Ajaib co-founders
Grab buys stake from OVO’s early investors to up its stake in the e-wallet to 90 per cent
OVO is now one of Indonesia’s leading e-wallet with about US$2.9B in valuation and nearly 100M downloads; Grab’s acquisition of a majority stake in OVO will likely face some bumps ahead as the Singaporean firm will have to find a local entity to transfer this stake.
Ajaib, the ‘Robinhood of Indonesia’, adds US$153M to its kitty to become a unicorn
Investors are DST Global (lead), Alpha JWC Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Horizons Ventures, Insignia Ventures, and SoftBank Ventures Asia; Ajaib claims to have attracted over 1M stock investors in Indonesia, a country with a total of around 2.69M retail equity investors.
a16z leads Axie Infinity parent Sky Mavis’s US$152M Series B round
Co-investors are Accel Partners and Paradigm; Sky Mavis invented the play-to-earn concept for people to play, live, work and earn within virtual worlds; Its first game is Axie Infinity, where players breed, battle, and trade digital pets called Axie.
Jeff Bezos’s investment firm, Tencent back B2B e-commerce startup Ula’s US$87M Series B round
Lead investors are Prosus Ventures, Tencent and B Capital; Ula will use the funds to expand in SEA, add new categories, scale its BNPL offering, and build a new local supply chain and logistics infrastructure.
Singapore fintech Incomlend nets US$60M from Europe’s Fasanara Capital
The company plans to launch an ESG-focused SME financing programme called Incomlend ESG Invoice Financing Programme; It will give qualifying SMEs access to Incomlend’s invoice financing solutions. The program also aims to help investors connect with ESG-focused SMEs.
Society Pass files for US$27M Nasdaq IPO
The e-commerce enabler will offer nearly 2.9M shares; The money will be used to expand the platform through acquisitions of regional e-commerce firms and applications; Society Pass recently acquired the Vietnamese online marketplace Leflair.
OR partners with 500 TukTuks to establish US$50M ORZON Ventures
It will invest in the most promising startups in Thailand and SEA, seeking opportunities to create new S-Curve businesses; Focusing on both OR-related technologies and new businesses under the theme of mobility and lifestyle to further enhance business strength and create long-term growth.
SME digital financing platform Funding Societies raises US$18M debt funding
Investors are Helicap Investments, Social Impact Debt Fund, and a Japanese financial services group; The firm is on track to raise US$120M in institutional debt for funding the growth needs of MSMEs in SEA; Funding Societies enables access to finance by using alternative data points, including but not limited to the MSME’s cash flow to underwrite these loans.
Co-working major JustCo loses lawsuit to Dathena Science over late handover of leased space
JustCo had failed to hand over units on four floors of the OCBC Centre East building in Raffles Place on time in violation of an agreement made between the two firms in January 2020; The high court ruled in favour of Dathena’s claim of US$210K which comprised its security deposit and an advance monthly membership fee.
Qapita nets US$15M Series A to facilitate liquidity solutions via a digital marketplace
Investors include East Ventures, Vulcan Capital, NYCA, MassMutual Ventures and Endiya Partners; Qapita a fintech startup focused on ESOPs and cap table management; It plans to add new products to its platform to provide solutions for private companies, startups, investors, shareholders and employees.
Singapore logistics startup Qxpress acquires Hong Kong firm KorChina Logistics
Korchina’s network spans 17 countries and covers major markets in Asia including China, Thailand, Korea, Japan, and Singapore; Qxpress is mulling an IPO in the US as soon as 2022; The potential listing could bump the Crescendo Equity Partners-backed firm’s valuation between US$500M and US$1B.
VFlowTech lands US$3M to scale low-cost, long-duration energy storage solutions beyond Singapore
Investors are Wavemaker Partners, SEEDS Capital, Sing Fuels and angels; VFlowTech claims that its batteries can store renewable energy for an expected life span of 25 years; The firm’s vision is to achieve diesel-free status in remote and rural areas by providing communities there with low-cost, reliable cleantech solutions.
SaaS accounting startup Bizzi banks US$3M pre-Series A
Investors are Money Forward, Do Ventures, and Qualgro; Bizzi is an invoice processing automation solution powered by AI and robotic process automation; Bizzi connects vendors and customers to automate financial processes namely bills payments, receipt scanning, compliance, and bookkeeping.
Greywing raises US$2.5M seed round
Investors are Flexport, Transmedia Capital, Signal Ventures, Motion Ventures, Rebel Ventures, Y-Combinator, and Entrepreneur First; Greywing is building solutions for ship operators to automate their business, through actionable intelligence, better data and communication.
Indonesian online lender UangTeman sued for US$1M
The lawsuit was filed by a Japanese company called Real Capital for defaulting on its loan obligations; But UangTeman CEO Aidil Zulkifli says that his company did not have any legal or contractual relationships with Real Kapital.
Innoven Capital backs millennial mothers-focused Philippine e-commerce startup edamama
edamama will use the capital to accelerate its logistics and fulfilment capabilities in advance of a Series A funding round early next year; In July, edamama bagged US$5M Gentree Fund, Robinsons Retail Holdings, Kickstart Ventures, and Foxmont Capital.
21 Southeast Asian startups that help banks gain ground in fintech competition
These fintech startups are blazing a path in innovating and supporting traditional banks’ digital transformation and expansion on all fronts.
Singapore’s travel-tech startup Vouch bags US$1.1M led by Forge Ventures
The startup will use the funds to innovate its new product line of guest experience platforms and expand its business into global markets, including Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea and the UK; Vouch’s AI and chat-bot tech allows guests to scan a QR code on their mobile phones to check-in, make room requests, order F&Bs and receive instant answers to FAQs.
Komunidad nets US$1M funding to help businesses adapt to the consequences of climate change
Investors are Wavemaker Partners (lead) and ADB Ventures; Komunidad provides environmental intelligence services for clients in utilities, agriculture, mining, education, BPO, and local government sectors in SEA and India.
Hometaste raises US$576K via ECF platform pitchIN to scale cloud kitchen business
Hometaste enables customers to order food from home chefs in their neighbourhood, currently concentrated in Klang Valley; It provides support for home chefs by giving them a platform to expand their F&B business.
Next-gen fleet management platform TransTRACK.ID raises US$550K
Investors include Cocoon Capital (lead), Indonesian Women Empowerment Fund; TransTRACK.ID offers an all-in-one, fleet telematics solution to help the logistics industry optimise fleet operations; The platform collects and analyses real-time telemetry data such as geolocation, fuel level, mileage, and maintenance alerts for each vehicle.
ShopeeFood gears up for Thailand launch
This comes after Foodpanda’s business in the country lost a number of users and merchants on its platform after a social media fiasco in July; Foodpanda Thailand was blasted online after it said it would fire a rider who took part in a pro-democracy movement.
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Image Credit: Ajaib
The post Ecosystem Roundup: Ajaib, Axie Infinity bag US$150M+ each; Grab buys 90% of OVO; Society Pass files for US$27M IPO appeared first on e27.