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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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1982 Ventures, a Southeast Asia-focused early-stage VC firm based in Singapore, has announced the initial close of its first seed-stage fund with US$12.5 million in committed capital. 

The fund targets to raise a total corpus of US$15 million.

Investors who participated in this first tranche are:

• US-based fintech unicorn Carta.
• Genting Group’s venture arm.
• US fund of funds First Close Partners
• Rally Cap Ventures
• Indonesian family office Trihill.

Family offices based in Southeast Asia, Europe and America; fintech founders; senior executives of tech and financial services companies; Sheel Mohnot, founding general partner of 500 Fintech and Better Tomorrow Ventures; and unnamed GPs of Southeast Asian VC funds also co-invested.

1982 Ventures plans to invest in around 30 seed-stage companies, primarily in fintech in Southeast Asia. The VC firm’s core markets are Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines, alongside other markets such as Pakistan and Bangladesh.

“We have seen the incredible rise of fintech in China, India, Latin America, Africa and the West, and now is the time for Southeast Asian fintech to lead the way,” said Scott Krivokopich, co-founder and managing partner of 1982 Ventures.

Also read: Banks and fintech: An arranged marriage built on trust, but does it last long?

1982 Ventures was launched in early 2020 by Scott and Herston Elton Powers, who were both principals at fintech-focused investor tryb Group.

As of November, it has a portfolio of 11 companies, including Indonesian open banking player Brick, Vietnamese retail investment platform Infina (YC S21), home financing proptech firm Homebase (YC W21), Singaporean automated financial data platform Bluesheets, and Indonesia’s earned wage access platform Wagely.

The firm claims to have achieved a return of over 3x from its early investments.

According to a 2021 SEA e-Conomy report by Google, Bain & Company, and Temasek, Southeast Asia represents immense headroom for fintech growth with a total of 350 million digital consumers and a mass increase in merchant adoption of digital payment. The region has witnessed strong momentum in e-commerce and digital financial services investments. The deal values for digital financial services in H1 2021 alone surpassed those of full-year 2020.

Rapid urbanisation and some of the world’s highest mobile and internet penetration rates are the main drivers for this outlook in Southeast Asia. According to Dealroom, regional fintech startups represent more than US$10 billion in unrealised value, with 100 projected fintech exits in the coming years.

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, has announced the launch of the Merah Putih Fund, targeting soon-to-be unicorns (or soonicorns) with predetermined criteria.

According to his announcement, to be eligible for the funding, startups must be founded by Indonesian nationals, operate in the homeland, have plans to go public domestically, pay taxes, and have a proven track record of fundraising with a valuation of above US$200 million.

Merah Putih Fund is backed by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and slated to raise around US$300 (IDR 4.26 trillion) in H1 2022. Some of its initial investors are Mandiri Capital, BRI Ventures, MDI Ventures, and Telkom Mitra Inovasi. 

Also read: The 27 Indonesian startups that have taken the ecosystem to next level this year

The president also invited other national private sectors to join the Merah Putih Fund.

At the inauguration ceremony of Merah Putih Fund, Jokowi said that Indonesia currently has 2,319 startups, one decacorn (a startup valued at more than US$10 billion), and seven unicorns (startups valued at US$1 billion).

“Without funding, they [soonicorns] could lose that potential,” said SOE Minister Erick Thohir at the “Digital Generation Acceleration” event. He is one of the initiators of the fund.

As of September last year, 52 local startups successfully raised a total of US$1.9 billion, according to the Indonesian Venture Capital and Startup Association (Amvesindo). GudangAda,  Kopi Kenangan, SiCepat, Social Bella, Ruangguru, and 20 more are estimated to be “soonunicorn” of the archipelago.

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2021 was a year with many ups and downs. The new waves of COVID keep disrupting businesses and changing how we interact and work. At the same time, these events have also surfaced new opportunities to satisfy consumer demands and add value to their experiences. 

From revolutionary medical technology to simple lifestyle products, many waves of innovation have arisen as social distancing practices and work from home become the new norm. 

For those that can adapt and take advantage of being the disrupter, explosive growth is guaranteed. Thus, we have seen a significant transition where startups and established businesses fully embrace digitalisation to enable innovation. 

Other worth noting trends are:

Tech talents are precious and scarce and also getting expensive

Even Singapore, the most prominent technology hub in ASEAN, has been constrained by its limited tech talent pool for years. The country cannot yet match the tech skills and experience the industry needs quickly. 

These limitations were cruelly exposed more than ever by the pandemic, which resulted in the drying up of tech talent pools as developers shift to big international companies that offer better salaries and compensations. 

2021 just showed it even clearer that companies will have to fight for their tech talent. 

Building remote tech teams is an effective strategy to scale up tech operations

Pressured by harsh competition, firms have to make the judgment call to secure what they deem more important for survival and profitability. Thus, the costly nature of technology and innovation forced businesses to look for talent and business opportunities beyond domestic shores. 

