Astra subsidiary SMI set to pour US$259M into Bank Jasa Jakarta
Once the deal pushes through, SMI will have 1.1M shares, or a 49.56% stake, in the local bank; At the same time, WeLab will also increase its ownership in the bank to 49.56%.

Ascential acquires Singapore’s Intrepid Group for up to US$250M
Intrepid is an omnichannel e-commerce solutions company; It will become part of the digital commerce division of Ascential, which will now get a strategic entry point into Southeast Asia.

Naver-backed gaming firm Planetarium Labs raises US$31.8M Series A
Investors include Dynamic Sky Group, Krust Universe, Wemix and Greatest Enterprise; Planetarium Labs provides a moddable online gaming experience for AR/VR based on a distributed gaming architecture.

Indonesia’s Paxel raises US$22.7M in Astra-led Series C
Other backers are MDI Ventures, Central Capital Ventures, SIG, FJ Labs, and Endevour Catalyst; Paxel is a logistics startup that offers same-day delivery and smart lockers services.

Singapore cloud communication company Toku secures US$6M Series A+
It comes 10 months after Toku raised US$10M in Series A led by Deliver Hero-backed DX Ventures; Toku has been providing cloud communications to Gojek, JCDecaux, foodpanda.

Singaporean data firm Finquest bags US$5.5M funding
Investors include Capricorn Partners and Ad-Ventures Invest; Finquest leverages data and AI to identify and connect corporate buyers and PE investors with direct investment and acquisition opportunities in the private company space.

Juragan Material nets US$4M to grow its B2B marketplace for building materials in Indonesia
Investors are Go-Ventures (lead) and SIG; Juragan Material has over 9K SKUs and 180 brands across structural, architectural, mechanical and electrical products onboarded onto the platform.

Indonesian personal finance app Pina bags US$3M in seed money
Investors are AC Ventures, Vibe.VC, and Y Combinator; Pina enables users to monitor their assets and invest their wealth in stock or mutual fund products; It also has a feature that lets users learn how to manage their finances properly.

Indonesian language-learning startup LingoTalk bags financing
Investors are Iterative Capital and edtech accelerator Eduspaze; Backed by an AI recommendation system, LingoTalk’s platform teaches users to speak different languages; The firm has 10 language courses, including French, Arabic, Japanese, and Spanish.

Grab, BRI Ventures launch accelerator programme for startups
Through the Grab Ventures Velocity (GVV) Batch 5 X Sembrani Wira Accelerator Program, Grab provides mentorship sessions, workshops, access to funding, and an opportunity for founders to test their ideas or products in the Grab ecosystem.

Korea begins second round of investigation on Kwon, TFL, LUNA crash
Initially, Joint Financial and Securities Crime Investigation Team of Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office will focus on reviewing legal principles and interrogating witnesses after taking over the case.

Singapore crypto platform Vauld pauses withdrawals amid industry crisis
The platform saw over US$141.5M in customer withdrawals since mid-June, which followed a slew of hits to the crypto industry; Vauld will apply to the Singapore courts for a moratorium on any proceedings faced by the firm.

3AC team’s properties may be seized for liquidation
The trio behind the Singapore-based crypto hedge fund are said to have amassed several billions of dollars in crypto assets at their peak; Between them, they reportedly owns five upscale properties, luxury vehicles and yachts.

Zilliqa co-founder’s new blockchain firm AltLayer secures US$7.2M in seed money
Investors include Polychain Capital, Breyer Capital, and Jump Crypto; AltLayer helps blockchain app developers set up a disposable layer to withstand surges in traffic, such as during minting events.

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Despite the pandemic and movement restrictions over the last two years, Southeast Asians celebrating Ramadan have been resilient. This year felt different and celebratory as family reunions became a possibility. Family, friends and togetherness took centre stage. The need to share time, space and happiness was never stronger.

I saw a flurry of activity in brand marketing war rooms as my team and the marketers planned campaigns that spotlighted the ability to share the occasion. They recognised the sentiments and planned to cut through the festive noise and reach their target audience through personalised advertisements and trusted channels.

SHAREit has, over the last few years, served as a channel for those in the emerging markets to share non-gaming or gaming apps, shopping recommendations and entertainment or educational content.

