Singapore-based mental health startup Intellect has secured US$10 million in a Series A financing round led by US-based HOF Capital.

Other institutional backers are Headline, East Ventures, MS&AD Ventures, DG Daiwa Ventures, Insignia Ventures Partners and Pioneer Fund.

The round also saw participation from a string of angels, including Henry Chan of Shopback, Rajive Keshup of Cathay Innovation, Neel Palrecha (former VP of Engineering at Headspace), Samvit Ramadurgam of Forge, Sagi Shorrer of Peak, Anubhav Nayyar of Snap, Gaurav Girotra of Tinder, along with family office funds of billionaire founders.

Intellect will spend the capital on expanding its footprint in Asia and increasing its product, engineering, and commercial headcounts.

Besides, the company also intends to level up its product offerings to include the whole spectrum of mental health care, ranging from self-care to live counselling, coaching, to crisis management.

The round comes five months after Intellect’s US$2.2 million pre-Series A round led by Insignia Ventures Partners, alongside new investors Y Combinator and XA Network.

Also read: How to tackle employee mental health to build a resilient workforce

Launched in 2020, Intellect aims to make mental healthcare and wellbeing support accessible for everyone through its end-to-end, 24×7 mental healthcare system in a single app.

The pandemic has boosted the demand for mental health support in the last two years. According to the World Health Organisation, new depressive and anxiety disorder diagnoses spiked 400 per cent in 2021.

“Existing mental health benefits and mental healthcare systems are under-equipped to service this surging need at scale,” stated Intellect CEO and Co-Founder Theodoric Chew. “Intellect goes beyond supporting workforces, going deeper into our broader vision of building an entirely new mental healthcare system tailored specifically for Asia.”

For companies, Intellect’s mental health benefits solution includes clinically-based digital therapy programmes and telehealth services, which connect employees to a panel of professional coaches and clinical therapists within minutes.

The app’s consumer version offers an introductory mental well-being platform with self-guided skill-building lessons and bite-sized “rescue sessions” to deal with stressful emotions.

As of last August, Intellect claims to have clocked over 2.5 million users and 20 enterprise clients globally, covering 12 countries and 11 languages.

In 2021, the startup claimed to have recorded a y-o-y revenue surge by over 20 fold. It involved a significant uptick in enterprise clients signing on to its corporate mental health benefits solution — such as online ordering and food delivery platform foodpanda and digital loyalty and e-commerce platform Shopback.

Intellect also partners with insurers and global benefits brokers across Asia to offer mental health solutions on a much larger scale.

The startup has over ten clinical studies underway in collaboration with leading universities and institutions, namely the National University of Singapore (NUS), King’s College London, University of Queensland and the Singapore General Hospital. 

According to Statista, the digital health industry in Singapore is estimated to increase at a 6.94 per cent annual rate (CAGR 2022-2025), resulting in a projected market volume of US$2,8 billion by 2025.

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Image Credit: Intellect

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Surge, a Sequoia Capital-operated scale-up programme for startups in India and Southeast Asia, has announced the 20 new startups graduating from its sixth cohort. 

Of the total 20 startups, 17 have already received US$60 million funding from Sequoia and other investors. Surge stated in an announcement that the sixth batch comprises the largest number of software startups, with more than half building and providing cloud infrastructure, developer tools, data protection, and SaaS. Other startups belong to the categories: cybersecurity, fintech, agritech, e-commerce, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, and edutech. 

“As many products and services continue to move online, we’re starting to see greater diversity in the types of SaaS startups applying to and taking part in Surge,” noted the programme. “Sixty per cent of Surge 06 companies are building solutions for global markets from day one.”

For the first time, Surge also has onboarded startups from Malaysia, Thailand, and Taiwan, besides India, which is home to 50 per cent of participants. 