In other words, they are attracted to the vast population of experienced tech talent from underrepresented regions. 

Also Read: To infinity and beyond: Why 2022 will be the year of Web3

Talking about changes, Tech JDI also had a breakout year. Our team has expanded significantly, tripled the number to keep up with the growth of our client base. Re-branding efforts are also underway to enable Tech JDI to serve our clients and customers better.

Beyond our existing initiatives to help businesses scale up their tech operation and capitalize on the market opportunities in Vietnam, Tech JDI is also building an end-to-end solution that allows established companies to innovate through creating their startups successfully.  

That’s why the focus of next year is not only for Tech JDI to grow as an organization but for our services to grow sustainably. 

During this time, I am filled with immense gratitude due to the extraordinary support from everyone to help me grow not only at Tech JDI but also my career path. It also reminded me of how fortunate I am to work with clients who care about their people, thus remaining dedicated to building strong cultures rooted in values, ethics, and integrity.

So thank you to all of my co-workers, customers, and partners who have made 2021 a remarkable year against all odds. 

And, thank you, e27, for the collaboration and recognition of helping firms grow and innovate.  

Here’s to a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2022!

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E-commerce enabler aCommerce has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in its home country Thailand, say multiple news reports. 

The company plans to list its shares on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). It looks to sell up to 40 per cent of its shares.

Upon listing, aCommerce will be the first tech startup to go public in Thailand.

“The roadshow begins for CEO Paul Srivorakul and his team with Siam Commercial Bank as is its lead underwriter,” a Reuters correspondent said in a LinkedIn post. “The listing will also be a test of investor appetite for future earnings. The company has reported losses since 2018. In the first nine months of 2021, it booked losses of 492 million baht from revenue of 6.3 billion baht.

Also Read: aCommerce adds US$15M to its kitty; plans to achieve profitability and become cash-flow positive in 2020

Founded in May 2013, aCommerce provides e-commerce technologies and solutions, including performance marketing, channel management, webstore design and operations, content production, order fulfilment and warehousing, delivery and logistics and localised customer care. 

It has partnered with more than 260 brands, such as Samsung, Unilever, Nestlé, L’Oreal, Philips and Mars.

With over 1,200 staff, aCommerce has offices and fulfilment centres in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

In January 2020, the e-commerce enabler secured US$15 million from Indies Capital Partners. This round came almost six months after it secured a US$10 million round from existing shareholders, including KKR, in July 2019.

To date, aCommerce has secured US$118.8 million over multiple investment rounds. Its other backers are Emerald Media, BlueSky, DKSH, Inspire Ventures, Sinarmas and NTT Docomo. 

The company first announced its plans in September 2018 to file for an IPO in 2020 and was considering to list either on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) or SET.

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Otoklix, an O2O digital solution for automotive aftermarket services in Indonesia, has secured a US$10 million financing round from Alpha JWC Ventures and AC Ventures.

Sequoia Capital India’s Surge; Prijono Sugiarto, former CEO of Indonesia’s automotive conglomerate Astra International; YouTube co-founder Steve Chen; and Google executives in XA Network also participated.

With this fresh funding, Otoklix aims to improve its technological touchpoint by establishing its own O2O managed flagship workshops throughout Indonesia.

Servicing and fixing cars is still a long and cumbersome process in this rapidly growing market. Visiting authorised dealers involves high costs and long queues. Getting cars fixed at independent workshops can expose car owners to fraud risk, lack of standardisation and poor after-sale service.

Despite controlling 80 per cent of the total market in Indonesia, many of these workshops still manage transactions with pen and paper, restraining growth and margins.

Also Read: AC Ventures hits final close of Fund III at US$205M to back early-stage Indonesian startups

Founded in 2019, Otoklix aims to simplify vehicle maintenance for vehicle owners, allowing users to discover services at any recommended independent workshop nearby and receive a warranty for any transactions at an Otoklix partner workshop. Otoklix provides customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) solutions for independent car workshops to increase topline, margin, and operational efficiency.

The firm claims it facilitates the servicing of 15,000 cars per month by more than 1,900 active partnered workshops.

“We believe that transparency and trust is the biggest issue in the market. Car owners struggle to understand where to take their car to be fixed and how much the service should cost. Simultaneously, workshops have limited access to information to conduct price comparisons for parts, sourcing needs, and suppliers’ credibility. This is a problem for all the 138 million automotive vehicles in Indonesia, a growing market that has been overlooked. This huge fragmentation in the market has a high potential for technological disruption,” said Martin Suryohusodo, co-founder and CEO of Otoklix.

In the past year alone, Otoklix claims to have grown from 100 to over 1,900 partnered workshops, providing services to more than 100,000 customers annually.

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