Ant’s IPO fiasco set to clip its wings and dent its value; The last-minute ambush by China’s regulators was seen by analysts and investors as an attempt to cut Ant founder Jack Ma and his financial services empire down to size but they expected it to eventually list as planned; Ma’s public criticism last month of financial regulations as stifling innovation had put him on a collision course with regulators. Reuters
Despite pandemic, Indonesian startups raised US$1.9B over 52 rounds by Q3 2020; As per a Amvesindo report, fintech, edutech, SaaS dominated the funding rounds; It predicts social commerce, foodtech, and any verticals that are related to digitalisation of supply chain and SMEs will continue to experience growth. e27
How two-year-old GudangAda managed to keep VCs interest ‘intact’ despite COVID-19; The firm raised two big funding rounds in quick succession in Feb and March 2020; Since its launch in early 2019, GudangAda’s transaction volume had more than doubled every single month, until hitting US$1B GMV in the first 12 months. e27
Is SEA the world’s next HR-tech hub?; Having a reliable HR ‘tech stack’ doesn’t just improve workers’ efficiency, collaboration and engagement – it can also help transform workplace culture in the process; HR tech can also level the playing field for employees who are historically underrepresented, from the candidate selection to the promotion process. HRD
Accelerating Asia plans to launch a new ‘up to US$50M fund’ in Q1 2021; It already runs an MAS-licensed fund, from which it plans to invest up to US$7.3M in the first four to five cohorts; The accelerator-cum-VC fund is also expanding into India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. e27
Microsoft (MS) makes strategic investment in Indonesia’s Bukalapak; Bukalapak is raising US$100M, in which Microsoft will co-invest, along with existing backers GIC and Emtek Group, for a valuation between US$2.5B and US$3B; The e-commerce firm will adopt Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform. e27
Indonesian B2B logistics-tech startup Logisly nets US$6M Series A led by Monk’s Hill; It connects shippers with trucking companies from a network of verified corporate carriers; Since 2019, Logisly has partnered with more than 1K businesses, including 300+ corporate shippers and has 40K+ trucks in its network. e27
Beamstart launching US$10M early-stage fund in SEA; The fund will invest in tech startups mainly at the pre-seed/accelerator to late-seed stages and will cut a cheque of up to US$100K per company; According to founder, with the rise of China, COVID-19’s after-effects, the emergence of 5G, rising ‘individualism’ among Gen-Z, and the exponential growth of mobile-internet usage offer huge opportunity in SEA. e27
Pre-seed VC firm Hustle Fund secures US$30.4M commitments for Fund II; The US$50M fund, based in Singapore and the US, has secured commitments from 78 investors, including Chinese online giant Shanda; Hustle Fund invests US$25K in pre-seed startups; Fund I has invested in 80 startups. DealStreetAsia
Singapore crypto wallet operator Math Global secures US$7.8M Series A+; Investors include Alameda Research (lead) and Multicoin Capital; MathWallet enables storage and cross-chain exchanges of over 50 major public blockchain tokens such as BTC, ETH, Polkadot; In the past, it has raised a significant amount of investments from from Fenbushi Capital, Fundamental Labs, etc. DealStreetAsia
Monde Nissin CEO, Temasek invest Bits x Bites China foodtech fund worth US$70M; The fund has hit the first close at US$30M; Bits x Bites aims to back early-stage Chinese and international entrepreneurs that are focused on the Chinese market and coming up with solutions for the Chinese food supply chain. GreenQueen
B2B marketplaces will be the next billion-dollar e-commerce startups; For many entrepreneurs running B2B marketplaces, the pandemic created new demand for their platforms; They are discovering creative new ways to monetize their networks, ensuring their approach is tailored to the complex and nuanced world of B2B e-commerce. TechCrunch
Indonesian omni-channel sales SaaS platform iSeller secures Series A from Mandiri, Openspace; The company claims its revenue and active merchant pool doubled, driven by an increased volume of online transactions during COVID-19; It currently processes 5M+ transactions a month. e27
iMedia Group acquires 90% of Malay language portal BeautifulNara; With BeautifulNara joining OhMedia, Ittify and Goody25 in the group, the combined network will have a reach of over 13M Malaysians; BeautifulNara will focus on the overall expansion of iMedia’s websites, covering trending daily news and Kimchi Daily, featuring all things KPOP. e27
Business management platform for SMEs Osome raises US$3M from XA Network, AltaIR Capital; The Singapore startup uses AI and ML techniques combined with the experience of human experts to solve problems in the fragmented accounting and corporate services industry; Osome’s product is used by 4100+ firms across UK, Singapore, HK. e27
SociaBuzz raises funding from UMG IdeaLab to connect businesses in Indonesia with creators, talents; It runs five platforms — Gigs, Shoutout, Tribe, Shop and Affiliate; The platforms together have around 72K influencers/creators/talents and 1,350 active users. e27
GGV Capital investor Hans Tung shares his definition of a fundable startup; People with bad personality are still very young but they still get the right thing; But it’s still hard because bad personalities in entrepreneurship are not easy to get along with, they’re tough to handle and they obviously have their own faults. e27
Malaysian edutech AOne secures US$500K led by Wavemaker; AOne brings together a B2C marketplace and B2B backend management software for all kinds of local enrichment lessons across SEA; It currently serves 800+ enrichment centres, managing 50K+ lessons, 100K+ learners and educators across multiple cities. e27
How to tackle fraud and counter-party risk in an increasingly compromised world of finance; AI is showing great promise in identity verification; There are business opportunities in using advanced technology, complying with KYC and AML regulations is proven to give companies a competitive advantage. e27
‘What I learned from funding my second startup… with a credit card’; You need to consider interest rates from the practical, logistical side; A small business administration loan, for example, usually is only 5.5- 8%; So using a credit card is an expensive route that’s going to take you much longer to pay back; The longer you’ve got money tied up in debt, the longer it will be before you can channel money into real growth and innovation. The Next Web
Here’s how AI is helping cities improve traffic management; Today’s cars are generally equipped with features such as park assist, cruise control, adaptive front lights and lane keeping assist; These devices support drivers in terms of providing aid, warning and assistance, rather than replacing them in driving activities. The Next Web
Fintech sector to create more jobs in Singapore; The emergence of digital banks in Singapore will open doors for several opportunities for jobs and collaborations; But finance professionals must reskill or upskill their digital capabilities in areas such as data analytics; The demand for jobs in areas like UX/UI design and cloud applications may also increase. hrmasia
Visa partners with Nexttech to promote digital payments adoption in Vietnam; This is aimed at expanding the network of sellers and buyers on social commerce platforms; Along with the rise of e-commerce, consumers have also been adopting digital payment methods more; The value of mobile and online transactions in Vietnam has increased by 238%. TechInAsia
Vietnam shows significant progress among APAC digital societies, says GSMA Intelligence report; Its digital society index went from 37 in 2016 to 49 in 2020, a 12-point difference; The result placed Vietnam in 8th spot among the 11 surveyed countries, putting it in the group of “transitioning” nations, besides Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and India. VN Express
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