Ecosystem Roundup: APAC’s alt-protein funding hits US$312M in 2021, Grab Q4 net loss exceeds US$1B

Grab’s Q4 net loss surpasses US$1B as costs rise in ‘quarter of investments’
The net losses were 73% more than the US$635M in Q4 2020; The firm has been spending more on incentives to attract drivers onto its platform as countries reopen after the pandemic.

B Capital raises US$1.1B for third global growth fund
It has drawn commitments from 101 investors; B Capital typically invests between US$10M and US$60M in Series B,C, and D stage companies; The VC firm invests in B2B ad B2B2C companies in enterprise tech, fintech, healthtech, consumer enablement tech, transportation, and logistics.

Alt-protein startups funding hits high of US$312M in 2021 in APAC: report
As per the Good Food Institute report, startups in the plant-based category dominated the funding flow, securing nearly 70% of investment in APAC; Top deals included Next Gen Foods’s record-breaking US$30M seed funding and Australian V2food’s US$110M Series B.

Sinar Mas units set to invest US$225M into Indonesian e-wallet Dana
Around US$200M will be channelled through Sinar Mas subsidiary DSST Dana Gemilang, and the rest will come from its banking arm Bank Sinarmas; An Emtek Group unit, Dana is also backed by Ant Financial.

‘We hope to see more material science, heavy industry firms coming out of SEA to address climate change’
There should be an emergence of hundreds of founders looking to solve climate change, says Aera VC’s Derek Handley.

Singapore’s Zignaly banks US$50M from Luxembourg’s GEM Global Yield Fund
Zignaly will use the funds to expand into SEA, West Asia, Turkey, India, South America, and Europe; Zignaly’s platform lowers the barrier to entry for investors looking to add digital assets to their portfolios, entrusting decision-making to expert traders.

Volopay raises US$29M Series A to expand corporate cards biz to APAC, MENA
Investors include Justin Mateen’s JAM Fund, Winklevoss Capital, Rapyd Ventures, Accial Capital, Access Ventures, and Antler; Volopay will use the funds to expand into the APAC and the MENA regions.

Taronga Ventures raises investment from CDL, others for its RealTech Ventures Fund
Taronga is looking to invest in 20-30 companies in the real estate and built environment verticals; Taronga Ventures consists of the RealTech Ventures Fund, the RealTechX innovation programme, and Taronga Advisory.

Ex-Grab Philippines head raises US$10.7M for his social commerce startup SariSuki
Investors are Openspace Ventures, SIG, Global Founders Capital, Saison Capital, JG Digital Equity Ventures, and Foxmont Capital; SariSuki claims to have grown 36x since the launch, served about 60,000 consumers and grown to over 100 employees.

Tribecar owners acquire Singapore’s first car-sharing operator Car Club
Established in 1997 as NTUC Income’s car-sharing co-operative, Car Club was acquired by Mitsui & Co. in 2016, which later entered into a joint venture agreement with another Japanese company Willers.

B2B input marketplace AgriAku raises US$6M pre-Series A
Investors include Go-Ventures, MDI Arise, MDI Centauri, and Mercy Corps Social Venture Fund; AgriAku’s platform facilitates agribusiness activities for suppliers, retailers and farmers.

Cococart nets US$4.2M to help merchants set up storefront in ‘minutes’
Investors are Forerunner Ventures, Sequoia Capital, YC, Uncommon Capital, and Soma Capital; Since its launch, Cococart claims to have grown to support over 20K businesses in more than 90 countries, taking in over 500K orders.

Thailand’s ORZON Ventures invests in lifestyle and mobility startups
They are Pomelo, Carsome, Freshket, GoWabi, and Protomate; ORZON Ventures is a US$50M fund launched by Thai oil company OR’s subsidiary SGHoldCo and early-stage investor 500 TukTuks.

Document AI startup Docsumo raises US$3.5M seed funding
Investors are Common Ocean, Fifth Wall, Arbor Realty Trust, and Better Capital; It will utilise the funds to expand its client base in the North American market; Docsumo helps enterprises capture, validate and analyse data from unstructured documents for automated decisions.

SoBanHang raises US$2.5M more to transform into an OS for micro-businesses in Vietnam
Investors are FEBE Ventures, Class5, AlleyCorp, and Trihill Capital; SoBanHang helps small and micro enterprises build digital storefronts, sell to more customers, and manage multi-channel operations on smartphones.

Umami Meats secures US$2.4M seed funding to scale its cultivated seafood business in Singapore
Investors are Better Bite Ventures and Genedant; Umami will utilise the money to advance its low-cost production system for cultivating fish by establishing production-ready cell lines from multiple fish species.

Singapore E-commerce marketplace Kyberlife raises pre-Series A
Investors include PE Global, James Simkins (GETZ Healthcare), and Dr Michael Gorriz (Standard Chartered); Kyberlife facilitates transactions between principals in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, and healthcare industries with their B2B consumers.

ScaleUp Malaysia invests in 11 startups from its third cohort
ScaleUp teams up with Quest Ventures, Indelible Ventures, and Mranti to run this accelerator programme for growth-stage startups; Kicked off August 2021, ScaleUp Malaysia said that it drew over 200 applications from 26 countries including Malaysia, the US, Egypt, Indonesia, Singapore and Japan.

Singapore neobank IN Financial Technology acquires 500 Global-backed MyCash
INFT is a one-stop employer-to-employee fintech platform; Its solutions include an online business account, virtual debit card, spend management tools, and business cash line; MyCash will expand into Malaysia and Indonesia.

Touchstone funds Vietnamese car platform Bave’s US$1M pre-seed round
Bave’s platform connects drivers with merchants selling car equipment and parts as well as with businesses providing car financing and vehicle servicing; It also runs Agara, an inventory manager for garages and body shops, and CarGo, a car service booking app.

Indonesian crypto startup Blocknom raises US$500K
Investors are Y Combinator, Magic Fund, and Number Capital; Blocknom enables users to invest in crypto-assets and gain the interest of up to 13% per year; The company said that its interest earnings are the highest in Indonesia.

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