Accelerating Asia invests in 10 startups as part of cohort 7 programme

Accelerating Asia, an accelerator VC firm that runs programmes for early-stage startups, has announced investments in ten new companies joining the cohort 7 programme. 

The new investments take Accelerating Asia’s portfolio to 60 startups that have raised over US$50 million, with cohort 7 having raised US$5.2 million before joining the programme.

The cohort 7 startups have a market presence in nine countries across Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines, Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and South Korea. 

They cover various verticals, including hospitality, enterprise software, telecommunications, entertainment, logistics, retail technology, healthtech, and e-commerce. Collectively, every startup addresses at least one sustainable development goal (SDG).

The new investees of Accelerating Asia have an average monthly gross merchandise value (GMV) of over US$46,000 and revenue of over US$13,000.

About 60 per cent of the startups have at least one female co-founder (Easy Rice, Shoplinks, Kooky, BizB, Healthpro.id, and SafeTruck). As per the release, it is “significantly higher than the average portfolio”, given just 17.2 per cent of private capital in Southeast Asia was deployed to female-founded startups. 

Also Read: Accelerating Asia on building a company culture that fosters innovation and inclusion

Amra Naidoo, General Partner at Accelerating Asia, said: “The ten startups we invested in have even more significant milestones in revenue, user acquisition, and other metrics than you would typically associate with early-stage startups. We believe this is a positive sign for not only Accelerating Asia, but the ecosystem in Asia Pacific as a whole. Our startups are finding product-market fit faster than ever, allowing them to focus on scaling toward market leadership.”

Below are the brief profiles of each cohort 7 startup:

Cocotel (Philippines): A one-stop solution for hotel reservation needs. The proptech company helps independent hotels and resorts with technology, property management, and digital marketing.

Hishabee (Bangladesh): A full-stack business solution that helps over 100,000 Bangladeshi small businesses save time and increase their revenue by selling online and everything else they need to run efficiently. 

K-link (Myanmar and Thailand): An omnichannel cloud contact centre platform provider that supplies hundreds of global brands with high-end telecommunication services without expensive hardware and complex telecom infrastructure. 

Kooky.io (Korea): An entertainment platform where superfans meet K-pop artists by turning their passion into active support that helps to grow their favourite artists.

Safe Truck (Malaysia): An internet of things (IoT) fleet management system that tracks and collects telematics data, analyzes with an AI-powered application, and helps transporters get lower rates in end-to-end fleet procurement.

Shoplinks (Singapore): It helps supermarkets in Southeast Asia monetise their transaction and loyalty data by delivering personalised promotions to shoppers through chat or apps for consumer brands, tripling their ROI.

Easy Rice Digital Technology (Thailand): An agritech company that digitises and enhances quality assessment (QA) of staple food to make its delivery from farm to fork quicker, cheaper and healthier. 

HealthPro (Indonesia): A platform to help healthcare facilities get their on-demand healthcare workers effortlessly.

BizB (Pakistan): It is a re-commerce marketplace for buying and selling preloved apparel and accessories, helping women earn money, save money and contribute to making fashion sustainable again!  

Ulisse (Singapore): An IoT hardware and software platform that helps business decision-makers save costs with commercial places that perform better with data. 

Licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Accelerating Asia runs programmes for early-stage startups. In September 2021, it launched Fund II worth US$20M. Accelerating Asia invests up to US$250,000 in pre-Series A startups. 

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