E-commerce enabler aCommerce files for IPO in Thailand
aCommerce plans to list its shares on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Thailand and looks to sell up to 40 per cent of its shares; It has appointed Siam Commercial Bank as is its lead underwriter; To date, aCommerce has secured US$118.8M in venture funding.

Grab to buy Malaysia’s Jaya Grocer
Grab has agreed to buy all the ordinary shares and 75% of the preference shares of Jaya Grocer; The retail grocery store started back in December 2007 and has since grown to run 40 stores across Peninsular Malaysia, according to Grab.

Indonesia to launch US$300M Merah Putih Fund for ‘soonicorns’
Merah Putih Fund is backed by state-owned enterprises; Some of its initial investors are Mandiri Capital, BRI Ventures, MDI Ventures, and Telkom Mitra Inovasi; GudangAda, Kopi Kenangan, SiCepat, Social Bella, Ruangguru, and 20 more firms are estimated to be soonunicorns.

HK accelerator Brinc lands US$130M funding led by Animoca Brands to foray into Web3
Brinc will launch new blockchain-focused accelerator programmes across culture, music, art, collectibles, gaming, decentralised finance and data; In 2021, Brinc and Animoca jointly unveiled the blockchain and NFT accelerator Launchpad Luna, which is in the process of funding 30 Web3 firms.

‘Bloomberg for digital assets’ Nansen bags US$75M Series B
Investors are Accel Partners, GIC, a16z, Tiger Global, and SCB 10X; Nasen helps investors make informed decisions around project discovery, due diligence, and trading; It analyses on-chain data points, wallet labels, and entities on blockchains such as Ethereum, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, Fantom, Avalanche, and Celo.

Vulcan Capital leads social music platform BandLab’s US$53M Series B round
K3 Ventures and Caldecott Music Group also participated; BandLab is a next-generation social music creation platform, which supports creators of all kinds of sophistication levels, from first-time creators to Grammy-winning producers.

Binance, MDI Ventures form JV to set up new crypto exchange in Indonesia
Binance will provide asset management infrastructure and technology to support the development of the new exchange platform; Last year, Binance acquired a controlling stake in Tokocrypto, a government-approved platform for trading cryptocurrency assets in Indonesia.

Bukalapak, BRI Ventures back Yield Guild Games SEA’s US$15M financing round
YGG SEA will support locally developed play-to-earn games in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand; So far, YGG SEA has helped more than 2,500 players and investors in the region to generate additional revenue streams, including over 600 in Thailand.

1982 Ventures hits US$12.5M initial close of Fund I, to back 30 seed-stage startups
Its investors include US-based Carta, Genting Group’s venture arm, First Close Partners, and Trihill; 1982 Ventures, which targets to raise a total corpus of US$15M, has already invested in 11 companies, including Brick, Infina, Homebase, Bluesheets, and Wagely.

YouTube co-founder, Alpha JWC, AC Ventures back Otoklix’s US$10M funding round
Otoklix allows vehicle owners to discover services at any recommended independent workshop nearby and receive a warranty for any transactions at its partner workshop in Indonesia; It plans to establish its own O2O managed flagship workshops throughout Indonesia.

Sustainability-focused social commerce startup abillion nets US$10M Series A
Investors include 1/0 Capital, Mamoru Taniya and Bradley Busetto; The startup plans to build a P2P marketplace within the abillion app that enables consumers to sell sustainable products and services to each other.

Reciki raises funding from Circulate Capital to set up new waste management facilities in Indonesia
Reciki recovers and distributes almost all materials: high-value plastics, low-value plastics, organic waste and other recyclables; With the new funds, Reciki plans to set up several more facilities across Indonesia, with the ambition to process more than 1,000 tonnes of waste per day.

East Ventures backs Indonesia’s data-powered supply chain solution startup Praktis
Triputra Group also participated; Praktis helps D2C brands manage their backend operations, covering sourcing and production activities, logistic and fulfilment, and order management systems.

Foodpanda, HungryPanda brawl over trademark dispute
Foodpanda said that HungryPanda’s trademarks are visually similar to that of its own; The former added that the panda visual is distinct for Foodpanda because of heavy advertising and its usage over a long period.

Women-only social media startup Eve World buys SG femtech firm Femcy
Femcy offers a digital solutions platform for Asian women to improve their menstrual health; Eve World, scheduled for a public launch by the end of Q1 2022, will feature multi-format content and communities around women-centric issues, along with elements like social commerce, e-commerce, and brand stores.

Zoomcar to pump US$25M into Philippine launch
The startup has picked Gene Angelo Ferrer, the former country manager of logistics firm MrSpeedy, as its country head; Earlier this month, the firm launched its operations in Vietnam; This rollout is part of its US$100M expansion plan into the SEA market for the next 2-3 years.

