Vietnamese audio content platform Fonos has announced the completion of its US$1.8 million in Pre-Series A funding led by US media and technology VC North Base Media.

Returning and new investors, including AngelCentral, Vietcetera’s Vietnam Innovators Fund, and Orvel Ventures, also participated.

Fonos will use the funding from this round to expand into podcasting and content acquisition.

Founded in 2020 by Oscar Jesionek and Xuan Nguyen, the startup has established itself as the audio content leader in Vietnam, with over 2,100 exclusive pieces of content available on its app, including best-selling audiobooks, book summaries, and meditations.

Also Read: One-click checkout startup Beam raises US$2.5M seed funding led by Surge

In addition to the extensive content library, its strength has been in successfully monetising the content. Fonos grew its revenues by seven times in 2021 and continues that trend this year. The company also claimed strong user growth with over 130,000 monthly active users in October.

For many months, the Fonos app has been the number one top-grossing app in the book category in Vietnam, both on the Apple and Android app stores. According to app revenue analysis tools such as data.ai, Fonos plays a significant part for the majority of audiobook sales in Vietnam.

Fonos aims to become a key podcasting player in Vietnam with multiple initiatives to be launched in Q1 and Q2 2023.

“I’m incredibly excited for Fonos to enter the podcasting market. We’ve been laser-focused on the audiobook market for the past three years to become the market leader. We’re now ready to take that same focus and apply it to the podcasting market,” said CEO Oscar Jesionek.

In September 2021, Fonos raised US$1.1 million in seed funding from Hustle Fund and iSeed, as well as investors from AngelCentral and other local angel investors.

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Two decades ago, Facebook introduced their interpretation of social media services, effectively altering how people live.

Today, most of the world’s population exists on social media. It is how people connect, interact and stay relevant to the rapidly evolving world. Social platforms’ far-reaching impacts even affect how Businesses are conducted and how Economies can be influenced.

Will the introduction of metaverse platforms affect such a drastic shift?

At least, Mark Zuckerberg believes so. So much so that the social media giant changed its brand to Meta and started diving head-in into the narrative.

The metaverse is envisioned to be a digital space that parallels the physical world. It is where people, represented by their virtual avatars, will live their lives, meet others, attend events, do business, shop, game and more.

Essentially people of the (very near) future will exist in Virtual Reality. It is an iteration of social media but with more interactivity, immersion and endless possibilities.

Why hasn’t the critical mass jumped in yet?

For a start, metaverse projects tap into blockchain/Web3 technology. While the concept managed to rally huge support from Web3 fans, the processes involved can seem daunting and foreign to Web2 natives.

In fact, Web3 advocates are so community driven that new Web3-specific cultures, norms and lingos were birthed. This further drives the divide between them and the critical mass still deeply etched in Web2 platforms.

With so many big brands and companies moving towards this space, the eventual migration into Web3 platforms is, however, inevitable. The market will shift when crossing into the metaverse becomes more palatable and digestible to the masses.

Why are only big brands jumping on board?

Major brands like Nike, Gucci, Coca-Cola and Lego have jumped into the metaverse. So have major celebrities like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Steve Aoki.

Also Read: “See you in the metaverse” – Yours, life

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are creeping in at a much slower rate. The world has witnessed how prominent brands like Nokia, Atari and Kodak got eliminated in the race to adapt. Major brands’ motivation to shift could be fuelled by their fear of becoming irrelevant in a fast-changing economy.

While SMEs have shown growing interest in entering the metaverse, being foreign to Web3 still presents a hurdle for SMEs to cross before a shift can happen. Being foreign also means that many SMEs do not see pragmatic reasons or direct benefits for embracing Web3 technologies.

How is Playground contributing to this transition?

Playground is a metaverse platform that harnesses Web3 technology. The platform aims to help with the crossover by building systems and environments that make sense to Web2 retailers and businesses.

Believing that the idea of metaverses already has strong proof of concepts in game-centric virtual worlds, the team aims to encourage Web2’s mass adoption by building systems and 3D environments familiar to Web2 natives.

For instance, getting into the Playground’s metaverse might not require a crypto-wallet connection right at the get-go but will present its uses and benefits at a later stage.

Playground’s deliberate steps to bring real value to commercial parties have also seen the onboarding of traditional retail- renowned brands like Franck Muller, Naiise, Sincere Watches and MegaMall are amongst many that have hopped onto the Playground bandwagon.

Leveraging on its collaboration with many game developers and game studios, the platform offers Retailers easy access to gamification strategies that can enhance community engagement, branding and sales conversions.

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Singapore-based global Digital Entertainment Asset (DEA), a Web3 entertainment company, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Rakuten Group for a collaborative partnership in the Web3 domain.

The partnership will see DEA and Rakuten collaborate on potential synergies in their respective businesses to enhance the value of their services further.

As part of the deal, Rakuten’s corporate VC arm Rakuten Capital will also make a minority investment in DEA by subscribing to share acquisition rights.

DEA operates the PlayMining GameFi platform, which features a catalogue of play-to-earn (P2E) NFT games, including Job Tribes, Cookin’ Burger, Menya Dragon Ramen and the recently launched Graffiti Racer. 

Also Read: Filipina actor Yassi Pressman nets US$2M for her new Web3 startups BrandNation, PEG

The platform has an NFT marketplace featuring hot content from household names among Japanese anime and video game fans and a metaverse initiative under development.

