PropertyGuru raises US$220M from TPG, KKR; The group claims it recorded 24% revenue growth y-o-y and continues to lead in SEA with 57% market share; The group claims it provides 2.7M+ home options for property seekers in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam; In Oct. ’19, PropertyGuru suspended its proposed IPO plans on ASX. e27
SoftBank Vision Fund leads US$100M funding in Singapore’s Biofourmis; The money will go toward accelerating the health-tech firm’s global expansion; It will also use the new funds to develop and commercialise several released and unreleased digital therapeutics solutions across segments like cardiology, respiratory, oncology, and pain. TechInAsia
Livspace raises US$90M led by Kharis Capital, Venturi Partners; The home design and renovation firm claims to have hit a gross revenue run rate of over US$200M in March and expects to grow into a US$500M business in the next 2 years; In May, it laid off 450 people, or 15% of its workforce. The Economic Times
Indonesian insurtech PasarPolis secures US$54M Series B; Investors include LeapFrog Investments, AlphaJWC, Intudo, Xiaomi, Go-Ventures; The firm wants to make deeper penetration into Vietnam, Thailand; Insurance penetration rate in ASEAN is 3.6%. e27
AI-based loan recovery startup Flow raises debt capital from Genesis; Flow’s data-driven collection strategies have supported over 2.8 million consumers to date; The firm has operations in Singapore, Vietnam, India, Indonesia; In May, it secured US$6M Series A. e27
Malaysian digital media group REV Asia to acquire smaller rival iMEDIA for US$9.6M; iMedia claims to have a combined reach of over 8M visits monthly; iMedia is expected to make US$723K in net profit after tax in 2021; As per a recent report, digital ads spent from Jan-May ’20 exceeded US$104M, accounting for over 22% of total ads spend. e27
Digital health startup Mobio Interactive secures US$1.8M from Verge HealthTech Fund, others; Mobio develops and commercialises clinically validated and objectively quantified software to prevent, measure and treat mental illness; The funds will be used for the clinical validation of Am Mindfulness, a meditation app that it claims to outperform placebo in randomised controlled trials. MobiHealthNews
eBay- and Telkom-owned Indonesian e-commerce platform Blanja.com shuts down; In 2016, the two firms reportedly injected US$25M into the startup; According to iPrice data, by Q1 2020, Blanja.com fell to 27th place, with just over 400K monthly visits; In 2018, its CEO Aulia Marinto resigned to return to Telkom. e27
Singapore’s mobile games publisher Potato Play raises US$1.75M from Beenext, Play Ventures, Atlas Ventures; The startup helps mobile games (a US$68.5B market) created by Asian developers to take their titles to global markets; The startup has brought over 20 games to market; It claims its games have been downloaded 15M times. e27
Indonesia to digitalise state-owned enterprises (SOEs) for competitiveness; The government plans to direct 3 VCs — MDI Venture, BRI Ventures, Mandiri Capital — to invest in startups that have the potential to help SOEs digitise; As of last year, the nation had 114 SOEs and the number rises to 772 when all subsidiaries are included; Their assets are worth an estimated US$560B. Nikkei Asia Review
In August, digital transformation took centre stage as startup investors embraced a whole new normal; With the pandemic restricting movement, SEA startup ecosystem saw a surge in popularity of platforms that enable digital transformation for conventional businesses among investors. e27
Singapore’s fintech GoBear lays off 22 staff despite recent US$17M funding; This makes up 11% of its total workforce of 200 employees; Despite COVID-19, GoBear’s financial services platform has seen gross margin positives with growth across the insurance and lending verticals. Vulcan Post
Singtel launches 5G trial services in Singapore, second telco after StarHub to do so; The services are free for the first 20K customers with 5G-compatible smartphones as part of a three-month trial; Network speeds range from 200Mbps to 1Gbps depending on the devices used, population density and other environmental factors. The Straits Times
UMG Idealab invests in Myanmar’s Zay Chin; Its app enables people to purchase goods from wet markets online; The startup will use the funds for regional expansion; UMG Idealab has invested in over 60 companies across Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and China. DealStreetAsia
On-demand household cleaning service Yangon Broom raises funding from Yangon Capital, EME and NestTechVN; The Myanmarese startup will use the funds to launch a training school that will train people in high-quality cleaning services, as well as to launch a mobile app. e27
Singapore launches US$15M scheme to help local built-environment firms go digital; Built environment firms, particularly construction companies, have been heavily affected by COVID-19; Under the scheme, companies in the construction sector can defray up to 80% of the costs of digital equipment, capped at US$15K per project. The Business Times
Why startup founders should be open to pivoting anytime; Many founders encourage their fellow entrepreneurs to pivot as fast as they can, since no one could predict the future; The pivot should be based on data and your analysis; Understand what you have on hands and what you can achieve within a short period of time. e27
How the future of work will shape the future of mobility; In a future where employees have greater autonomy to choose when and how they want to travel, a combination of flexible working hours, HR tech and a connected fleet could create a better mobility-as-a-service model. e27
Meet the 7 graduates of SOSV-backed MOX’s 9th cohort; They come from India, Indonesia and Pakistan; The names include Deliverfuel, MyRobin, and PriceOye; Selected startups will receive US$100K-120K in funding from SOSV and MOX as part of the 6-month programme. e27
The top e-commerce secrets retailers are enjoying right now; E-sales increased 55% to US$66.3B in July this year compared with July last year; Clever retailers quickly pivoted to better service their online consumers in the absence of physical stores, using AR, live chat, 3D imagery, video, etc. to enhance customer experience online. Inside Retail
Mastercard, MDEC ink MoU to spur e-commerce, foster financial inclusion among micro SMEs; Under the collaboration, Mastercard will work together with the Malaysian government agency to support industry partners and facilitate the rollout of the fintech giant’s payments and business technologies. Digital News Asia
What beekeeping taught Warren Knight about digital leadership; Bees are great communicators, using vibrations and pheromones to help pass complex messages; Bees take on a number of different roles in the hive during their lifetime; So they know how to perform a range of different tasks and, in an emergency, can revert to previous jobs and help out. The Next Web
Technology is key to rebooting tourism; It is now critical to protect individual data, and travellers will demand assurance that digital interactions with the government and the industry remain secure; Travellers will seek out destinations that have enabled and supported digital payments and commerce across all levels of the economy, with a focus on enabling contactless payment. Jakarta Globe
PLDT, Smart fire up 5G at TV5 Media Center in Philippines; PLDT said TV5 can explore the use of Smart 5G through certified devices for live coverage and news gathering with 5G now available in its studios; Smart’s 5G mobile network in late July went live as a commercial service. Philstar
Frasers Property Retail launches e-commerce marketplace in Singapore; Consumers can use it to browse and purchase products from tenants across all of the firm’s malls; The service uses Frasers’s app with a potential membership of 800K+ shoppers on the platform; The app is launching with 200 merchants on board. Inside Retail
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The post Ecosystem Roundup: PropertyGuru raises US$220M; eBay- and Telkom-owned e-commerce startup Blanja shuts down; REV Asia to buy iMEDIA appeared first on e27.