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Ecosystem Roundup: Temasek buys stake in Grab, Bolttech buys Ava, Sony Ventures launches US$217M Fund III

bolttech Group CEO Bob Schimek

Temasek buys stake in Grab, Robinhood Markets
Temasek also invested in fashion e-commerce platform Rent the Runway, restaurant payment company Toast, and sports betting firm DraftKings; At the same time, the fund sold all its shares in Uber, Coinbase and Tencent Music.

Bolttech buys Ava Insurance
The deal will help accelerate the deployment of Bolttech’s insurance exchange in Singapore, which aims to make it easier for insurers, distributors, and customers to connect with each other; It is also looking to simplify the process of buying and selling insurance.

Sony Ventures hits first close of US$217M Fund III
LPs include Mizuho Group, Daiwa Securities, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Mitsubishi Estate, and Sony Group; Sony Innovation Fund 3 invests in all stages of emerging tech companies and startups solving global environmental challenges.

Lazada co-founder backs US$20M round of Singapore recommerce marketplace Reebelo
Reebelo is a licensed online marketplace selling pre-owned electronic devices at affordable prices; Its marketplace houses 100+ vendors certified by Reebelo who list an array of products including mobile phones, laptops, tablets, drones and gaming hardware.

Taiwanese edutech firm AmazingTalker raises US$15.5M Series A
Investors include CDIB Capital, JAFCO Asia, and 500 Global; AmazingTalker runs a tutor-matching platform focused on language learning; The firm, which promises a better profit-sharing system for its instructors, also offers K-12 education services for children.

Animoca opens Japan unit, bags US$10M seed money
The capital came from MCP IPX One Fund, jointly launched by MCP Asset Management and Animoca Brands; Animoca Japan is building a blockchain platform to help IP holders build and expand fan communities via the issue of their own NFTs and fungible tokens.

Appboxo raises US$7M Series A for product development, global expansion
Investors include RTP Global, Antler, 500 Southeast Asia, SciFi VC, and Gradient Ventures; Appboxo owns Shopboxo, a platform that helps entrepreneurs, brands and SMEs create online stores to offer their goods and services directly to consumers.

VIZZIO rakes in US$6.7M from undisclosed investors
VIZZIO employs AI-powered geospatial, 3D virtualisation and Digital Twin solutions to enable users — from novices to digital experts — to access 3D-as-a-service offerings on-demand, helping them to co-create, virtualise and interact with digital realities.

NOBI raises US$4M in seed funding
Investors are AC Ventures, Appworks, Skystar Capital, Cakra Ventures, and GFC; As a platform, NOBI aims to help investors in diversifying their assets to crypto and help busy investors to manage crypto assets in a simpler manner.

Real Impact Matters Most Sustainability raises US$3M pre-Series A
Investors are Beenext and Mamoru Taniya; RIMM’s automated platform provides SMEs with simplified sustainability guidance and solutions; It also offers intelligent tools that enable sustainability management, reporting, and optimisation.

Go-Ventures leads seed round of job platform KitaLulus
KitaLulus enables users to take relevant courses and build professional networks before applying for jobs in its app; It claims it currently processes 1M job applications per month; Its clients include J&T Express, Hangry, and Apotek.

Semaai reaps US$1.3M from Beenext, Sequoia’s Surge
Semaai provides farmers with access to tools such as soil testing technology, as well as farming inputs such as seeds and fertilisers; Five months after its establishment, the firm’s gross merchandise value increased by 10x.

Health data verification firm Riverr bags US$1M in seed round
Investors include KSL Maritime Ventures and Seeds Capital; Singapore-based Riverr simplifies the verification of health data, including vaccination history, across organisations and governments.

YC-backed mental health startup MindFi raises US$2M in seed funding
Investors include M Venture Partners, GFC, Carousell’s Marcus Tan, and Carro’s Kenji Narushima; MindFi provides corporate employees with personalised mental health recommendations, self-care programs, and consultation sessions with coaches and therapists.

watchTowr raises US$2.25M to secure ‘attack surface for enterprises’
Investors include Wavemaker Partners and Vulcan Capital; watchTowr directly addresses the challenges organisations face in managing and securing their external attack surface.

Jeff Bezos’s second investment in Indonesia is SME-focused firm Lummo
This is Bezos Expedition’s second investment among Indonesian startups, following its participation in the Series B round of Ula; Lummo runs has two apps: e-commerce enabler solution LummoShop and BukuKas.

Monit, the ‘Brex’ of Indonesia’, attracts funding led by 1982 Ventures
Monit focuses on supporting SMEs to pay bills, manage reimbursements and disbursements, and issue corporate credit cards; The startup is also backed by Init 6, the VC firm founded by Bukalapak co-founders Achmad Zaky and Nugroho Herucahyono.

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