—

The post Ecosystem Roundup: A US$300M govt. fund for Indonesian soonicorns; aCommerce files for IPO, Brinc nets US$130M funding appeared first on e27.

Singapore-based Nansen, a provider of an analytics platform for blockchain, has received US$75 million in a Series B financing round led by Accel Partners.

GIC, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Tiger Global, SCB 10X, Amplify Partners, L1 Digital, Cristóbal Conde (chairman of Fimatix), Skyfall Ventures, Folius Ventures, Old Fashion Research, Adam White (president of Bakkt), Ryan Rabaglia (Libra Capital Ventures), Prabhakar Reddy (co-founder of FalconX), Anastasia Andrianova (CEO of Akropolis), and Ameet Patel also joined this round.

Nansen will utilise the capital for growth, hiring, and developing new product offerings for retail and institutional customers. It also plans to expand its global presence by adding innovative platform features and multichain integrations.

“We’re ready for a new phase of growth, accelerating our international expansion, scaling up our data capabilities to support the wider blockchain ecosystem, and providing global investors with a world-class product to explore the latest crypto trends and make more informed decisions,” said Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik.

Also Read: Blockchain and Bitcoin for business 101 with Justin Renken

Nansen is a blockchain analytics platform that enriches on-chain data with millions of wallets labels. It lets users see where funds are moving to, identify new projects or tokens, and trace transactions down to the granular level. This way, it enables them to make informed decisions before investing in a new crypto project or token.

In addition, the platform lets users create smart alerts and track when and where a wallet address has been moving their funds. They can also analyse the real-time behaviour of the largest crypto investors.

The firm claims it analyses and labels over 100 million Ethereum wallets and their activity.

In June this year, Nansen raised a Series A round of investment. Since then, it has expanded its blockchain support from Ethereum and Polygon, including Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Fantom, Avalanche, Celo and Ronin. It also claims to have increased its coverage to 100 million-plus wallet labels across multiple blockchains.

Nansen has also added a new institutional product line, including Nansen API and Nansen Query.

“This is just the beginning, and we plan to introduce product lines for new audiences and scale even further. Institutional customers will be able to access market-leading on-chain data programmatically via Nansen API and Nansen Query. Protocol teams will be able to publish and access on-chain product analytics via the Nansen Ecosystem offering. Individual investors and crypto funds will see major improvements to Nansen Standard and Nansen Alpha, including support for 10+ blockchains,” Svanevik added.

—

The post Nansen raises US$75M to help users make informed decisions before investing in crypto, tokens appeared first on e27.

On Wednesday, music tech startup Soundbrenner announced that it had raised a US$1.5 million funding from Choco Up, a Singapore- and Hong Kong-based revenue-based financing (RBF) and growth platform. 

Originally founded in Germany, Soundbrenner has built the world’s first wearable device for musicians, and it intends to use the funding to support its global expansion plan. This development is among the latest investments that Choco Up has announced.

Founded in 2018, Choco Up offers flexible non-dilutive funding solutions across eight countries and ten sectors. It builds a data-driven fintech platform that leverages data analytics to automate growth fund deployment and risk management –while not losing the human touch that it provides for its portfolio companies.

But how exactly do they achieve that balance? 

In this interview with e27, CEO and co-founder Percy Hung explains how Choco Up sets itself apart from similar platforms, the kind of support it gives to entrepreneurs, and what is next for the company. He also explains the story behind its unique name.

A human touch

RBF is an alternative financing model in which companies raise capital based on future revenue. In this concept, RBF platforms such as Choco Up put up funds for companies’ growth in exchange for a regular share or a certain percentage of the recipient companies’ revenue.

Hung begins the interview by explaining the difference between RBF platforms in mature markets like the US, Europe, and Asia.

Also Read: In brief: Taiwan’s XREX rakes in US$17M, Malaysia’s Poptron raises funding from Choco-Up

“The big difference is that, in the Western world, [the fundraising process with RBF] is already fully automated. People go to the platform, apply, plug in their own API, draw some data … then they will be offered options of funding. It’s very seamless and very quick,” Hung explains. “Whereas in Asia, it is still something new. It takes a bit of time for Asia to catch up with what the West is doing.”

In short, there is still urgency for trust-building through face-to-face interaction in Asia.

“Because for an RBF platform user in Asia, if we receive an email or SMS [saying that we have secured funding], we probably think it is a scam. So the trust level needs to be built before people will use an automated system,” Hung says.

He also stresses how founders go through different kinds of problems –which is not something that a machine can solve right away. “So we have the automated part where smaller clients can just go on the platform and apply … but we also have an investment manager who reached out to clients that are a bit more complex.”

This human element also plays a crucial role in promoting the platform in an environment with relatively low trust where the Choco Up team still has to reach out to potential investments. 

