The gist: Kredivo raises ~US$270M Series D equity round
The investors: Mizuho Bank, Square Peg Capital, Jungle Ventures, Naver, GMO Venture, and Openspace Ventures
The products: Kredivo offers online and offline BNPL, personal loans, and credit cards, soon-to-be-launched neobank Krom.
The gist: PH startups raise over US$1B in 2022, says a Foxmont Capital report
The specifics: Under-US$5M deals dominated in 2022
Global comparison: Worldwide VC investments shrunk by 37% in 2022, with a 27% decrease in SEA
Promising 2023: 17 investments are already made into Philippine startups in Q1.
The gist: FTX to retrieve US$404M in settlement with investment fund Modulo
The backstory: The amount was allegedly moved by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to investment fund Modulo Capital
What is Modulo: It was founded early last year by his acquaintances Xiaoyun Zhang and Duncan Rheingans-Yoo.
The gist: Chilean VC 30N Ventures rolls out US$50M fund, to invest in SEA
The focus: 30N Ventures primarily focuses on the fintech, foodtech, and retail sectors
Cheque size: US$2M on average.
The gist: SG fintech startup Thunes raises US$30M
The investor: Global hedge fund Marshall Wace
The product: Thunes is a global cross-border payment network. It currently supports 79 currencies, enables payments to 126 countries, and helps to accept 285 payment methods.
The gist: axes staff, shuts offices in Singapore, Malaysia
The reason: The layoffs were a reaction to the turbulence in global markets over the past few months
What does it do: XanPool offes fiat-gateway software solutions for exchange.
The gist: QR payment solution for restaurant consumers qlub bags US$25M
The investors: Al Dhabi Capital and UAE-based family offices
The markets: It operates in four continents, with a significant presence in Australia, KSA, Singapore and the UAE.
The gist: SG proptech firm Ohmyhome raises US$11.2M from Nasdaq IPO
The details: It issued 3.6M ordinary shares at US$4 apiece
The product: Ohmyhome connects buyers and sellers directly at no cost, with operations in the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia.
The gist: Vingroup Chairman’s GSM invests in Grab competitor Be
The details: Be Group and GSM will partner with VPBank to offer exclusive policy deals for Be drivers to rent or purchase VinFast electric cars and motorbikes.
The gist: Archireef secures funding to restore degraded marine ecosystems
The investors: Purpose VC and Carbon Zero
The product: Archireef’s 3D-printed terracotta-based reef tiles were recently deployed to aid coral restoration in the Arabian Gulf off the shore of Abu Dhabi.
The gist: SG’s digital mental health firm ThoughtFull raises US$4M pre-Series A
The investors: Temasek’s Sheares Healthcare, Vulpes, and The Hive SEA
The product: ThoughtFull offers personalised content, progress-tracking tools, and professional support through video calls and text-based mental health coaching.
The gist: French AI company SESAMm expands into SEA, opens office in SG
The product: SESAMm analyses 20B+ documents in real-time to generate insights for controversy detection on investments, clients and suppliers, and ESG and positive impact scores.
The gist: Business sans Borders startup Proxtera raises seed funding
The investors: Ant Group, CerraCap Ventures, and EDBI
The product: Singapore-based Proxtera offers a digital platform aiming to make MSMEs’ cross-border trade easier.
Features, authored articles, Echelon stuff
‘The challenge for female leaders is to get their voices heard’
Lisa Gibbons of Blockchain Advocate says not to be afraid to take several paths; we all end up in the same place, so the paths to get there should be varied and full of adventure.
Dezpax helps Thai F&B businesses find eco-friendly food packaging solutions
The ORZON Ventures-backed Dezpax has over 7,000 clients and has partnered with over 100 packaging solutions factories in Thailand.
‘Infra, talents are challenges faced by finance industry in adopting AI’
Provenir GM (APAC) Bharath Vellore says a key benefit of using AI for fraud detection is its ability to get smarter with each transaction it processes.
How businesses can take a step forward in their move towards net zero
As tackling the impact of climate change becomes more urgent, the next critical decade must focus on pathways.
15 startups that are among this year’s frontrunners for TOP100
From our diverse pool of applicants, get to know these 15 unique startups that are a step closer to competing at this year’s TOP100.
Exploring the impact of organised cybercrime on small businesses
Organised cybercrime is a big business, with cyberattacks on the rise; learn why businesses must invest in strong digital security measures.
You’re destined to fail if you don’t do this 1 thing when building international teams
In our conversation, Sébastien Marotte talks about the importance of diversity in building international teams.
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Echelon Asia Summit 2023 brings together APAC’s leading startups, corporates, policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to Singapore this June 14-15. Learn more and get tickets here. Echelon also features the TOP100 stage, where startups can pitch to 5000+ delegates, among other benefits like connecting with investors, visibility through the e27platform, and other prizes. Join TOP100 here.
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