Below is a snapshot of the five startups based out of Southeast Asia:

• Grupin is an Indonesia-based social commerce platform offering an interactive, community-based shopping experience to consumers, along with the benefit of large discounts on bulk consumer products.
• Infina is a retail investment software that allows young, tech-savvy Vietnamese to start investing with little sum and lower risk.
• IIIMMPACT is a Malaysia-based fintech firm that provides a full suite of APIs ranging from mobile top-ups, utility bills, government services, insurance and travel under one umbrella.
• Manatal is a Thailand-based SaaS platform for end-to-end recruiting and onboarding.
• HelloMida is a Vietnam-located DTC fashion brand that allows Southeast Asia’s digitally native GenZ customers to express and celebrate their uniqueness through a real-time retail model.

Also read: Startup funding rounds: A handbook from seed to exit

Launched in 2019 by Sequoia India, Surge has evaluated over 10,000 companies for its accelerator programme and has grown to a network of 112 startups and 246 founders. 

Upon joining each cohort, startups will receive a seed investment of around US$1 million to US$2 million. The four-month programme also provides training, global immersion tours, and assistance from a network of extraordinary mentors coming from successful companies such as Gojek, Google, Uber, WhatsApp, Zilingo, and more. 

Surge focuses on early-stage projects, which mean that participant could be someone with an idea and a slide deck or an early-stage founding team that already has the product-market fit and a round of seed funding.

The programme’s goal is to supercharge these projects and give them an unfair advantage to scale and grow, form a team, make smart business model choices right from the get-go, and raise a Series A round soon after. At the end of Surge, founders will have the opportunity to raise capital during an “UpSurge” week from a curated list of angels, seed funds and VCs. 

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Image Credit: Surge

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PT Elang Mahkota Teknologi Tbk (IDX: EMTK) through its subsidiary PT Elang Media Visitama (EMV) has announced the participation of Grab and Singtel as strategic investors in PT Bank Fama International (FAMA). Both companies acquired 16.26 per cent of shares in Bank Fama.

Based on documents filed to Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI), Grab Holdings Limited (Grab) and Singtel Telecommunications Limited have invested in Bank Fama through Singtel Alpha Investments Pte. Ltd.

Both companies agreed to acquire 2.35 billion of new shares in Bank Fama or equal to 16.26 per cent of capital.

Following the issuance of these new shares, EMV’s ownership in Bank Fama changes to 62.76 per cent, PT Nusantara Berkat Agung owns 4.72 per cent, while Grab and Singtel own 16.26 per cent.

“This strategic investment is part of the effort to accelerate and develop the business and digital ecosystem of Bank Fama,” the company stated in a BEI filing.

Previously, EMTEK has acquired nine billion shares in Bank Fama or 93 per cent of all capital invested; this action was completed in December 2021.

Headquartered in Bandung and founded in 1993 with IDR10 billion (US$698,000) in the capital, Bank Fama has a network of online branches in Bandung, Jakarta, and Tangerang with a focus on the retail segment, particularly SMEs. By December 2020, Bank Fama has IDR1 trillion (US$69 million) in main capital.

Also Read: BRI Agro CEO Kaspar Situmorang: Why tapping into the ecosystem is key to a digital bank’s success

The involvement of Grab in digital bank

Grab has an interesting history prior to its involvement as a strategic investor in EMTEK’s digital bank. Especially if we look at the journey of these two companies, we can see that Grab is not a new name for EMTEK.

Last year, EMTEK invested IDR5.44 trillion in PT Grab Teknologi Indonesia or Grab Indonesia as a token of synergy between the two companies. By June 2021, EMTEK has scored 5.88 per cent of shares in Grab Indonesia.

Recently, Grab and Bukalapak participated in a rights issue for Allo Bank, a digital bank belonging to conglomerate Chairul Tanjung. Bukalapak now has 11.49 per cent of shares in Allo Bank.

As it is already widely known, PT Bukalapak.com Tbk (IDX: BUKA) is associated with PT Kreatif Media Karya (KMK), an EMTEK subsidiary in the media and digital sector. By March 31, 2021, EMTEK owns 34.88 per cent of shares in Bukalapak through KMK.