While the quantitative elements of the business are being taken care of by the digital platform, the qualitative elements –such as reference checks– are done by the team.

Lastly, besides providing funding for companies, Choco Up also supports them by building an ecosystem of different partners to offer services to their portfolio companies at a discount. The services range from cloud hosting to marketing consultancy.

“We are creating some value chain in this whole ecosystem, not just providing funding for them to work and expand … So we’re a little more holistic [in our approach],” Hung says.

Their role in the ecosystem

This holistic approach also affected Choco Up’s views on its position in the regional startup ecosystem: Hung does not see other investors as their competitors. In contrast, Choco Up see VCs as their partners in building up the ecosystem as they have referred companies to VCs for a potential investment.

“Because we can take some companies past a tough time or go to a different level until they become eligible to use a bank loan, or they become eligible to get funded by VCs,” Hung says.

“I think of them as friends. Because of how we execute and run [our business], we are very different from them as well,” he continues. “In the business world, we are not trying to be your primary form of capital. We could be your complimentary, we could be your safety net, we could be your third option. We’re happy to be there when you need us. So this is what we’re trying to build.”

Also Read: Meet Mars Growth Capital, the next in Asia Pacific to offer debt funding for growth stage tech startups

The founding of Choco Up itself was inspired by the co-founders’ own experience in starting their own companies.

“We did a lot of research and found out that the RBF model could potentially help us. While we were trying to apply for RBF, we both felt like many friends and entrepreneurs around us could use the same service. So we’re like, ‘Hey, why don’t we just try to do it ourselves?’” says Hung.

Choco Up has done around 150-160 deals by the time this interview is published.

When it comes to searching for a potential investment, it is also open to investing in all stages and verticals. The platform typically invests between US$300,000 and US$3 million.

“As much as we prefer all those digital-native businesses, we’re also happy to look at traditional SMBs or offline businesses as well. Because a good business is always a good business, we try not to limit ourselves to which sector or what stages. We funded companies from seed round to pre-IPO. And we have helped some companies to go through the last mile successfully, and they went public after that,” Hung elaborated.

Lastly, would they be able to share the story behind their name?

“Chocolate is an energy booster,” Hung explains. “[The name] also doesn’t mean anything, so it is easier for us to trademark.”

—

Ready to meet new startups to invest in? We have more than hundreds of startups ready to connect with potential investors on our platform. Create or claim your Investor profile today and turn on e27 Connect to receive requests and fundraising information from them.

Image Credit: Choco Up

The post What Choco Up wants you to know about running a revenue-based financing platform in Asia appeared first on e27.

Sleek, a Singapore-based startup providing incorporation and accounting services for SMEs and entrepreneurs, has announced a Series A extension, bringing its total funding raised in this round to US$25 million.

EDBI and existing investors participated in the round that came in both equity and debt.

This tranche comes a month after Sleek’s US$14 million funding co-led by Jungle Ventures and White Star Capital. 

Sleek intends to utilise the new capital for technology and product development and to scale the team for worldwide expansion in existing and new markets.

Also read: How automation and innovation will boost SME success in Singapore

Founded in 2017 by French entrepreneurs Julien Labruyere and Adrien Barthel, Sleek assists business clients in managing back-office operations and seeking expert advice from qualified professionals. 

It automates and integrates company registration, financial and regulatory reporting, bookkeeping, and banking services, enabling entrepreneurs to “go from an idea to an operating company in a day.”

According to the company, the Sleek app allows SMEs to open a deposit account in a day. Businesses can access account data and other company metrics on the Sleek dashboard to streamline bank reconciliation for accounting and bookkeeping purposes.

The startup recently developed Sleek Business Account to simplify opening bank accounts for SMEs. 

As per a press statement, as of November, Sleek has managed a portfolio of over 5,000 businesses that produce US$700 million in sales and complete over 1.4 million accounting transactions in 2020.

Since its inception, Sleek has made inroads into Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the UK, and the Philippines. The firm now targets to expand to markets such as Australia and Europe, where it recently acquired Ltd Companies, also known as Fresh Startups (an incorporation management service provider in the UK), for an undisclosed amount.

Sleek plans to integrate its products and technology stack with Fresh Startups’s existing offerings to create a comprehensive SME-operating system for UK entrepreneurs and enterprises. 

The business also targets to launch solutions that deal with remittances and card issuing.

—

Ready to meet new startups to invest in? We have more than hundreds of startups ready to connect with potential investors on our platform. Create or claim your Investor profile today and turn on e27 Connect to receive requests and fundraising information from them.

Image Credit: Sleek

The post Singapore’s SME services platform Sleeks bags US$11M more to Series A round appeared first on e27.

The world is undergoing a significant shift in the energy sector, from a system based on fossil fuels to renewable sources. Global greenhouse gas emissions have reached a tipping point and are changing the world’s climate.

