Malaysian used car e-commerce firm Carsome raises US$30M Series D; Investors are Asia Partners (lead), Burda Principal, Ondine Capital; The company will use the funds to strengthen its C2B and B2C offerings; It claims currently it is transacting an annualised 70K cars totalling US$600M in transacted value across Indonesia, Thailand, S’pore, Malaysia. More here
Sea Group to raise about US$2B in stock offering; It plans to offer 11M ADS, with the option to sell another 1.65M; Sea, a games company that has expanded into e-commerce, has surged to a market valuation of US$100B with its shares rising more than 400% this year alone. More here
Will a Grab-gojek merger benefit consumers? Experts are divided; One expert says the merger is unlikely to create a monopoly as these two companies are based in different countries; Another says consumers will be disappointed as the merger means there will be no significant competition left and the prices are likely to go up. More here
A tale of two IPOs: How DoorDash’s IPO makes Uber and Airbnb’s look better; Airbnb and DoorDash may seem similar at first glance; Both are hot consumer tech companies valued at around US$30B, competing against larger companies valued at around US$85B; However, there’s a big difference between the two; DoorDash’s tremendous growth and market share gains don’t seem defensible in the long run. More here
Remember the under US$1,000 wind turbine? It has now become sleeker, quieter, more efficient; Avatar claims to have the world’s lowest startup speed for a 1kW Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine with just 1.4 m/s wind speed required; This is less than half of what was needed earlier and still applicable to most other wind turbines in the market. More here
Vietnam to have 12 ecosystems with revenue of US$100B, says McKinsey; The 12 large ecosystems will be established across retail and institutional services by 2025; Ecosystem growth will be essentially driven by a significant decrease in the cost of customer acquisitions. More here
BNPL services company Rely secures US$75M credit facility from Polaris; Its goal is to scale operations and forge partnerships with major retailers in Singapore, Malaysia, Korea; Rely currently partners with Qoo10 to offer BNPL services on its e-commerce platform. More here
Access Ventures secures US$30M for Fund II, aims to hit final close by Q3 2021; LPs are Korea Venture Investment, Octava, Line Ventures, Mahanusa Capital; Fund II has made 10+ investments across SEA, including Indonesia’s Akseleran and Vietnam’s Godee. More here
Thai proptech startup FazWaz raises funding; Investors include CAV Investment, 500 Tuk Tuks, Aries Capital; The startup has over 500K customers per month; FazWaz provides brokerage services to make the process of buying, selling, renting a property easy; It also has ops in Cambodia. More here
Livestream-focused shopping app Shopavision launches in Singapore with a USD$374K seed fund; Before the launch, the app claims to have generated more than SGD$45K in sales and conducted more than 60 livestream shows on the its Facebook page and for their clients; The app currently has close to 30 live stream hosts and a variety of merchants onboard. More here
NextBillion.ai crowned as champion of the SLINGSHOT 2020 deep tech startup competition; It builds hyperlocal solutions for emerging markets where language and geospatial infra can be more complex and unique;
UK-based Gyro Gear and Keyless Technologies are named runners-up; SLINGSHOT2020 was organised by Enterprise SG. More here
Singapore invests US$9M into programme to grow local blockchain ecosystem; The initiative will engage close to 75 companies to conceptualise 17 blockchain-related projects within the next 3 years in sectors starting with trade and logistics, and supply chain; It will also support blockchain interoperability. More here
Singapore-based C-suite raises six-figure seed funding; It is an O2O learning platform for current and aspiring executives; C-suite positions itself as an exclusive community hub, a social network, a news and views forum and a recommendation engine; The platform claims to have attracted nearly 200 high-profile members so far. More here
eKYC platform WISE AI secures pre-Series A from Sun SEA Capital; The startup uses AI to e-verify customers when onboarding them for financial services and beyond; The money will be used to bankroll its expansion across the region; Its clients include FIs, fintech firms, credit rating agencies and governments. More here
Nokia study confirms 5G as 90% more energy efficient than 4G; The rollout of 5G networks is set to increase traffic dramatically making it critical that the energy consumed does not rise at the same rate; 5G networks, however, requires further action to enhance energy efficiency and minimise CO2 emissions that will come with exponentially increased data traffic. More here
Antler, EF and 500 Startups join ESG’s Startup SG Founder programme; The Startup SG Founder programme provides mentorship and early capital to first-time entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas; In Aug, the government announced the setting aside of an additional US$112M to enhance the programme, along with a new 3-month venture building programme. More here
COVID-19 has little impact on hiring in fintech sector, says report; The imminent launch of digital banks is largely perceived to be a boon for the talent pipeline; More Singaporean fintech firms are focussing on hiring local talent; The survey was conducted jointly by the Singapore FinTech Association and PwC. More here
Why SEA’s VCs should shift their attention to niche sectors and supporting industries; The advantages of this are companies in the main sectors might be interested to acquire these businesses; There are opportunities to build partnerships with main sector leaders and leverage their financial resources so we don’t need to spend substantial money on convincing/ winning consumers. More here
Why the future of work in Singapore is remote; Remote workers are reportedly 35% more productive than their onsite colleagues; This is one obvious benefit from the time saved during the commute to the office; But other factors that explain the productivity boost include fewer workplace distractions and a more comfortable work environment at home. More here
This Singapore startup made a ‘passport’ for COVID-19 test results so you can travel seamlessly; Digital Health Passport enables healthcare providers to easily issue digital test results in a secure and tamper-proof way, which are then automatically made available to individuals on the mobile app. More here
Don’t break the bank: Enabling financial inclusion and equity through tech; One of the greatest factors causing financial exclusion is the distance between rural areas and bank branches; The advent of smartphones and digital financial apps have been a game-changer, making the need for physical proximity less relevant. More here
WASTE 20/20 winner Magorium shares how it intends to save SEA with its plastic recycling solution; Magorium aims to solve the converts plastic into polymers, which are then used to produce high-quality bitumen used for road construction; Its tech can recycle a wider range of plastic types and incorporate a higher percentage of it into the roads. More here
I Squared Capital acquires, merges two Singapore-based cloud services firms; The combined businesses are poised to become a leading cloud migration and managed services provider in SEA and India, providing capability across all major public cloud operators. More here
Where’s XR at today and what does it mean for your company?; The future of the industry relies on its ability to live up to the promises that XR can save companies time and money, accelerate processes, measure engagement, bring people together in unique and memorable ways, and create new revenue streams that don’t only justify costs but proportionally outweigh them. More here
Mastercard, Pine Labs plan to expand BNPL solution in SEA; This will offer consumers the flexibility of zero-interest instalments on purchases, expand business for merchants and connect banks, fintechs, payment gateways and device makers to a rapidly growing financing alternative. More here
Singapore and Thailand to link national payments infrastructure; Cross-border remittances between the two countries will become cheaper and faster with the linkage of Singapore’s PayNow and Thailand’s PayPrompt; The programme will start off with a small group of banks on both sides, and will scale up to include more banks and non-bank providers over time. More here
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Image Credit: Sea Group
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