DEA also has its token DEAPcoin ($DEP), a P2E token approved by Japan’s Financial Service Agency. By having an NFT market, a token and a GameFi and metaverse platform in one place, PlayMining can offer IP monetisation opportunities to third-company game studio partners.

“Our vision for DEA is to become the world’s top Web3 entertainment company. Our agreement with Rakuten will go a long way towards helping us work toward this goal by increasing adoption of PlayandEarn gaming,” said DEA’s Co-Founder and co-CEO Kozo Yamada.

Rakuten Group provides over 70 services spanning e-commerce, fintech, digital content, mobile carrier business and other communications services, including professional sports. It runs several Web3 businesses, including an NFT marketplace, sales platform Rakuten NFT, and crypto asset trading exchange Rakuten Wallet.

Hiroshi Takasawa, President of Rakuten Capital, said: “We expect Rakuten’s membership base, brand and business experience, expertise in related areas, and DEA’s experience in GameFi, token economy and metaverse business promotion will contribute to the future business growth of both companies.”

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BayaniPay, a fintech startup offering cross-border financial services to Filipino professionals in the US, has secured US$4.5 million seed funding from East West Bank, Wavemaker Partners, and Talino Venture Labs.

The fresh capital from East West Bank and Wavemaker Partners will allow BayaniPay to expand the technology team as it scales its product lineup and expands into more geographies.

Based in Los Angeles, BayaniPay offers low-cost cross-border financial services from the US to the Philippines. It provides access to a digital checking account, a debit card, and zero-fee remittance forex rates for Filipino Americans sending money home.

Earlier this year, BayaniPay signed a contract with East West Bank in Southern California to offer banking services, including a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured checking account, for Filipino American customers.

Also Read: Filipina actor Yassi Pressman nets US$2M for her new Web3 startups BrandNation, PEG

This collaboration enables BayaniPay to offer cross-border, digital financial services for the 4.2-million-strong Filipino American community, which accounts for US$146 billion or 14.4 per cent of the Asian American market in the US.

BayaniPay already has partnerships with BDO Unibank in the Philippines, media firm Asian Journal, and Seafood City, a Filipino-owned supermarket chain in the US.

BayaniPay collaborates with BDO Unibank to enable its users in the US to pay for services in the Philippines through pay code technologies directly. Local businesses and services can provide Filipino American customers with pay codes that they can use for easy and convenient cross-border payment of bills, tuition and school fees, medical expenses, and even real estate.

Through BDO Unibank, BayaniPay offers zero fees and market-leading exchange rates. BayaniPay has gained over 7,000 users.

“Streamlining cross-border payment systems has become more urgent than ever as remittances grow in scale from overseas workers. Unfortunately, even today, existing remittance methods remain painful and expensive for the average remitter. BayaniPay is addressing this pain point with its suite of payment solutions that simplify various remittances,” said Eric Manlunas, Founder and Managing Partner of Wavemaker Partners.

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Venteny Fortuna International, a Jakarta-headquartered company providing growth funding and HR services for MSMEs, said on Thursday its application to list on Indonesia’s exchange IDX has been approved.

Venteny has received a pre-effective letter from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and opened a book building (IPO) for potential investors from 21-29 November 2022.

With this, Venteny is set to become the first Japanese founder-led startup to be listed in Southeast Asia.

The company seeks to raise as high as IDR 422,900,595,000 (US$27 million) or the equivalent of 15 per cent of the total issued capital.

It plans to use the funds (minus the issuance costs) to increase the group’s working capital and support its business development and growth. It expects to improve its capital, human resources, and technology.

The price per share of Venteny sets to IDR 350-450 (US$0.022-0.029).

Venteny was founded in 2015 by Jun Waide, a Japanese businessman and professional. Initially incorporated in the Philippines, Venteny expanded to Singapore in 2016 and finally started operations in Indonesia.

As the business continued to grow, in 2021, the management established a holding company, Venteny Fortuna International, to strengthen the synergy of all subsidiaries.

Venteny Fortuna provides growth funding and human resources services for MSMEs and large enterprises. Through its financing partners in Indonesia, Venteny disburses funding to MSMEs with competitive interest, supported by an integrated credit assessment process to minimise the risk of bad credit and a fast application process.

Also Read: Fonos raises US$1.8M in funding to expand into podcasting

It also provides employee benefits, such as welfare, protection, self-development, and entertainment,  through its employee super-app services.

Since being established in Indonesia until Q3 of 2022, the company claims to have disbursed funds of more than IDR 2 trillion (US$128 million) to businesses.

The group has been profitable since 2021. Based on the audited financial statements as of June 30, 2022, the group’s net profit grew by 800 per cent YoY.

In February 2017, it secured a seed round, followed by Series A round funding from SV-FINTECH Fund managed by Voyage Group and SV Frontier in December 2017.

“We are grateful for the customer’s trust, so Venteny has been profitable within two years of operations. This proves that Venteny has worked well on market potential and demand. Through IPO way, we invite everyone to participate in creating the future of the solid industry ecosystem,” says Waide, Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Venteny.

With four offices in Indonesia, Venteny plans to increase it to 15 next year and start its operations in the Philippines and expand into Thailand and Vietnam.

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