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Ecosystem Roundup: Zenius lets go of 200+ employees, Bibit bags US$80M+ funding, ADDX nets US$58M

Indonesia’s Zenius lays off 200+ employees
This amounts to over 20% of its 900+ workforce; As per sources, the 600-strong content team, which includes tutors and illustrators, was particularly affected; This comes amidst the global economic downturn.

These 21 Web3 startups prove why Vietnam is world’s most surprising crypto hotspot
Vietnam has given birth to several leading metaverse games startups, including Axie Infinity, which is a rage among GenZ.

Robo-advisory startup Bibit raises US$80M+ funding
Investors include GIC and Prosus Ventures; Bibit says it has enabled millions of investors across the archipelago to build investment portfolios based on their risk profiles and goals; It specifically targets mostly millennials and first-time investors.

Singapore private exchange ADDX bags US$58M pre-Series B
Investors include UOB, Stock Exchange of Thailand, and Krungsri Finnovate; ADDX uses blockchain and smart-contract technology to break down private market options like PE and hedge funds, thus reducing minimum investment sizes from US$1M to US$10K.

Oyo eyeing IPO after September, may slash valuation to at least US$7B
The firm chose to delay its IPO until its financial performance improves and to dodge market volatility; Its initial listing plan included a fresh issue of equity shares amounting to US$902K primary issue and a US$184K offer for sale.

SG Pharmacy platform SwipeRx bags US$27M
Investors are MDI Ventures, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures, and SIG; The company provides digital tools to pharmacies to better assist in managing their locations and patients.

1982 Ventures closes debut US$20M seed-stage fintech fund
1982 Ventures, which has backed 25 startups so far, expects to make 10-15 new investments and follow-on investments in its existing portfolio; It has over US$5M in early commitments to its soon-to-be-announced Fund II.

Breaking the bro code: How women are taking over the Web3 world in Asia
The Women In Blockchain Asia aims to tackle the diversity problem in the geeky and technical Web3 industry; It has a specific focus on blockchain development, curation of Web3 solutions, and expanding the understanding of DLT.

Novelship, a marketplace for limited-edition sneakers, raises ~US$10M Series A
Investors are GSR Ventures, East Ventures, K3 Ventures and iGlobe Partners; It plans to expand in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan; It also aims to continue to explore metaverse integration.

Hong Kong climatetech startup Allinfra secures US$6M from Nomura-led round
Allinfra allows users to store, use, or monetise their climate-relevant information on a blockchain-based network; It has two main solutions: data management software Allinfra Climate and asset tokenisation platform Allinfra Digital.

Digital wallet Pebble raises US$6.2M funding
Investors include Y Combinator, East Ventures, and LightShed Ventures; Pebble’s e-wallet offers its users a 5% annual percentage yield on their money by converting deposits to stablecoin USDC before lending them to regulated financial institutions.

Singapore AI startup Polymerize secures US$4.2M Series A
Investors are Elevation Capital and InfoEdge Ventures; Polymerize is a SaaS platform for R&D teams in chemical companies; It aims to shorten development time by up to 50% and achieve R&D cost savings of up to 40%.

Indonesia-based career platform KitaLulus raises Series A
Investors include Tiger Global, Goodwater Capital, Rocketship.vc, and Go-Ventures; KitaLulus lets users look for jobs, take screening tests, and contact potential employers directly via WhatsApp.

True Global Ventures invests US$3M in document management startup Dedoco
Dedoco is looking to enter new markets, including the US, this year; Dedoco allows users to manage their documents on-premise, which means increased data privacy and document security.

Meet the 11 startups that have received grants from SG’s Maritime and Port Authority
The startups are collaborating with maritime corporate partners from PIER71 on pilot projects that focus on the use of smart sensors, vision and data analytics, artificial intelligence and wearables.

Two senior Grab executives quit as company rejigs unit to stem losses
Chris Yeo, who heads the payments and rewards business and has been with the company for nearly six years, is leaving along with Jeffrey Goh, who leads the payments gateway business; Both worked at the Grab Financial Group’s GrabFin unit.

Indonesia’s LinkAja ‘reorganising resources’ amid layoff rumours
LinkAja is an e-wallet service from Telkomsel and state-run organisations; It says that it has 68M active users and is operating in 680 traditional markets in Indonesia as of last year.

DeFi real estate platform CitaDAO to tokenise SG property after US$600k raise
CitaDAO itself aims to solve the limited access and liquidity problems in the existing real estate ecosystem. With the Real Estate On-Chain, participants can earn income generated from real-world property leases through cryptocurrency.

Funding Societies launches Shariah-compliant financing products
The zero-collateral financing is available for Malaysian MSMEs that have been operating for at least a year; Funding Societies offers a credit line of up to US$228,000.

Indonesia’s regional digital gap narrows: East Ventures report
Internet users in the archipelago have been supporting the digital economy’s growth by using online services for news, shopping, socializing, and banking, the report found; The median competitiveness score across regions reached 43.5, higher than 42.2 in 2021.

Terra employee faces probe over embezzlement allegations
The police have also asked local cryptocurrency trading platforms Upbit and Bithumb to freeze the Luna Foundation Guard to stop it from withdrawing corporate funds from accounts held at virtual currency exchanges.

Copyright: ilixe48

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