo day with 12 other up-and-coming startups offering their own unique products and services. Join them on August 11 and 12 to connect with some of the most promising young startups in a virtual networking session. To learn more, visit their official page here.

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Photo by Tara Winstead from Pexels

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by 9Unicorns

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.

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MadEats, a cloud kitchen startup based in the Philippines, has secured US$125,000 in funding from the Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator Y Combinator.

Manila-headquartered MadEats is the first cloud kitchen startup to be selected for the prestigious programme.

The foodtech venture also disclosed that it is currently in talks to raise a 7-figure USD in seed funding. “We have already raised one-fourth of this amount from some angel investors and former YC alumni. We target to close this round by September this year,” co-founder and CEO Mikee Villareal told e27.

Also Read: How Philippine cloud kitchen industry is piggybacking on the country’s unique food culture, shifting customer behaviour

In November 2020, MadEats bagged an undisclosed sum in pre-seed investment, led by Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen, with the participation of Paymongo co-founder Luis Sia.

MadEats was launched in November 2020 by an all-female founding team of Villareal, Andie Cruz (CMO), and Keisha Lao (CPO) — who have been working in the F&B industry throughout their career.

An on-demand delivery-only restaurant group, it builds its food concepts, takes orders from its virtual storefront, and fulfills deliveries with its fleet of riders.

Since its launch in November, MadEats has launched three brands — Yang Gang, a Korean fried chicken shop; Chow Time, a Chinese takeout; and Fried Nice.

The company will soon launch its fourth concept focused on coffee. “We will launch high-quality coffee at affordable prices (Dot Coffee) and smash burgers, which are big competitive food categories in the Philippines,” Villareal said. The objective is to open five delivery-only brands by year-end.

The foodtech startup will also roll out a mobile app to enable consumers to order products and have them home-delivered.

“We hope to build the underlying infrastructure of ghost kitchens in Southeast Asia by creating products that are engineered specifically for delivery that can scale much faster with the help of technology,” Villareal shared.

MadEats will also be scaling its cloud kitchens across the Philippines in the recent future.

Also Read: All female-led MadEats ropes in Tinder co-founder as investor to scale its internet food brands in Philippines

“So far, well over half of our revenue comes from our madeats.co platform. We hope to expand our operations to different areas in the Philippines by the end of the year and expand to other regions in Southeast Asia in the next few years. By integrating tech into all facets of our business, the focus of MadEats is to add value to the customer’s experience,” the CEO remarked.

The Philippine food delivery market is growing exponentially (~48 per cent y-o-y growth), the fastest in Southeast Asia, and is projected to hit US$8 billion by 2025. This growth is attributed mainly to the pandemic. With many of the country’s major cities still under lockdown and the resumption of dine-in services is uncertain, customers prefer ordering food online and have it home-delivered.

The cloud kitchen industry is still in its infancy in the Philippines when compared with fast-growing markets such as the US, the Middle East, and India, and even neighbouring Singapore and Indonesia. Grab was the first to introduce the cloud kitchen concept when it opened GrabKitchens in 2019. Grab has since been building more kitchens, some of which are built together with smaller startups as a co-branded kitchen, where these startups build the kitchen and Grab operates the digital front.

Other startups operating in the virtual kitchen space are Kraver’s Canteen (which aims to help brands navigate the different ways cloud kitchens can be used to grow their brands), and CloudEats (which is more geared towards the development of private label brands).

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Image Credit: MadEats

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We are thrilled to announce that we are working with X-PITCH 2021 to provide startups with access to e27 Pro.

X-PITCH 2021 is the XGames for startups wherein participants will be going through three levels of pitching (15 seconds, 60 seconds, and 3minutes) for a chance to win up to US$1 million investment prizes.

Organised by Taiwan Accelerator, X-PITCH highlights the New Normal in the post-pandemic world; participating teams should focus on applications and services that enable digital transformation around five major categories of the New Normal. Nine awards will be presented on the Grand Finale Day on November 11, 2021.

Also read: These Artificial Intelligence startups are proving to be industry game-changers

This partnership with Taiwan Accelerator for X-PITCH 2021 is just the first in our initiative to work with accelerators and startup ecosystem enablers to further assist startups’ engagements and conversations with regional investors.

Opportunities to build your investor network

Over the past couple of months, we have served over 3,000 connections between startups and investors through e27 Pro’s Connect feature.

In this new normal, there is a distinctive lack of ability for different parts of the Southeast Asia tech ecosystem to reach out to each other.

We used to have thousands of offline activities happening monthly, connecting various local and regional ecosystems, connecting startups, corporates, governments, and investors. Even our very own Echelon used to bring in more than 10,000 people over two days to achieve these meaningful, often serendipitous, connections.

This is a real pain, especially if you are new to the ecosystem and do not have existing networks that can introduce you to new ones. Online webinars and conferences seem to alleviate this issue temporarily, but we find that the startup ecosystem requires more.

Also read: CloudMile raises US$20M to expand: accelerating the digital transformation agenda in Asia

e27’s mission has always been to empower entrepreneurs with the tools to build and grow their companies. With e27 Pro, we’re going back to our roots and helping startups with their fundraising by providing a platform that allows not only discovery but a tool to begin conversations with investors and update them on their progress.

With over 300 verified active investors on the platform, e27 Pro members have in their reach the ability to find, connect, and engage with investors that are right for them (not a Pro member yet? Start here).

Get the chance to connect with Taiwan Accelerator

Taiwan Accelerator is formerly known as Taiwan Elevator Pitch, where contestants made their pitch in a high-speed elevator ride at TAIPEI 101.

They are the first seed accelerator in Taiwan and an active early-stage investment firm. Taiwan Accelerator is onboard e27 Pro, and members can reach out to them via Connect.

Any e27 Pro member can simply visit Taiwan Accelerator’s profile and click the Connect button to get the ball rolling.

For startups interested to join X-PITCH 2021, you can send in your application until August 31 by clicking here.

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Image credit: Michael Burrows from Pexels

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