The affiliation between EMTEK, Grab, and Bukalapak revealed a strong link of the product ecosystem amongst digital banks in Indonesia, especial in the matters of providing financial services.

Grab’s participation also strengthened reports about an attempt to strengthen a digital ecosystem that consists of the elements of commerce, online-to-offline (O2O), and digital payments in Bank Fama. Grab itself already owns an ecosystem of various services that can seamlessly integrate with Bank Fama’s ecosystem.

However, Bukalapak’s entry into the digital banking space through Allo Bank represents a different approach. Bukalapak is known to have been pushing the reach out Buka Mitra business line to SMEs outside of Jakarta. Buka Mitra plays a key role in the growth performance of Bukalapak. Its involvement in Allo Bank also enables the company to reach out to more business players.

We should not dismiss the potential of greater collaboration between Bank Fama and Allo Bank.

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The article was written in Bahasa Indonesia by Corry Anestia for DailySocial. English translation and editing by e27.

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RateS, an Indonesia-based social commerce firm, has bagged US$6 million in equity in a Series A+ round led by existing investor Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, reported DealStreetAsia.

The round also included US$1.5 million in debt financing.

Returning investor Insignia Ventures Partners and new backer Beacon Venture Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of Thai Kasikornbank, also co-invested. 

The startup will utilise the funding to launch its in-house brands, starting with mum and baby products manufactured in China. To support this strategy, RateS is also looking to raise the Series B round in H2 this year and calling for investments from Chinese strategic investors.

In addition, the firm also intends to tap on Kasikornbank’s line of credit with Beacon to leverage its financial products to rural customers.

Before this, RateS received an undisclosed amount in a Series A round in 2021 for expansion into tier 2 and 3 markets in Indonesia by expanding the “density” of its reseller membership network.

Also read: The 27 Indonesian startups that have taken the ecosystem to next level this year

Founded in 2016, RateS has grown from a foreign exchange service provider to a social commerce platform, allowing sellers to source goods, manage deliveries, accept payments, and access financial products through their app. 

The firm focuses on housewives, students, and micro-entrepreneurs in Indonesia’s tier 2 and 3 cities.

Last year, Jake Goh, CEO and co-founder of RateS, said that its resellers’ earnings have increased by up to 50 per cent after joining the company’s platform. He also told DealStreetAsia that RateS currently serves 500,000 resellers with gross merchandise volume (GMV) jumping 4x in 2021.

Social commerce in Indonesia has witnessed strong growth. A McKinsey report forecast that social commerce is expected to grow into a US$25 billion dollar industry by 2022, driven by the growing number of merchant bases.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global social commerce market is estimated to increase at a soaring rate of 31.4 per cent. Last year saw an influx of funding into SEA’s social commerce startups, including Indonesia’s Desty, Kitabeli, Super, and Segari; Singapore’s abilion and Raena; and Vietnam’s Mio.

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Image Credit: RateS

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Stuck at home during the pandemic with limited forms of connection and entertainment, the world moved online in unprecedented ways. This was especially true in Southeast Asia where an additional 37 million individuals gained access to the internet during the first year of the pandemic, according to the World Bank.

While the myriad of challenges in the past two years have had an indelible impact on brands and how the public views them, there has been a global shift toward authenticity and purpose which has changed users’ content expectations.

They no longer desire heavily stylised and curated spaces but instead seek real communities with shared passions. Some of those shared passions include content that evolves around family, education, finance, and sports.

Our data corroborated this: over the past 12 months, we saw an increase in the following content categories across Southeast Asia: Babies & Family (+210 per cent YoY), Education (+180 per cent YoY), Finance (+380 per cent YoY), Sports (+800 per cent YoY), Gaming (+320 per cent YoY), Automotive (+180 per cent YoY), Beauty (+190 per cent YoY), and Food & Drinks (+160 per cent YoY).

