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Ecosystem Roundup: Bukalapak raises US$1.5B via IPO; GudangAda bags US$100M; Aruna nets US$35M

Bukalapak prices Indonesian IPO at top range, raises US$1.5B
A source told DealStreetAsia that the IPO received more than US$6B of demand; The issue by Indonesia’s fourth-biggest e-commerce company comes as its US$40B e-commerce market is benefiting from strong pandemic-driven demand; Bukalapak is backed by GIC, Microsoft, and others.

E-commerce marketplace GudangAda raises US$100M+ led by Asia Partners, Falcon Edge
Sequoia India, Alpha JWC, and Wavemaker also contributed; The money will be used to expand and complete its supply chain ecosystem, including logistics and warehouse services, new category offerings beyond FMCG, POS/SAAS, marketing services, data services and financial services.

Thunes acquires European payment methods platform Limonetik
This move will complement existing Thunes cross-border payments solutions by enabling businesses to get paid in 70 countries, using over 285 local payment methods such as mobile wallets, BNPL, and QR code payments; The solution will be known as Thunes Collections.

Indonesia ‘sea-to-table’ platform Aruna hooks US$35M led by Prosus, EV Growth
Other investors are SIG, AC Ventures, MDI and Vertex Ventures; Aruna works primarily with small fisheries and focuses on sustainability, preventing overfishing, protecting coastal ecosystems and giving small-scale fisheries access to more resources and markets.

Alt protein VC Good Startup surpasses US$25M target, invests in 4 new startups
The investees are Motif FoodWorks, Nowadays, Lypid, and Clara Foods; So far, most of the firms it has invested are located in the US but could enter Asia in the near future.

Indonesia’s direct-to-consumer startup Hypefast raises US$14M
Investors are Monk’s Hill (lead), Jungle Ventures, and Strive Ventures; Hypefast backs and acquires local digital native firms in fashion, beauty, health and lifestyle; It invests in brands that primarily sell online and generate at least US$35K in annual profit.

Employment Hero to speed up SEA expansion after raising US$102M led by Insight Partners
Employment Hero empowers SMEs by providing automated solutions to help launch them on the path to success by powering more productivity every day; The startup said it services over 6K businesses, collectively managing over 250K employees.

Shiok Meats raises bridge funding
AFN estimates that the firm raised in the region of US$10M for the bridge round; Investors are Woowa Brothers, CJ CheilJedang, and Vinh Hoan; The Singapore-based startup has also secured a grant under Enterprise Singapore’s Startup SG Tech Proof-of-Value scheme to accelerate development and commercialisation of its technology.

Safe-speed autonomous mobility firm Venti raises US$8M seed funding
Co-lead investors are LDV Partners and Alpha JWC; Venti will utilise the capital for producing AI-enabled autonomous logistics transport and scaling its operations in Asia, Europe, and the US.

Crowd influencer marketing & commerce platform Partipost secures US$5M
Investors are Quest Ventures (lead), SPH Ventures, iGlobe Partners, and XA Network; Partipost drives authentic word-of-mouth marketing by matching brands to influencers with the highest brand affinity.

Kamereo rakes in US$4.6M Series A to become a one-stop procurement platform for F&B businesses in Vietnam
Co-led by CPF Group, Quest Ventures, and Genesia Ventures, this round of investment will be used for hiring and expanding into Hanoi; Kamereo is a one-stop platform where farmers, producers, importers and buyers connect to trade a range of fruit and vegetable products at the best prices.

Shared mobility startup Drive Lah raises US$3.2M;
Investors are KFC Ventures (lead), HH Investments, Accelerating Asia, and Zipcar CEO Robin Chase; Drive lah is like an Airbnb for cars as it brings together people who want to rent a car with owners that want to earn from their car when it is idle.

SaaS company Majoo raises pre-Series A
Investors are AC Ventures (lead) and BRI Ventures; The firm offers several business solutions on one app, with 15K merchants using its platform as of May this year; Its integrated business application offerings include point-of-sale devices and supply management software.

Paragaon Capital launches early-stage capital fund
Paragon Ventures I will look at pre-seed to Series A opportunities; While the fund is sector-agnostic, it will have an inclination for deeptech, B2B SaaS, and robotics startups.

Vietnam sees new batch of VC funds seeking to tap maturing startup ecosystem
According to Ascend Ventures Ventures’s founding partner Eddie Thai, the country has seen seed rounds more than double in size and seen dozens of early-stage investors join in finding the region’s next leaders.

Philippine media conglomerate creates GMA Ventures to invest in tech startups, sunrise sectors
In May, GMA’s investors had approved to put in ~ US$500K into GMA Ventures, Inc. (GVI), which will serve as its vehicle in investing in non-core or non-broadcasting business activities; GVI will lead the GMA Group in identifying, investing in, and/or building strong and sustainable businesses.

Grab deepens partnership with payments firm Adyen to expand its BNPL offering
Available through the GrabPay wallet, merchants will now be able to offer PayLater payment methods at checkout; Customers will be able to choose between interest-free payments over four instalments (PayLater instalments), or the following month (PayLater Postpaid).

Image Credit: GudangAda

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