This Ramadan revealed key consumer behaviours for app sharing that will stay for the future. We compared the categories of apps shared during Ramadan in 2022 versus last year on SHAREit.

The growing prominence of app sharing in emerging markets

Are people ‘sharing’ apps? I have heard this question many times. App sharing has grown enormously in the last five years, driven by the huge populations in emerging markets like the Philippines, Indonesia in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa, amongst others.

Also Read: Crypto earning apps: which type is the best for you?

It started mainly in areas where the internet infrastructure was not well established, yet digital adoption was rising. People began sharing apps that make their lives easier or useful with friends and family.

Heavy apps that would take a lot of time to download from the internet could be quickly transferred over SHAREit amongst peers. Now over 10 million apps are being shared daily on SHAREit.

The app economy has grown massively due to smartphone usage, which is becoming more affordable, and as the world population becomes more mobile-enabled. The global mobile application market size was valued at US$154.05 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5 per cent from 2020 to 2027.

Over the course of 2021, over two million new apps and games were released, bringing the total number of apps released to date to over 21 million, according to App Annie’s State of Mobile 2022 report.

Consumer spending on mobile apps reached US$170 billion in 2021. Download growth today is mainly driven by emerging markets like India, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Egypt.

Gaming hits a new high during the festive season

Southeast Asia is one of the fastest-growing gaming markets in the world. COVID-19, too has accelerated the rise in mobile gaming, as consumers turned to the game to beat the lockdown blues.

With the practice of social distancing reducing consumer and business activity to a minimum, gaming proved to be a distraction and an engaging activity for people at home looking for social interactions. We have seen an immense demand in markets like the Philippines and Indonesia for racing, simulation and elimination games.

Interestingly despite the fact that people could finally meet and social gatherings were back this Ramadan break, gaming continued to rise. In Indonesia, people share multiple games such as action, arcade, simulation, casual and board. Share of board games was substantial and grew by 95 per cent, but trivia games led among all game types as their sharing more than doubled compared to last year.

As travel restrictions ease, holiday is top of mind

Another interesting trend that stood out was the sharing of travel apps. A travel boom is looming, and we see increased interest, especially in domestic travel.

Also Read: Mobile app trends 2022: A global benchmark of app performance

According to a recent survey in Southeast Asia, respondents from the Philippines and Indonesia have shown the highest willingness for domestic travel.

The share of travel apps rose by 69 per cent after Ramadan as people were looking to plan holidays and getaways in the afterglow of the festive season. This is extremely good news for travel brands who have faced the brunt of the pandemic for the longest time and suffered from people not being active and even uninstalling apps.

Spike in food and fitness-related apps sharing

At the heart of most festivals lies food. While the share of food apps grew by 109 per cent during the Ramadan season since people looked for new recipes to cook and order delicacies, the health and fitness app share increased by 23 per cent.

Food delivery was one of the fastest-growing app verticals globally, becoming somewhat of a much-needed tool in consumers’ lives for ordering food safely, socially distanced and conveniently. According to App Annie, sessions in food & drink apps reached 62 billion in 2021. The rise and boom in food app usage and sharing is here to stay.

Medical app sharing shoots through the roof

With the rise in health awareness, people have become more conscious of where their food comes from, what they eat and workout and exercise regimes.

During the Ramadan season, we saw people in Indonesia turn to meal plans, schedules for suhoor and iftar, hydration guidelines, common side effects and how to deal with them. The share of medical apps increased by 491 per cent.

Consulting physicians over video conferences has gathered immense popularity due to the pandemic and is no longer a rarity.

According to App Annie, worldwide downloads of health & fitness apps surpassed pre-COVID-19 levels in 2021, despite a slight softening from a pandemic-induced high in 2020 in most countries. The top five meditation apps worldwide saw 27 per cent year-over-year growth in consumer spending.

Gaming, travel, food and fitness, and medical app landscapes will only continue to grow. For the players and app developers in the segment, it is vital to ensure they tap these growing demands from the consumers, adapt to their habits and lifestyles as we go on, and stay ready for disruption.