Brands within these sectors have shifted their content to connect with consumers in a new and dynamic way – understanding that we’re now facing a new phenomenon where relevance is seen as the latest cultural currency.

Not only does relevance have the powerful ability to turn consumers into brand advocates, but it also generates top-of-mind recall. But you can’t just buy cultural currency.

Also Read: The business of social responsibility: Why brands are redefining their social conscience

Here are some tips on how brands can earn it to spark joy and truly engage with their audiences:

Tip #1: Be “flawsome”

Today’s audiences are tired of overly polished and curated content. They want brands to be comfortable showing their vulnerabilities and imperfections. As such, we embrace the term “flawsome” – where brands begin to embrace their ‘flaws’ or their authentic selves in a way that is aligned with their brand values.

But it isn’t about brands highlighting their disadvantages or portraying themselves in a negative light. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

It’s a way for brands to make themselves more accessible and relevant by being their authentic selves aligned to their brand values – ultimately turning it to their advantage.

Tip#2: Tap into cultural currency and what’s trending today

Whether it’s tapping into unique subcultures or what’s trending today, it is important for brands to ensure that they connect with their target audience in a relevant way. Today’s brands have the opportunity to democratise creativity, calling on consumers to produce their own content aligned with the brand’s voice.

By inviting users to be a part of the brand story, the audience becomes more engaged, transitioning from being a passive viewer toward becoming an active ambassador of the brand. This provides brands with relevancy and a competitive edge, while uniquely positioning them in customers’ lives and hearts.

Tip#3: Embrace shoppertainment

As more people shop online, we’re seeing a convergence of content and commerce which we call “shoppertainment”. What used to be a very one-way transaction has now become a more delightful experience as brands deliver content that entertains.

There’s been a massive shift from people searching for products to products searching for people and through shoppertainment, brands can find the right audiences and drive consumers from the discovery stage to the purchasing stage with ease.

In addition to leveraging cultural currency, positivity can also help brands to better connect with their consumers. With physical interaction diminishing, people are turning to technology to experience joy – they want to be entertained and engaged meaningfully.

Also Read: How consumers are prioritising sustainability beyond the single lens of eco-friendly products

While there is an overabundance of content, people are looking for content that is valuable and relevant to them– whether it’s for personal gratification, staying up-to-date with the latest trends, improving the state of the world, personal or professional development, or discovering something completely new and wonderful.

While what is “meaningful” can mean different things for different folks, people, in general, gravitate towards content that makes them feel entertained, seen and understood. Brands that are able to deliver such joyful experiences can better relate and connect with their consumers.
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Lumina, a Jakarta-based job community platform for underserved blue-collar workers, announced today its new backers — Silicon Valley-based accelerator Y Combinator (YC) and Southeast Asia-focused venture capital firm Alpha JWC Ventures.

The amount of funding is not disclosed.

With this, Lumina plans to triple the size of its engineering team, aiming to build a one-stop-shop platform where workers can upskill and contribute to organisations that they work for.

“By leveraging the power of our immersive community and AI-based job recommendations, we aim to democratise hiring and automate quality matching between blue-collar workers and employers,” said Lumina Co-Founder & CEO, Aswin Andrison.

Also read: Human capital is the biggest enabler of digital transformation. Here’s how to enhance it

Co-founded in September 2021 by CEO Andriso and CTO Tri Ahmad Irfan, who was a Twitter employee, Lumina provides an easy-to-use, community-based recruiting solution for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and a networking platform for Indonesia’s working class.

It targets to help 80-120 million Indonesian blue-collar workers to interact with fellow job seekers via a streamlined interview process and community forum.

Lumina also reduces the amount of paperwork for applicants and replaces long waiting times and application follow-ups with progress notifications. Besides, it relieves applicants from the burden of having to look for jobs in multiple locations and platforms.

Within two months, Lumina claims to have brought on more than 100,000 job seekers and 20,000 jobs from thousands of companies including Shopee, Lemonilo, Sirclo, Kargo and Astro, among others.

