Local experiences marketplace KKday raises US$75M Series C; Investors are Cool Japan Fund, National Development Fund, Monk’s Hill, MindWorks Capital; KKday will also continue to expand its team and operations in Japan, Korea, SEA; Currently, it offers more than 30K unique experiences in over 550 cities and 92 countries, and claims to have 5M users and 10 offices across Asia. e27
Shiok Meats raises US$12.6M Series A led by Aqua-Spark; The Singapore startup aims to build a commercial pilot plant from which it plans to launch its minced shrimp product in 2022; It also plans to launch shrimp flavouring paste and powder, fully-formed 3D shrimp, and cell-based lobster and crab products in the coming years. e27
E-scooter rental startup Neuron Mobility raises US$12M to take its Series A round to US$30.5M; Lead investors are Square Peg Capital, GSR Ventures; It plans to expand further in New Zealand and Australia, as well as the UK; It operates a fleet of 4K e-scooters in Australia and New Zealand. e27
Data breach: ShopBack, RedDoorz say sensitive consumer data not compromised; Cyber incidents rank as the most serious business risk globally, according to the Allianz Risk Barometer 2020; They are becoming more damaging, increasingly targeting large companies with sophisticated attacks and hefty extortion demand. e27
How can Singapore step up cybersecurity?; Cyber attacks are becoming more sophisticated as perpetrators evolve with technology; According to a report, the top 3 sectors in Singapore that saw evidence of malicious cyber-attack activity were travel and transport (75%), F&B (73%), professional services (61%). Vulcan Post
Filipino digital payments startup PayMongo nets US$12M Series A led by Stripe; A year ago, the YC startup secured US$2.7M from Founders Fund, Peter Thiel, Stripe; The fintech startup has so far secured ~US$15M so far; Philippines’s digital transactions surged by 42% in value between January and April 2020. e27
iMedia buys controlling stake in Goody25’s Malaysian parent; Goody25 is a Chinese language portal that recorded an average of 10.8M page views and 2.65M users per month in 2020; Early this month, iMedia was acquired by Rev Asia for US$9.6M and is currently listed on Bursa Malaysia. e27
Malaysia’s HealthMetrics raises US$5M Series A; Japanese VC ACA Investments led the round; HealthMetrics helps corporates simplify and manage the tedious manual paperwork related to employee healthcare plans by automating the entire process; It has 3K+ partners throughout Malaysia. e27
KOL speak
Why a crisis is the best time to hone your leadership skills; Times of crisis often require a thorough review of your business strategy to determine if it can weather the storm, says PatSnap’s Jeffrey Tiong; Some might say it’s too risky to make such sharp pivots during a crisis, but often a crisis is the best opportunity to revamp, redesign and innovate your business. e27
Zilingo CFO Perry resigns to return to Citigroup for tech deals; Perry had served as MD and Head (Tech Investment Banking) for Citi in APAC; Zilingo has been battered by fallout from COVID-19, trimming jobs this year and streamlining businesses to rein in costs. Bloomberg
Tech investment in Vietnam drops 22% from US$284M to US$222M in H1 2020. A Do Ventures report says US$861M was invested across 123 deals in 2019, more than double the number in 2018; In H1 2020, the number of active investors was nearly the same as the previous year, but only a very limited number of new investors entered the Vietnam market. e27
Gobi Partners appoints former Digital Ventures MD Paul Ark as Advisor; He will advise on, design and implement various startup and innovation initiatives including environmental social and corporate governance, sustainability; He was recently a Venture Partner at Seedstars. e27
Taiwanese smart thermometer startup iWEECARE raised US$2.4M; Investors include TransLink Capital (lead), Taiwan’s National Development Fund, Verge HealthTech Fund, Darwin Venture; The funds will be used to accelerate marketing activities to address the demand for remote patient monitoring technologies in the US and China. e27
Plant-based meat startup Next Gen launches in Singapore with US$2.2M; Next Gen was co-founded by Timo Recker who previously founded LikeMeat in Germany (which was acquired by LiveKINDLY Collective earlier this year; Investments in plant-based meat startups rose to US$1.5B+ in 2020 from US$534M in 2019; Asia’s plant-based protein segment is expected to reach US$12.75B by 2030. DealStreetAsia
Indonesia’s BukuWarung raises funding from Tinder co-founder; The YC startup makes it easier for Indonesian micro-businesses to manage cash and credit transactions; BukuWarung has more than 1.2M merchants on its platform across 750 cities and towns in Indonesia. e27
Banking-as-a-service startup RootAnt secures US$1.46M from Linear Capital, KZM Group; It will use the capital for expansion in Singapore, the rest of SEA and Japan; RootAnt connects enterprises and financial institutions with new digital financial products for for faster financing services.
MAS directs Wirecard to cease payment services in Singapore, return customers’ funds; MAS has been monitoring the impact of its insolvent German business on its ability to continue providing payment services in the city-state; Wirecard collapsed in June after its auditor EY refused to sign off on its 2019 accounts because it couldn’t verify US$2.2B supposedly held abroad in escrow by 3rd party partners. Channel News Asia
Meet the 14 startups presenting at Facebook accelerator’s pitch day; For this edition, startups were required to demonstrate the use of Facebook tools and trends, such as AR, VR, Messenger, social commerce; All these startups will join Facebook’s startup alumni programme that will continue to connect them to a global network of startups. e27
How a virtual CFO can help your biz score the funding it needs; CFO’s role is to maximise a company’s value and establish a sound reporting system that is crucial when communicating and pitching to investors; Tapping into the experience of a CFO during the pre-funding stage will allow business owners to gain long-term insight into their business needs and priorities. e27
How startups are building tomorrow’s food systems by solving yesterday’s problems; Large corporations can leverage the work of startups to achieve their strategic and sustainability goals; The pandemic presents investment opportunities by validating the problems that farmers are facing and creating urgency to shift to more innovative and digital solutions. e27
Book Excerpt
Why successful fundraising begins with understanding your company’s needs; Gizmodo editor-in-chief John Biggs and communications professional Eric Villines say whether you are starting Fitbit for Dogs or a hot dog cart or the first company to mine gold from asteroids, your ultimate goal should be to grow outside of your little corner of the globe and expand. e27
Digital skills won’t be sufficient in future: EDB chief Chng Kai Fong; He says soft skills — the ability to tell a story, to have empathy, and create connections with others — will help people to stand out and differentiate themselves; Students should pursue their “obsessions and side hustles”, which will help them to build confidence and find meaning. The Straits Times
Thailand’s True Group leads Series A round in Cambodian media startup Mediaload; It’s a digital news portal that offers entertainment and tabloid news in Myanmar and Cambodia; The site is dubbed as “the Buzzfeed of Cambodia”. KrAsia
What will the post-pandemic workspaces look like?; By building resiliency into physical workspaces, organisations can create an agile workplace strategy that allows us to continuously learn, prepare, and adapt for the future; Time working remotely has highlighted how unplanned, organic social interactions in the office can be fundamental drivers for collaboration, creativity and culture. e27
Enterprise Singapore, Innovation Norway sign MoU to strengthen innovation between the countries; Singapore enterprises will benefit from market opportunities arising from co-innovation projects with Norwegian corporates; Norwegian companies seeking to grow in Asia can tap Singapore’s business infra, financing and vibrant business network to springboard to the region. Open Gov
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The post Ecosystem Roundup: Tech investments in Vietnam drop by 22% in H1; KKday raises US$75M; ShopBack, RedDoorz face data breach appeared first on e27.