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Singapore-based cybersecurity startup watchTowr has announced an US$8 million pre-series A investment round co-led by Prosus Ventures and Vulcan Capital.

Its seed investor Wavemaker Partners also returned to join this round, bringing watchTowr’s total funding to US$10.25 million.

The startup raised US$2.25 million in November 2021 from Vulcan Capital and Wavemaker Partners.

watchTowr will use the new funds to improve its platform and seize growth opportunities arising from markets outside of Southeast Asia.

Launched in August 2021, watchTowr helps organisations understand and identify high-impact weaknesses in their cybersecurity defences. It provides organisations with a continuous, real-time view of their external attack surface through the eyes of a sophisticated attacker. This enables it to continuously identify vulnerabilities that would allow attackers to compromise an organisation.

Also Read: watchTowr can tell an organisation in real time if it can get compromised

By leveraging data analysis and interrogation within an agile technology framework, watchTowr codifies attacker tactics and techniques that mimic how real attackers break into organisations.

Benjamin Harris, CEO, watchTowr, said “Our technology gives organisations visibility of how they could be compromised, in real-time. Traditional assurance approaches, like penetration testing, are no longer effective or rapid enough to keep organisations secure. By continuously incorporating the latest attacker tactics and techniques into the watchTowr Platform, CISOs can understand their susceptibility to emerging vulnerabilities and threats in hours, rather than weeks or months.”

Over the last ten years, organisational attack surfaces have ballooned to include outsourced technology, shadow IT, cloud environments and supply chain risks. Most organisations have lost track of their attack surface.

Harris added, “When one combines the ballooned attack surface with the ineffective and incomplete security testing approaches that are still utilised today, organisations are not able to protect themselves adequately, especially when we consider the rapid and aggressive speed of change in cyber security. Attackers know this.”

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ORZON Ventures, a US$50-million VC fund powered by the Thai oil marketing major OR, has announced its participation in the Series A round of Hungry Hub, a local restaurant and hotel reservation platform for special occasions.

Founded in 2017, Hungry Hub is a restaurant and hotel reservation platform for special occasions in Thailand. It informs its users of the net price they will pay before walking into a restaurant. In addition, it also provides fixed-price offers and gourmet delivery services.

Hungry Hub claims to have partnered with more than 900 outlets in Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Koh Samui and Phuket. The list includes top restaurants in Thailand, such as Copper Buffet, Audrey Café, The Coffee Club (Minor Group) and global hotel brands such as Marriott, Anantara and Banyan Tree.

The firm claims to have served over two million diners and generated over 1 billion baht (US$30 million) GMV.

Also Read: Thailand’s ORZON Ventures invests in Pomelo, Carsome, Freshket, GoWabi, Protomate

In August 2019, Hungry Hub raised seed money from Expara and 500 TukTuks (a fund under Thailand’s 500 Global network). Then, the platform received its pre-Series-A stage funding from ECG Venture Capital and MOVF Media Group.

Surasit Sachdev, Co-Founder and CEO of Hungry Hub, said: “This year, we will focus more on the luxury segment—be it the fine dining, the omakase, the chef table, and the restaurants/hotels that promise exceptional experiences to fit with our concept of special occasion offers. Our target for the next 12 months is to have 2,000 restaurant partners, generate 1 billion baht annually for our partners, and expand our services beyond Thailand.”

Rajsuda Rungsiyakull, Senior Executive Vice President, Orion Project of OR, said: “We see this investment in Hungry Hub will fulfil lifestyle ecosystem and add values to F&B business in the long run while catering to the needs of the consumers for both Hungry Hub’s partnered restaurants and those under OR’s portfolios, making OR one crucial part in daily lives of consumers of all lifestyles.”

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Indonesian edutech giant Ruangguru announced the acquisition of two edutech startups, Schoters and Kalananti, for an undisclosed sum. The two companies will complement a range of K-12 product ecosystems that is already available on the Ruangguru platform. Executives from respective companies will also continue to focus on the solutions that they have built for Ruangguru users.

