SoftBank-backed Oyo files for US$1.1B IPO in India
Oyo aims to raise US$942.7M through the public offering and the rest of the targeted capital from the sale of secondary shares; According to the prospectus, founder Ritesh Agarwal, RA Hospital Holdings (Agarwal’s holding company), and SoftBank Vision Fund are Oyo’s largest shareholders.
Accredify raises US$2M to combat the rising fake degree certificates issue in education sector
Investors are Qualgro, Pavilion Capital, Endeavour Ventures, and K2 Global; The firm works with more than 900 clients in Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Singapore, and UAE; It claims it has verified 7M+ documents so far.
East Ventures leads US$1.1m round of Singapore logistics startup Luwjistik
The e-logistics startup will use the funds to improve the platform and expand its workforce to go deeper into Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia; Luwjistik already counts companies such as Ninja Van, J&T Express, and JNE Express as its network partners.
Indonesia aims to launch rules on dual-class shares this year: Exchange official
Authorities are trying to sort out issues related to the ratio of voting rights and the duration of such rights, among others; The flurry of investor activity led to Indonesia’s biggest listing, with e-commerce firm Bukalapak making its debut here in August after raising US$1.5B.
Neobank for freelancers Friz receives US$1M seed financing
Investors include Amand Ventures, Iterative VC, Y Combinator, an Ivy League University Endowment Fund, and angels; Friz leverages data insights to provide financial products including credit cards, personal loans, insurance, savings and investment products for freelancers.
MAS to launch digital platform to curb money laundering, terror financing
The platform, named COSMIC — short for collaborative sharing of ML/TF information and cases — will be rolled out in the first half of 2023; Singapore is one of the biggest destinations for suspect transactions in Asia, according to a Bloomberg report.
Telkom Group’s MDI Ventures joins FinAccel private investment prior to IPO
The announcement comes amid the fintech firm’s plans to go public in the US; The funding, which comes from Cathay Innovation, Endeavor Catalyst, and Telkom Group investment arm MDI Ventures, will boost the total commitment for the company’s PIPE deal to US$125M+.
Dutycast gets VinaCapital backing for its browser extension that helps consumers buy online globally with ease
After adding DutyCast to the browser, users can shop and put products of multiple stores in one single Dutycast cart, checkout once, and pay in local currency; The solution can scale beyond Vietnam and said that the VC would assist DutyCast in realising this international ambition.
‘The car-sharing biz has taught me that mobility is hyperlocal’: SOCAR CEO Leon Foong
Hyperlocalisation in terms of products and service offerings can push consumers to continue using the product or service, the SOCAR CEO says; Unlike most developed countries where consumers have established credit scores and prefer post-paid accounts, Malaysia is still predominantly a pre-paid country.
The Incubation Network (TIN) joins hands with ECCA Family Foundation to support circular economy startups in Thailand
As part of the initiative, ECCA Family has committed US$2 million of strategic funding to spearhead the effort; TIN’s partners Seedstars, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, and STEAM Platform, will launch incubators and accelerators for entrepreneurs.
Crypto exchange Independent Reserve gets license from MAS
This license allows the Australia-based virtual asset service provider to operate in Singapore as a regulated digital payments service provider for cryptocurrency, making it easier for users to buy digital tokens with Singapore dollars.
EduSpaze backs pre-series A round of Malaysian mentorship platform;
Other investors are Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation, Indelible Ventures; FutureLab connects fresh graduates and young professionals to industry mentors; It currently has over 3K industry mentors across Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia on its online platform.
Social commerce booming in Asia with live-stream shopping growth
The strategy gives brands a presence right where their consumers are spending many of their hours online – and it now occupies an estimated 44% of the US$109B Asian e-commerce market; In Southeast Asia, the average growth of social commerce in terms of gross merchandise value has grown by 307 per cent in the past year.
Vietnam’s digital banking adoption catches up with developed markets
Between 2017 and 2021, 88% of APAC consumers in emerging markets actively use digital banks, a 33 percentage points increase; In Vietnam, the numbers rose by 41 percentage points to 82% in 2021; This information was released in the McKinsey report on the digital banking behaviours of 20K urban banking consumers across 15 APAC markets.
DeFi is pushing finance towards its e-commerce moment
Banks need to stay on top of how DeFi can change the modern financial system, similar to how e-commerce has disrupted industries. With banks trying to adopt DeFi, fintech will become increasingly meaningless.
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Image Credit: Oyo
The post Ecosystem Roundup: Oyo files for US$1.1B IPO in India; Accredify, Luwjistik, Friz receive funding appeared first on e27.