Una Brands, a multi-channel e-commerce aggregator in Singapore, has closed its US$30 million Series B financing round led by White Star Capital and Alpha JWC Ventures.

The firm will use the capital to double down and fund acquisitions of high-quality e-commerce brands across home & living, mother & baby, and beauty & personal care categories.

Additionally, Una Brands will continue to invest in developing its in-house proprietary technology infrastructure.

Also Read: Ex-CEO of Rocket Internet Asia launches new e-commerce venture Una Brands with a US$40M seed round

Founded in 2021 by e-commerce veterans and a senior management team, Una Brands acquires and grows well-loved and enduring e-commerce brands with a geographical focus across Southeast Asia, Australia/New Zealand, China, and the US.

Since its beginning, Una Brands has acquired and operates over 20 e-commerce brands across six countries. It has also built its technological, operational and growth platform to acquire, operate and scale brands across e-commerce channels, such as Amazon, Shopify, Shopee, Lazada, and Tokopedia.

The company has built its proprietary technology infrastructure and on-the-ground presence in strategic locations to enable this cross-channel platform.

Last year, Una Brands acquired ErgoTune and EverDesk+, two top ergonomic furniture brands in Southeast Asia. It expanded these homegrown brands into Australia and grew revenues by over 40 per cent in less than a year.

The startup claims it has an annualised revenue of over US$50 million and is expected to achieve group profitability by the end of 2022.

CEO Kiren Tanna said: “The e-commerce landscape, particularly in Southeast Asia, with a more than 600 million population, has tremendous secular tailwinds. The funding has further strengthened our balance sheet and cash position as we look to continue to acquire great brands and invest in our technological advantage moving forward.”

“Una Brands has built out a multi-platform capability that no other aggregator has, catering not only to sellers on Amazon but also Shopify and on local platforms such as Lazada, Tokopedia and Shopee,” commented Nick Stocks, General Partner, White Star Capital.

Also Read: Una Brands nets US$15M Series A to acquire new e-commerce brands in Asia

The aggregator has 200+ employees in six offices across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, India, and China.

Since its inception, Una Brands has raised close to US$100 million. Its other investors are 500 Global, Kingsway Capital, Presight Capital, 468 Capital, and Claret Capital Partners.

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Just as blockchain technology is disrupting the financial sector, so too is it revolutionising the gaming industry. In Q1 2022 alone, investors have poured more than US$2 billion into blockchain games. 

Meanwhile, esports continues to grow, with global revenue already reaching US$1.38 billion in 2022. In fact, the esports audience is estimated to be 532 million people worldwide.

When gaming meets finance

The growing popularity of blockchain games has given rise to the buzzword GameFi, which is a portmanteau of “game” and “finance”.

Unlike traditional video games, GameFi offers economic incentives to players in the form of cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which is why the term play-to-earn was born.

This is in stark contrast to traditional gaming, where players only get virtual items such as in-game gold, armour, weapons, and so on, which have no value outside the game.  

Esports and evolution

Meanwhile, esports helped traditional gaming evolve by turning video games into spectator sports. Game designers must now also keep in mind the audience watching the esports competitions.

For instance, how can they make the gameplay easier to understand and follow? What kind of fresh content can they release to keep interested in the game alive and make it more engaging?

Esports has also introduced gaming to a new audience, who might not have started out as gamers, but who enjoy watching the tournaments and cheering on their favourite teams. 

Blockchain as a game changer

Now, blockchain gaming is, in turn, revolutionising the esports industry. For one, the esports industry is currently fragmented, with different game publishers, game developers, and esports organisations running their own tournaments on different platforms. With blockchain, however, esports can have a decentralised platform that will bring together all stakeholders.

Also Read: A Founder’s journey from sewing machines to blockchain gaming

Moreover, the use of blockchain will also increase trust in esports because of the transparency of the platform, which allows everyone to see what is happening. Not only that but also cryptocurrency will enable secure payment systems and in-app purchases. 

These are just some of the benefits that blockchain technology brings to the table for esports. 

Beyond Web3 bubble

One big challenge, however, is whether GameFi can grow beyond the cryptocurrency space and attract traditional gamers and even non-gamers. 

“Perhaps it’s building out the gaming experience or creating new openings for non-crypto-native players to enter the space, but there’s a range of opportunities and challenges for builders and gamers,” TechCrunch noted in this article. 

After all, the main reason players fall in love with a game is because it is fun. Sure, esports is a competition, and pro gamers are out to win cash prizes and attract sponsorships. But they would not have become interested in the game in the first place if not for the fun factor. Nor would the audience want to watch esports tournaments if the games were boring.