Singapore responds to various challenges, such as climate change, energy security, and rising energy costs. Over the last 50 years, the country and large parts of the world have moved from oil to natural gas for cleaner power generation. It has also seen an increase in the use of solar energy, particularly on rooftops and reservoirs.

Climate change is reshaping the way people use and produce energy. And energy demand is expected to rise further with accelerating economic development. Singapore’s energy sector will need to evolve to achieve our vision of a clean and efficient future.

Climate change remains high on Singapore’s priority lists, even though Singapore produces just 0.1 per cent of the world’s global greenhouse gas emissions: as an island nation with limited land and people resources and alternative energy sources, deploying renewable energy sources such as solar and wind becomes particularly challenging.

The country’s officials have also been working on carbon market rules, more stringent national emissions reporting, climate action and multilateral discussions on reducing international transport emissions.

Over the next decades, the power industry’s transformation will affect consumers’ daily lives in numerous ways. One of the initiatives under the Singapore Green Plan 2030 aims at encouraging the use of electric vehicles with the provision of 60,000 charging points at public car parks and private premises by the end of this decade.

However, high prices and a lack of charging stations might delay a large-scale switch to EVs for now. There are also only a handful of electric car models available for sale in Singapore, and they come at a high price.

Many moving parts

To address climate change, Singapore will need to direct efforts at harnessing energy from solar and low-carbon alternatives. Petroleum products make up 60 per cent of the primary energy consumption, according to Statista.

Over 96 per cent of electricity is generated from natural gas. By 2030, the city-state aims to achieve at least two gigawatt-peak (GWp) of solar energy—enough to power around 350,000 households for a year, according to National Climate Change Secretariat Singapore.

With open land being a challenge, most solar PV deployments will go on housing buildings, canopies and car parks, and commercial centres, as well as some floating solar PV parks.

Becoming more energy efficient is central to the country’s sustainability efforts.  Singapore is on track to complete the installation of advanced electricity meters for all 1.4 million households by 2024, enabling consumers to monitor their electricity usage via the Singapore Power Utilities mobile app.

Singapore’s approach to alternative energy

Singapore is investing in research and development as well. It is looking to improve the performance of solar PV systems and develop innovative ways of integrating them into the urban environment.

The Housing and Development Board install solar panels on high-rise public housing developments rooftops. The Economic Development Board and Public Utilities Board are building floating PV projects to pilot solar panel installations on water surfaces at reservoirs.

Also Read: KiWi New Energy: Making green energy available to all

To safeguard energy security, the city-state is exploring a variety of different options, including regional power grids standard in other parts of the world like the United States to gain access to cleaner energy produced in neighbouring countries, and the usage of emerging low-carbon alternatives such as low-carbon hydrogen, as well as carbon capture and storage.

Searching for predictability

More renewable and diverse energy sources and increasingly stringent environmental requirements call for clever use of data. Similar trends are playing out in other parts of the world and can offer insight into what Singapore’s power future will look like.

As in Singapore and other parts of the world, extreme heat or cold, major weather events, and demand fluctuations can still cause outages. Utilities need to know where and when to get power to maintain the required grid frequency, particularly if the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.

Renewables are variable. Grid operators must compensate for that variability with as little dependence on fossil fuels as possible.

To meet this complex array of demands, global utilities use data to determine where to allocate their budget for new projects, predict which assets are most likely to fail, and replace them before that happens.

A European multinational power company uses data analytics to predict failures of wind turbines before they happen.

It has built models from past projects and fine-tuned forecasts using live monitoring data. This approach eliminates “gut feel” decisions and reduces maintenance and downtime costs.

Utilities are also turning to analytics to understand the supply and demand, price points, and infrastructure needs to be updated or deferred. The data from a smart meter in a customer’s home or a business premise is being merged with customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) data that the utility has on the customer. This may include billing details, rates, and tariffs, as well as historical credit card information.

Analysing that collected data can help utilities understand whether the customer’s energy usage is going up or down or whether they qualify for rooftop solar. Sifting through demographic information might indicate whether someone is a likely buyer of an electric vehicle.

As the power industry becomes greener, more competitive and complex than ever, the industry must also become smarter. And that can only happen through smarter use of data across the organisation.

At Hitachi, we are working to address some of our time’s biggest social and environmental challenges.

In Singapore, Hitachi Energy is developing a project with Nanyang Technological University and Singapore’s Energy Research Institute to supply battery energy storage and smart controls to Singapore’s first virtual power plant (VPP) to validate methods for integrating more renewable energy onto the city-state’s electricity networks.

The project will help integrate electricity from different distributed energy resources (DERs), including solar, in a way that simulates the workings of a utility-scale power system.

–

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: elxeneize

The post Why sustainable power starts with data appeared first on e27.