Google, Fidelity, Tencent join GoTo’s US$1.3B first close of pre-IPO round
GoTo will invest the funds in customer growth and engagement, to expand its payments and financial services offering, and enhance hyperlocal experiences; Various reports suggested GoTo plans to list in Indonesia by the end of 2021 before proceeding with a US listing with a potential valuation of US$40B.
Tiki scores US$258M Series E led by AIA
Other investors are Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, Taiwan Mobile, Yuanta Fund and STIC Investments; Tiki will collaborate with AIA to develop an insurtech platform offering insurance products and financial services for the customers.
SEA fintech funding hits record high of US$3.5B in first nine months of 2021
A strong interest in late-stage fintech firms, which secured 10 out of 13 mega rounds this year, drove the surge in investments; Grab Financial, VNPay, Nium, GCash, Voyager Innovations, Ascend Money, Xendit, FinAccel, and Matrixport are also among the most funded fintech firms in the region.
SEA’s internet economy to reach US$1T in GMV by 2030, say Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company report
In addition to e-commerce and food delivery, digital lending services are also expected to grow due to an appetite for consumer financing options and supply chain financing; One of the highlights of SEA’s internet economy in 2021 was the resurgence of startup funding and the race to IPO.
Grab’s revenue slips by 9% in Q3 2021 as mobility takes back seat
In Q3, revenue from Grab’s mobility business was down 26% y-o-y to US$88M; The segment’s GMV also fell 30% from a year ago to US$529M in the quarter, while its adjusted EBITDA dipped about 26% to US$64M.
Society Pass launches US$26M IPO on Nasdaq
Society Pass was supposed to hit the bourses in early October but it shelved the plans for some unknown reasons; The firm looks to expand beyond Vietnam into other parts of SEA with particular focuses on the Philippines and Indonesia.
Doctor Anywhere acquires Thai startup Doctor Raksa to add 1M customers to the platform
Doctor Anywhere looks to expand to 38 provinces in Thailand by Q1 2022 and expects its revenues to grow by 5x+ in the next two years; The deal comes on the heels of Doctor Anywhere’s US$65.7M Series C round led by Asia Partners in August.
Former Shopee, Lazada exec’s startup Hypefast raises US$19.5M Series A
Investors are Monk’s Hill Ventures, Jungle Ventures, and Strive; The startup is in the business of acquiring digital and e-commerce-native brands in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand; The firm, which recently emerged out of stealth mode, said it has now acquired 25 brands.
TreeDots lands US$11M Series A to tackle food wastage problem in SEA
Investors include East Ventures, Amasia, ACTIVE Fund, and Seeds Capital; TreeDots redistributes unsold stocks from suppliers to businesses such as restaurants and cafés, allowing them to source affordable food supplies.
Carousell scoops up US$10M from Temasek-backed Heliconia
The new capital follows Carousell’s US$100M fundraise in September, a round that brought its valuation to over US$1B; Carousell is eyeing a debut on the US stock market through a merger with a SPAC, a deal that could push its valuation to about US$1.5B.
GuildFi raises US$6M to develop Web3 infra to connect games, NFTs, communities
Investors include DeFiance Capital, Hashed, Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research, Animoca Brands, Dapper Labs, and Play Ventures; GuildFi serves as an infrastructure to onboard, connect, and add value to players, guilds, games, and investors alike.
Co-Living startup The Assembly Place raises US$4M seed funding
Investors include Eric Low See Ching of Oxley Holdings, Kemmy Tan (CEO of M+S) Ismail Garfoor (PropNex Singapore); The startup curates spaces in convenient locations with flexible leases, catering to younger outliers who prefer the short-term nature of leasing; From having just 6 rooms in 2019, TAP has since expanded to 350 rooms across Singapore.
Consumer data, analytics startup Milieu Insight raises US$5M funding
Investors include MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia, OSK Ventures, and Genesis Alternative Ventures; Milieu Insight connects businesses directly with their target audience for market research; It collects consumer opinion data across a multitude of lifestyle topics and sectors through a proprietary mobile app known as Milieu Surveys.
Myanmar startup Better HR secures 6-digit bridge funding for Asia expansion
Investors are Seed Myanmar Ventures, Blibros, and nexlabs; Better HR provides web and mobile apps to enable organisations to streamline HR processes for SMEs, such as attendance, leave, overtime, and payroll
Ex-Grab exec’s book-keeping app Lista lands funding to reach out to new MSMEs
Investors include 1982 Ventures, East Ventures, Saison Capital, Alternate Ventures, Willy Arifin, and former Grab Philippines President Brian Cu; Lista helps MSMEs manage their finances, such as debt tracking, transactions recording, and invoice issuing.
Ex-Xendit employee’s D2C daywear brand Kasual nets funding from East Ventures
Kasual offers in-app manufacturing solutions for customers to order personalised men’s pants: build your own product; To date, Kasual has over 80K users and delivers over 3K pieces of personalised products to their customers monthly.
Digital bookkeeping startup Peddlr raises US$500K funding
Investors include Foxmont Capital, Paulo Campos (Zalora), Constantin Robertz (Locad) and Kaya Founders Investment SPV; The company’s technology accelerates the bookkeeping process through digital ledgers, allows merchants to track inventory, and increases cash flow visibility with auto-generated financial reports.
Wavemaker Impact, Enterprise SG to groom 12+ climate-tech firms over the next 3 years
The partnership aims to support Wavemaker Impact’s ambition to launch new climate-tech startups that will reduce global emissions by 10% by 2035; ESG will support Wavemaker Impact as a Startup SG Accelerator partner to run programmes.
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The post Ecosystem Roundup: GoTo raises US$1.3B in pre-IPO round, Tiki nets US$258M Series E, SEA fintech funding hits record high appeared first on e27.