A tale of two game developers

What we will see in this space are two parallel developments: blockchain game developers that will try to make their games more fun and traditional game studios that will try to embrace Web3 and integrate blockchain into their games. 

Both will face challenges, and blockchain gaming startup Playfix was founded precisely to help developers overcome these. Playfix offers a platform for easily building, launching, and growing web3 games and NFTs. By providing all the APIs needed to build a web3 game, from tokens to NFTs to wallets, developers don’t have to worry about the technology. Instead, they can focus on what they do best: making fun games and delighting their players.

So get ready, gamers. With blockchain gaming, esports is about to level up again.

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Singapore-registered KinderPass, a behavioural health platform for children, has secured US$500,000 in a pre-seed investment round.

Goodwater Capital, Momentum Capital, Better Capital, SuperMorpheus, and Rebalance Angel Community are the investors.

The startup will use the funds to launch video-based multilingual detection modules, build a proprietary parent education platform, expand its clinician network, and partner with pre-schools and schools to reach more families.

Many children face developmental differences, delays and disabilities. One in five children has dyslexia, ADHD, autism, speech delays, or anxiety. India ranks highest on the list of kids with developmental disabilities and years lived with disabilities.

Studies show that holistic and sustained progress happens when parents are aware and get the right tools at the right time to help kids at home. That is what KinderPass provides.

Launched in early 2020 by Sumedha Khoche and Shireen Sultana, KinderPass aims to transform paediatric behavioural health through online therapy and personalised support for developmental delays, learning difficulties and behavioural issues.

Also Read: How these five startups are changing the game in health and well-being

The mobile app empowers families through a personalised programme that entails (1) interactive 1×1 sessions that teach kids and parents, activities and techniques to use in real-life situations and (2) weekly practice activities, games and worksheets that help them reach goals faster.

KinderPass has a network of 50+ child experts (speech therapists, teachers, occupational therapists, psychologists, behaviour therapists etc.) who have helped families across over 75 cities, from Delhi to Dubai, Bengaluru to Balrampur.

The multilingual app is currently accessible in Hindi and English and claims to have crossed 1.2 million downloads. Six new languages will be added soon.

The app has over 1,500 skill-building modules and 50+ assessments. So far, KinderPass has enabled thousands of assessments and live sessions.

“Developmental screening and early intervention are not the norms, and most developmental delays go undetected or unaddressed during early years and surface as ‘learning difficulties’ or ‘behaviour problems’ at school. We want to change this”, the company said in a joint statement.

In 2021, KinderPass graduated from Rebalance’s early-stage accelerator programme and received support from T-hub, WE-hub, Jio BuildforBharat and Action for India.

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FTV Labs, a Singapore-based field service management startup, has secured US$1.5 million in a seed funding round led by Origgin Capital and Mitsubishi Electrics ME Innovation Fund.

GHV Accelerator and Plug and Play Indonesia also participated.

This fresh capital injection will enable the company to accelerate its product roadmap and fuel growth in key verticals, such as construction, manufacturing, marine offshore and renewable energy across the Southeast Asian region.

Founded by CEO Kelvin Ong, FTV Labs owns and operates the field service management solution KEGMIL. It helps accelerate the modernisation of legacy industries with labour-intensive field services, primarily in Southeast Asia.

Also Read: Meet the 6 companies you can connect with at Echelon 2022

Digital transformation remains a key challenge for companies that operate in labour-intensive sectors, such as construction, logistics and manufacturing. Workers on the ground still manage records manually, with paper accounting for many of these work records.

The KEGMIL software solves these issues by digitising and automating inefficient spreadsheet and paper-based workflows, enabling field service companies to enact timely data-driven insights.

Origgin Capital is the VC arm of Origgin Ventures, a deep-tech venture creator. Origgin focuses on investing and commercialising defensible patents from universities and research institutes. The venture co-creation approach provides the initial capital and hands-on support to create deep-tech startups, guide them to initial success and create value for our stakeholders.

Since 2017, Origgin has spun off more than 30 deeptech startups from partner universities, such as NUS, NTU, Harvard and ETHzurich.

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The rising popularity of the Web3 space means investors are flocking to invest in companies in the space, but Vickers Venture Partners does not follow through.

In a written interview with e27, when asked about why the firm is not enthusiastic about the Web3 space, Chairman and Founder Dr Finian Tan replies, “The simple answer is that it doesn’t meet our criteria.”

The criteria that Dr Tan speaks about centered around its ESG & Sustainability efforts focus.