The startup also boasts of significant traction with 1,000 new daily user sign-ups and 3,000 new daily jobs added.

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Image Credit: Lumina

 

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How crypto exchanges in Singapore are reacting to MAS’ new advertising guidelines
Under the new guidelines, firms are not allowed to advertise in public areas or engage third parties such as social media influencers to promote crypto services in Singapore. Instead, they can only advertise on their own corporate websites, mobile apps or official social media accounts

S’poreans are least optimistic about the metaverse among those in SEA, according to survey
While most countries’ respondents felt largely positive about the development, Singapore stood out as an exception

China, India and Indonesia record highest digital wallet adoption rates across APAC
Booming adoption of digital wallets is shown by the surge in digital payments, notably over the past year

3 lessons I learned in my transition from VC firm to crypto company
In this contributed post, Nat Wittayanataseth confessed that she had a naive assumption that joining a post-product-market-fit crypto company means there will be clear visibility on the paths ahead.

Indonesia encourages digital preparedness through upskilling and reskilling
A report shows that in 2025 there will be 43 per cent of industry players who reduce or reduce the number of workers as a consequence of the application of technology integration, OpenGov reports

Grab, Singtel are new strategic investors in Bank Fama
Grab and Singtel acquired 16.26 per cent of shares in Indonesia-based Bank Fama as part of the movement to reach out to SMEs in the country

Why Saleswhale sold its business to this SoftBank-backed unicorn
At the height of the pandemic in 2020, Saleswhale’s revenues plunged by 70 per cent to US$300,000 as its clients across the world implemented cost cuts

Address challenges in PH fintech industry to sustain growth: study
According to a recent study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), the COVID-19 pandemic has also contributed to the growth in demand for fintech, as demonstrated by the increased use of digital payment platforms

AI deep learning system that dramatically cuts diagnosis time for eye diseases wins gold at Techblazer Awards
The Techblazer Awards is Singapore’s highest accolade for tech innovation. The 2021 awards saw more than 440 nominations, up from 403 submissions in the previous year

Indonesia’s social commerce startup RateS nets US$6M in Series A+ round
The round also included US$1.5 million in debt financing. The startup will utilise the funding to launch its in-house brands, starting with mum and baby products manufactured in China

Tapping into joy: The new cultural currency for brands
With the myriad of challenges in the past two years, there has been a global shift toward authenticity and purpose amongst brands. Ng Chew Wee of TikTok explains to our readers how they can tap into this shift.

Y Combinator, Alpha JWC back Indonesia’s job community startup Lumina
Lumina provides an easy-to-use, community-based recruiting and benefits platform for Indonesia’s working class. With this, Lumina plans to triple the size of its engineering team

EthAum names 15 startups in latest cohort
The sector-agnostic programme’s latest cohort includes B2B startups from the property tech, supply chain, enterprise SaaS, retail, and HR tech sectors, amongst others

PH fintech startup exceeds P1-B mark in transaction volume in 2021
Invoice payments, employee salaries, and vendor payments were the main drivers for this milestone, backed by a customer base that has grown by roughly 20x over the last 12 months

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Image Credit: alessandrobiascioli

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Used cars platform Moladin closes US$42M Series A round
Lead investors are Northstar Group and Sequoia India; Started in 2017 as a motorcycle platform, Moladin pivoted to a used cars marketplace in mid-2021; It operates as a social commerce firm leveraging agents to sell used cars to end consumers.

WIZ.AI bags US$20M in Hillhouse-led round
K3 Ventures, Insignia Ventures, Wavemaker Partners and GGV Capital also co-invested; WIZ.AI creates chatbots for companies in the healthcare, banking and finance, e-commerce, insurance and telecom industries.

‘Absolute decentralisation is unlikely to be the panacea for everything’: Chris Sirise of Saison Capital
‘The growing traction and real use cases have made it undeniable that Web3 as an industry will grow quickly and become enormous’.