“We recently acquired Kalananti and Schoters. In the past years, Ruangguru’s curriculum has been focusing heavily on [the needs of students] who are preparing to enter local public and private universities. With Schoters, we can also cater to the needs of those who are aiming to do undergraduate and postgraduate studies abroad with scholarships. Schoters is the biggest in Indonesia at the moment for this kind of service,” said Ruangguru Co-Founder and CEO Belva Devara Syah in a press conference on Monday, July 4, in Jakarta.

Executives at Schoters and Kalananti gave DailySocial their statements on different occasions. Schoters Co-Founder and CEO Radyum Ikono said that the discussion regarding the acquisition had started in November 2021, but the process was only finalised in June. Following the acquisition, there will be no significant changes in the business process for Schoters –they are even allowed to continue reaching out to potential users outside of the Ruangguru ecosystem.

Schoters solutions will be available on the Ruangguru platform, accessible by any users who might need them. “We will be part of the Ruangguru ecosystem. This is exciting as we have always been targeting high school students who intended to further their studies abroad. On one hand, Ruangguru has a pool of Indonesian high schoolers as users; as a small startup, joining them enables us to reach out to a wider array of high schoolers,” Ikono said.

Since its founding in 2018, Schoters claimed to have helped thousands of Indonesian students to study in 400 universities in 43 countries, including Cornell University, University of College London, Nanyang Technological University, and Harvard University. It has also helped hundreds of students scored scholarships with a growth number that exceeds 500 per cent in 2020-2021.

Also Read: How the metaverse opens new opportunities for education

In addition to providing college admission guidance and consultation, Schoters also provides solutions that help with foreign language skills, document preparation, and even accommodation search.

On the other hand, the acquisition process of Kalananti was finalised in March this year, enabling the two companies to accelerate their collaboration. “Our main product focuses on skills for the future, including coding. Many parents see coding as a highly relevant skill; this is why many [edutech companies] put coding on the forefront of their offerings. We are being acquired for the product itself,” said Kalananti CEO Ahmad Syahid Zakaria.

Zakaria said that, following the acquisition, he and the team will focus on developing a coding learning platform for children now that they have a more extensive resource to do it. Apart from coding, Kalananti also owns several other educational products, but they will continue on this particular product before getting back to working on the rest.

“We would like to narrow it down to a single product to mature. Prior to joining Ruangguru, we struggled with optimising the sales and marketing aspects of the product, so this is really helpful for us. This is why we are able to enter the product development stage of our flagship product, before diversifying to other products.”

Kalananti is an edutech startup that was founded in 2020. It focuses on providing coding courses and innovations for children aged 5-12 years old, exploring various future skills in a fun and exciting way.

Kalananti implements a blended learning approach that puts emphasis on concept and competence. For its ScratchJr programme, which is aimed for children aged 5-6 years old, children will be introduced to coding through creating game and animation –a process that does not require reading and writing skills. This app allows parents to help teach the basic logic with only using colours and icons.

Also Read: Openness and collaboration in education is what the world needs

Feature updates on Ruangguru

Other updates that were announced at the press conference included new products and features to welcome the new school year. One of the highlights is the launch of Ruangguru for Kids, an integrated learning ecosystem to develop the academic and non-academic potentials of children since early age.

This platform provides an array of subjects and learning modes for children aged 3-12 years old, from languages, coding, writing, reading and mathematics, to online schooling. Together with Dafa Lulu, Kalananti and Alta School complement these solutions as an interactive and animated learning platforms for primary school students, combining storytelling and gamification.

The Dafa Lulu platform is now complete with a Practice Zone feature, a special section for children to learn through various educational games; Dafa Lulu Live, to facilitate live lessons with teachers using Dafa Lulu content. Apart from the launch of Ruangguru for Kids, the company also announced new features for Adapto –an daptative learning video that adjusts its plot to students’ comprehension level– called Adapto X.

Launched in 2021, Adapto X utilises simulation and interactive games to emphasise on the more practical aspects of the lessons, helping students learn more easily. The company also introduced UTBK Centre, a university entrance exam preparation platform for high school students. Everything that a student might require to prepare for university entrance exam is available on the platform, from countdown to exam day, learning strategies, practice tests, analysis of acceptance rate, to information on universities and study programmes.

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The article was written in Bahasa Indonesia by Marsya Nabila for DailySocial. English translation and editing by e27.

Image Credit: DailySocial

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