The Webuy team
Indonesia’s GoTo aims to raise US$1.11B in IPO
GoTo is the second Indonesian unicorn to get listed on the stock exchange, following Bukalapak’s IPO last year; Prior to this, GoTo’s rival Grab has made their IPO on Nasdaq in December 2021.
FinAccel, VPC Impact Acquisition terminate merger agreement
This comes on the backdrop of the volatility in the US market, triggered mostly by geopolitical tensions and rate-hike concerns; Following the mutual decision, VPC Impact is leading a US$145M investment in FinAccel.
Webuy acquires Indonesian social commerce rival Chilibeli
Under the share-swap deal, the company will take control of all of Chilibeli’s assets, including its brand, database, software, agents, and customers; Chilibeli mainly sells fresh fruits and vegetables as well as household items.
PropertyGuru public offer sees 59% SPAC redemption rate
SPAC redemptions allow shareholders to redeem their shares at the original IPO price, potentially leaving the combined company with less money for its future operations; A high redemption rate signals low confidence in a merger
Carsome acquires majority stake in Singapore’s CarTimes Automobile
CarTimes offers a suite of auto solutions ranging from new and used car retail, rental, financing, insurance to repair, maintenance and workshops; This deal follows Carsome’s recent announcement of completing its acquisition of iCar Asia.
Rainforest acquires baby care brand NatureBond
Rainforest CEO JJ Chai said it was a 100 per cent acquisition and its parent company Millenium Enterprises for a significant seven-figure amount; Rainforest will support the brand’s marketing, pricing, supply chain, sourcing, product development.
SG’s smart lock maker igloocompany banks US$12M Series B1 to expand its footprint in US, Europe
Investors are Purpose Venture Capital, Kickstart Ventures, Wavemaker Partners, and Insignia Ventures; In July 2021, igloocompany set up an office in the US, where it aims to deploy 1M devices, garner 400 enterprise partnerships, and achieve 2.5x growth over the past 18 months.
Indonesia’s fintech UangTeman loses online lending license
The news comes amid the fintech startup’s struggle to find a white knight who can save it from collapse; UangTeman had stopped paying salaries and even disbursing loans from the end of 2020, as it dealt with the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earned wage access startup wagely nets US$8.3M pre-Series A to grow in Bangladesh
Investors include East Ventures (Growth Fund), Integra Partners, GFC, Trihill Capital, and Blauwpark Partners; wagely also disclosed that it secured the backing of Central Capital Ventura, the VC arm of Indonesia’s Bank Central Asia
‘As workplaces rapidly change post-pandemic, the way people getting paid changes too’: wagely CEO
In this interview, he discusses how wagely solves the problems faced by lower- and middle-income workers struggling with unexpected financial expenses between paycheques.
How crypto savings startup Finblox attracted US$3.9M capital within just 4 months of launching
Investors include Dragonfly Capital, Sequoia India, Three Arrows Capital, Saison Capital, MSA Capital, and Coinfund; Finblox allows users to earn a yield on their assets passively, with no limits on minimum balances or withdrawal periods
Datature raises US$2.7M from Openspace to allow companies build breakthrough AI capabilities
Investors are Openspace Ventures and January Capital; Datature’s full suite of solutions provides teams with the ability to annotate, augment, train and deploy computer vision models, all without a single line of code.
SiCepat apologises for wrongful layoff procedure
The Indonesian logistics firm said there was a wrongful procedure in its recent layoff of 366 employees; Instead of dismissal letters, the company gave them resignation letters; In the last two years, SiCepat raised US$170M in investments.
Grab confirms Vietnam country head Nguyen Thai Hai Van’s departure
She stepped down to pursue a new career opportunity; The superapp didn’t disclose who will take over the role; Van joined Grab VN in Nov 2019 and was promoted to the position of country manager in Feb 2020.
Funding Societies launches US$16M ESOP buyback programme
Under the buyback, all eligible workers will have the option of selling their shares at no discount to Funding Societies at its series C+ preference share price; This is its 4th such programme, with its employees previously cashing out a total of US$3.5M in ESOPs.
Antler, Iterative back Indonesian B2B logistics firm Envio
Envio provides logistics solutions for the B2B segment; It currently has 35 air and marine transportation modes, 5,000 land vehicles, and 50 warehouses across the archipelago.
SG fintech firm Digital Treasures Center (DTC) gets regulatory nod for crypto services
With a license to offer digital payment token services, DTC can provide fiat-to-crypto pairing, which enables merchants to accept cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether – and convert them into fiat currency.
Animoca shuts down F1-based P2E game
The Hong Kong-based unicorn said it will replace the F1 Delta Time assets of current owners with NFTs for other games in its Revv Motorsport ecosystem, including MotoGP Ignition, Formula E: High Voltage, Revv Racing, and Torque Drift.
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The post Ecosystem Roundup: GoTo to raise up to US$1.1B in IPO, FinAccel drops merger pact with VPC Impact, Webuy acquires Chilibeli appeared first on e27.