ErudiFi raises US$15M debt funding from Helicap to provide affordable tuition instalment plans to students
ErudiFi helps students secure funding for higher education through partnerships with leading universities and vocational schools; It has facilitated more than US$100M in investments that improve access to financing for underbanked populations in SEA.

Temasek unit Heliconia leads digital container haulage platform Haulio’s US$7M Series A round
Co-investors are Ondine Capital, Cornerstone Ventures, FuturePlay, Newtown Partners, and XA Network; Haulio boasts of having onboarded 90% of Singapore’s hauliers and established presences in Indonesia and Thailand, where it has aggregated 3K+ hauliers.

Fintech startup Fraction bags US$3M to turn real estate into fractional NFTs
Investors are East Ventures, Emtek, Thakral, and V Ventures; Fraction allows individuals and companies to invest, sell and manage fractional ownership of anything, from a small stake in a city condominium to managing a private fund, assets and investors.

Xendit ventures in banking space, partners with rural lender BPR Xen
The unicorn has initiated hiring for roles from bank tellers to middle-management level employees for the rural lender; Xendit achieved unicorn status in September 2020 following a US$150M Series C funding led by Tiger Global.

M&A roundup: boAt buys SG startup KaHa, DeClout acquires Ascent Solutions
Ascent Solutions is an IoT smart connectivity firm that provides digital solutions for smart city infrastructure; DeClout invests in, incubates and scales companies to become global or regional market leaders.

Japan’s soccer star Keisuke Honda launches AngelList-like platform for Asia’s startup community
PROTOCOL leverages technology to ease burdens on founders and investors while also boosting the ecosystem as a whole; The platform will be available for people seeking jobs in startups, planning to start a business or investing.

MAS stops crypto platforms from advertising in public
Cryptocurrency firms cannot market their services on public transport, public transport venues, public websites, social media platforms, broadcast and print media, or on physical ATMs; They are also barred from promoting their products via social media influencers and other third-party marketing services.

TW
Fashion resale startup bags US$2.2M in AppWorks-led round
Co-investors are CTBC Venture Capital, B Current Impact Investment, and Taiwan Culture and Creative Angels Investment; PopChill aims to create a sustainable community marketplace enabling users to buy and sell second-hand fashion and apparel.

Taiwan
500 Global joins US$1.7m round of customer service startup Viewabo
Viewabo uses its tech to allow companies to provide customer support services through video and live streaming; Agents can add notes, pause, rotate the stream as per convenience, or save the stream for later review and training.

Why Vietnam is a ripe market for new-age banking
More than 40 per cent of the population in Vietnam is banked and bank cards are seeing accelerating penetration. But there is no dominant winner yet; Vietnam ranks second in the world with 69% of people not having access to financial services and no bank accounts.

Carousell takes on Google, FB with launch of ad platform
Known as Connect, the platform is a recommerce programmatic buying tool that uses demand side-platforms powered by data from transactions and searches on Carousell’s platforms; The new tool provides a full-funnel solution.

Antler India names the 19 students in its new fellowship
The Antler India Fellowship aims to promote entrepreneurship at the university level as a possible career option for students; It offers an equity-free grant of US$20K, mentorship services, and a peer network to turn the startup ideas of students into businesses.

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Con Cung, a retail network for mom and baby products in Vietnam, has secured US$90 million in a financing round from healthcare-focused private equity firm Quadria Capital.

Con Cung will use the funds to open 2,000 local outlets by 2025 and expand its product line. It will also develop an “all-in-one super app” to provide personalised products and services to over five million mothers.

The retailer will leverage Quadria’s network of portfolio companies such as FV Hospital, a hospital platform in Vietnam.

As part of the deal, global retail expert Robert Willett will join Con Cung’s Board of Directors. 

Also read: The era of live commerce has finally arrived. Will retailers embrace it?

