Finance OS for SMEs Aspire scores US$100M, claims US$12B annualised payment volume
The investors include Lightspeed, Sequoia Capital, Paypal Ventures, Tencent, and LGT Capital Partners; Aspire will use the funding to enhance its product offering, expand its regional presence, and add more talent across SEA.
Transcelestial raises US$10M to expand its lasercomms tech into US
The investors include Airbus Ventures, Kickstart, Genesis, Wavemaker, Cap Vista, and SEEDS Captial; Transcelestial will also gear up its US$1-million Terabit Factory in Singapore, which can manufacture up to 2,400 CENTAURI devices annually.
Foodpanda’s SEA staff face layoffs for second time
It appears that many of the affected staff were based in Malaysia, as per several LinkedIn posts; However, Foodpanda has laid off staff across the Southeast Asian markets it operates in, a source told TiA.
GoTo accelerates profitability goal by 1 year
The company expects adjusted EBITDA to become positive within the fourth quarter of 2023; Group contribution margin is set to become positive within Q1.
F&B ops management platform OrderEZ acquires Cocoon-backed FoodRazor
The acquisition expands OrderEZ’s integrated suite of inventory, procurement, and CRM software; OrderEZ now plans a US expansion in 2023 and a fundraising round.
Lighthouse Canton to offer access to venture debt to investors on Alta platform
The partnership will enable Alta’s investor community to mobilise capital for the region’s startup ecosystem; Lighthouse Canton is a US$20M venture debt fund based in Singapore.
Founder & CEO Joel Neoh to quit Fave
Co-Founder Yeoh Chen Chow will continue to lead the business together with GM Avantika Jain; Fave has evolved from offering deals to QR payments and loyalty programmes on both the Fave app and other major banks and digital wallets.
Spanish company Lifull Connect acquires Thai proptech peer FazWaz
This will see a new partnership form between FazWaz and Dot Property – a unit under Lifull Connect; FazWaz, based in Thailand, offers a range of services to property buyers, sellers, and agents.
TNB Aura leads US$5.1M series A for VN fintech firm GIMO
Other backers are Integra Partners, Resolution Ventures, ThinkZone, and YC; Gimo provides earned-wage access and other payroll services to underbanked workers.
India, SG to officially link payment systems next week
Singapore’s PayNow linkage with India’s United Payments Interface will go live on February 21; Currently, the amount of remittances from Singapore to India is at least US$749M.
Cube Asia attracts US$1.5M to help e-commerce consumers make data-driven decisions
The investors include Wavemaker Partners, M Venture Partners and angels; Cube Asia also offers granular market size and market share insights to help brands make strategic decisions on new investments or product development.
Australian agritech startup SwarmFarm Robotics banks US$8.3M
The investors include Emmertech, Tribe Global Ventures, and Access Capital; SwarmFarm develops intelligent robotics through an approach that allows farmers to tailor equipment to their needs.
Pakistani recommerce platform Swag Kicks raises US$1.2M
The investors are i2i Ventures, Techstars Toronto, CrossFund Hong Kong, Rose Lake Ventures; Swag Kicks lists pre-washed and pre-disinfected authentic secondhand clothing.
Shopee quietly rolls out SLoan in Malaysia
SLoan is already available in other SEA countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand; Eligible Shopee users can get access to loans at “competitive interest rates, with flexible options to repay in 3, 6, or 12 months.
Koina uplifts lives of VN farmers through its data-driven agritech platform
The VinaCapital-backed agritech platform helps farmers to sell products, buy fertilisers, pesticides, tools, and farming services, and access financial solutions like BNPL.
These startups focus on informal plastic waste workers in fight against climate crisis
In many parts of Asia, plastic waste is commonly processed by informal workers; According to data, these workers contribute to over 95% of the plastic materials being recycled, with many being women.
Instill AI can convert your unstructured data into meaningful data using low-code tools
Instill AI’s open-source project VDP supports image classification, object detection, keypoint detection, optical character recognition, and instance segmentation.
SG Budget 2023: Greater push towards net zero provides opportunities for startups
Carbon neutrality, defined as a state of net zero carbon dioxide emissions, has been making headlines in the past year–for the right reason.
SEA venture debt opportunity to grow 4x in 5 years: Lighthouse Canton
While US$30B was loaned to VC-funded startups in the US between 2019 and 2021, Southeast Asia saw an extremely low US$1B in debt funding in 2021.
Binance moved US$400M from US partner to firm managed by CEO Zhao
Over the first three months of 2021, the amount flowed from the Binance.US account at California-based Silvergate Bank to the trading firm Merit Peak Ltd.
Vietnamese NFT platform Aura Network raises US$4M
The investors include Hashed, Coin98 Ventures, GuildFi, and Istari Ventures; Aura Network is an ecosystem focusing on building the Internet of NFTs and bringing NFT and Web3 to the masses.
Binance may pay fines in the US to settle probes
Patrick Hillmann, Binance’s chief strategy officer, said the company’s executives were unfamiliar with the laws and rules surrounding bribery, corruption, and money laundering.
5 practices to improve corporate governance beyond the board
While issues with corporate governance have been uncovered in venture-backed startups through fundraising due diligence, its importance is not just “because the market climate demands it” or “without it, it’s difficult to fundraise.”
How fintechs can contribute to the world’s sustainability goals
A new report jointly produced by McKinsey & Company, Elevandi and MAS was recently released, showcasing how fintechs can contribute towards a greener future.
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The post Ecosystem Roundup: Layoffs at Foodpanda SEA, Aspire bags US$100M, OrderEZ acquires FoodRazor appeared first on e27.