“When we started our ESG journey in 2008, it was primarily a negative screening process where we did not invest in ‘bad’ companies. Our OB markers included the so-called ‘sin stocks’ such as gambling and companies with poor HR policies (e.g. the use of child labour),” he writes.

“Today, our starting premise is that our capital should not just avoid ‘bad’ companies but also push humanity forward somewhat. Hence our ESG & Sustainability efforts focus on the theme of Funding a Better World. This is reflected in the portfolio companies we invest in, and is in line with the efforts we have taken since 2019 to incorporate the assessment of impact (aligned with the UNSDGs) in addition to the assessment of sustainability risks and other material ESG factors.”

In conclusion, the firm believes that deep tech companies are the ones that are “most likely” to help solve some of the most pressing global issues today. As a result of this thought process, Vickers Venture Partners says that at least 80 per cent of its fund has been allocated to relevant innovation in the tech industry.

Also Read: Deep tech startups gain multi-pronged support from Leave a Nest

To better understand its focus on the deep tech space, in this interview, Dr Tan reveals the characteristics that the firm is looking for in a potential investment and the kind of support that Vickers Venture Partners can provide to the company while busting some myths on deep tech investment at the same time.

Deeper into the deep tech scene in Southeast Asia

As a firm, Vickers Venture Partners does not specifically focus on Southeast Asia, but they have begun to see more deep tech startup activity growing in the region. Some of the deep tech companies that it has invested in are based in Singapore.

“When looking at opportunities, we generally look at emerging technologies based on scientific discoveries or engineering innovations in expanding fields such as biotech/healthcare, AI, and nanotechnology. And these technologies are seeking to tackle some of the world’s fundamental challenges. We typically come in and invest in these companies when they have already developed a proof of concept and need funds to scale,” Dr Tan says.

Despite the community of deep tech startups in SEA countries such as Singapore, the deep tech sector is not exactly a fan favourite in the region.

“Deep tech companies are usually built around a novel technology that offers breakthrough advances over existing solutions in the market. Taking these technologies from ‘lab to market’ requires substantial capital carrying high risk,” Dr Tan explains.

However, he also stresses that this is the case with venture investment in any vertical.

“We would like to think that deep tech investments reduce the number of risks because it involves a solution to a known and ready problem, whereas a general venture capital investment might involve a solution that doesn’t yet have a problem,” Dr Tan points out.

Also Read: Japan is looking for deep tech startups to collaborate with

“For example, we didn’t know we needed a TikTok until there was one. Furthermore, there is often a winner-takes-all in the consumer space. In the deep tech space, market risk is reduced to a minimum and focussed risk to the technology where it is possible to mitigate it with good technical understanding and foresight,” he continues.

Innovation that excites us

When looking at a potential investment, Vickers Venture Partners considers several criteria that include:

– The technology: A breakthrough product that does not currently exist in the marketplace
– Market risk: The product has to service a large market with known and ready demand
– Intellectual Property (IP): The product’s IP can be protected

In its portfolio, Dr Tan names several innovations that the firm finds to be “really exciting” that includes medtech innovations such as the next-generation x-ray systems developed by Lumitron Technologies that are capable of ultrahigh­-fidelity imaging (1000x more resolution) and ultra­-low dose radiography (100x less dose).

“They’ve achieved this by developing a new laser technology that shrinks the capabilities of a football field-sized synchrotron, onto a tabletop device. This could be a paradigm shift for medical imaging and cancer therapy but also has other applications in non-destructive evaluation and mining,” Dr Tan says.

The firm has also invested in RWDC Industries (which has developed a product to replace petroleum-derived plastic materials) and Eavor Technologies (which has developed a geothermal energy solution that has the advantage of no fracking, no GHG emissions, no earthquake risk, no water use, no produced brine or solids, and no aquifer contamination).

“Others like Emergex Vaccines are on the cusp of developing synthetic universal vaccines that reinvent the way vaccines are currently developed and administered and AWAK Technologies has a portable dialysis machine which will improve the quality of life for chronic kidney disease patients everywhere,” Dr Tan says.

Also Read: How to build deep tech startups across borders

What is next

During this pandemic, Dr Tan says the firm has been busy raising its US$500 million plus capital for its latest funds, the SPACs, and co-investments into their portfolio companies.

For 2023, Vickers Venture Partner aims to focus on taking its portfolio companies across their respective milestones and proving out the original thesis of the investments.

“The world will go through a very rough period ahead, so we are bracing ourselves to assist our companies through these challenging times. But we are optimistic that as long as our tech proves out as expected, we will be able to make the impact we set out to make. 2023 is going to be a very interesting year for Vickers,” he closes.

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