Founded in 2011 by chairman Minh Nguyen and CEO Tien Luu, Con Cung aims to be the one-stop destination for mothers to fulfil their maternity and baby-care needs. Its offerings include over 2,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) of products such as milk powder, diapers, bottled nutrition and vitamins, equipment, and baby fashion.

The company claims that it has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 70 per cent over the last four years. Con Cung operates 600 stores in 45 provinces and towns and plans to expand to 1,000 stores by the end of 2022.

Besides a network of physical stores, Con Cung also owns a mobile app to serve the mounting mobile-based purchases. “We recognise the need to expand our retail channels, both online and offline, and create a holistic ecosystem to support mothers and families,” said Nguyen.

In January, Con Cung will open its first 2,000-square-meter Super Center in Phu Dong 6, Ho Chi Minh city. This will feature all Con Cung products and other services such as a coffee shop, an integrated playground area, and one dedicated floor for infant care, nutrition, and OBGYN consulting services provided by doctors and healthcare professionals.  

Con Cung plans to open one supercentre per month to reach 200-300 such stores across Vietnam.

Also read: How Shopee uses AI, data to build a marketing strategy that suits changes in user behaviour

The fresh infusion comes 18 months after the closure of Quadria’s oversubscribed US$595 million Fund II, which focuses on investing in the healthcare and consumer health companies in Asia Pacific. The firm is looking to raise Fund III following the rapid deployment of Fund II. 

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Image Credit: Con Cung

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Vietnamese social commerce platform Mio has received a US$8 million Series A round of investment, led by Jungle Ventures.

New investor Patamar Capital, angel investor Oliver Jung, existing backers GGV Capital, Venturra, Hustle Fund, iSEED SEA and Gokul Rajaram also co-invested.

This brings Mio’s total capital raised to date to US$9.1 million.

Mio will use the fresh funds to expand its fulfilment centre footprint, improve its logistics and supply chain capabilities, and expand into new geographies in Vietnam.

Founded in June 2020 by serial entrepreneurs Trung Huynh, An Pham, Long Pham and Tu Le, Mio is a group buying platform for grocery and fresh produce. Every day, Mio fulfils 10,000 daily orders to tens of thousands of households in Ho Chi Minh city and its surrounding lower-tier cities via its agent network. It delivers fresh produce orders directly from the farm to the table in less than 16 hours.

The company currently focuses on grocery staples, including fresh produce and poultry. It plans to add FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and household appliances. In the future, the company will be investing in new fulfilment centres and supply chain initiatives to reduce delivery time further, lower costs and expand its services to more towns.

Also Read: Quadria Capital injects US$90M into Con Cung to build super app for Vietnamese mothers

The startup said in a press note that it aims to drive financial independence for millions of Vietnamese women by democratising entrepreneurship opportunities through its Mio Partner model. Many of these partners are women, who act as resellers who acquire orders from their immediate social circle of friends and family, aggregate, place and manage orders through the Mio app. In return, the partners can make up to US$400, earning a 10 per cent commission on each order and additional commissions based on the monthly performance of resellers they referred to the platform.

The company claims it has witnessed tremendous success in the last 12 months, with its GMV growing by over 50x, fulfilling over 10,000 fresh produce products every day.

Today, Mio is present across Ho Chi Minh, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An and will be expanding to the northern region of Vietnam in the coming months.

Co-Founder Trung Huynh said: “Mio aims to create a virtuous ecosystem of growth for our Mio Partners and consumers. We have created thousands of jobs for women in suburban districts and lower-tier cities of Vietnam. As we scale, we will continue to drive financial independence among more women in Vietnam, expand our services to more markets, and serve our consumers with better products and service.”

My Tran, VP (Investments) at Jungle Ventures, said: “With the rising internet penetration, we are very bullish on social commerce as it will be the next driver of growth for tier 2 and 3 towns in the region, racing ahead of traditional commerce models, as consumers demand at par choice, experience and service. Mio is an innovative business with terrific growth potential addressing the US$50 billion grocery opportunity in Vietnam.”

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Image Credit: Mio

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