Peter Thiel
PropertyGuru to go public in merger with SPAC backed by Richard Li, Peter Thiel
This will give the combined company an equity value of about US$1.78B; This deal with Bridgetown 2 Holdings is expected to fetch proceeds of US$431M, including a private investment of US$100M from Baillie Gifford, Naya, REA Group, Akaris Global Partners, and a Malaysian asset manager.
Singapore public transport booking startup Easybook banks nearly US$5M from Malaysia’s Emissary Capital
Lee said that Easybook will use the new funds to invest in online marketing, hire new IT and operation staff, and help the company march through the pandemic; Easybook plans to keep its business anchored mainly in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Vietnam tech unicorn VNG expects loss to reach US$27M in 2021 due to COVID-19
The company, however, is targeting revenues of about US$330M this year, an increase of about 26% compared to its 2020 total revenue; Formerly known as VinaGame, Vietnam’s first tech unicorn now has an estimated valuation of about US$2.2B.
Andalin in talks for US$3M as it looks to grab a slice of SEA’s US$2.8T international trade market
The money will be used to grow its trading business, scale trade financing offerings, and introduce its SaaS-based freight management system; The startup is backed by BRI Ventures’s VC arm, Beenext, ATM Capital, and Access Ventures.
Ant-backed Philippine fintech Mynt targets ‘double unicorn’ status in future fundraising
Mynt, the group behind the popular GCash app, closed US$175M in January at US$1B valuation; The ambitions target is just the latest sign of how the fight is heating up between traditional lenders and startups like Mynt, KKR-backed Paymaya, and Grab, with each camp increasingly moving into the others’ territory.
‘Education is not a content business but a human one’: Nas Academy’s Nuseir Yassin
Unlike other platforms that give teachers control over just the monetary aspects of teaching, Nas gives its teachers full authority over their audience and distribution and helps them build their own curriculum from scratch.
Singapore sports content platform 1 Play Sports raises US$2.5M in funding
Investors are ThinKuvate, H Capital Investment, and high-profile angels; 1 Play Sports live streams sports events and publishes related stories on its social media platforms; It has broadcast 3K+ hours of sports content such as the Southeast Asia Games 2019, ASEAN School Games 2019, and AIA Singapore Premier League 2021.
Philippine payment platform DragonPay receives strategic funding from Xendit
Last year, Y Combinator-backed Xendit partnered with DragonPay to launch the installment payment scheme in the Philippines; Xendit claims it processes more than 65M transactions, amounting to US$6.5B in payment value annually.
Lippo Group’s Siloam Hospitals incubator backs 3 healthtech startups
They are Bithealth, Aido Health, and Prixa.ai; The incubator seeks to keep the hospital group’s interest aligned to growing digital innovation trends in healthcare; It invests less than US$1M in early-stage healthtech startups.
Philippine central bank orders halt on social media platform Lyka’s payment system ops
The central bank’s monetary board categorised Lyka features that let users earn and exchange in-app gems as operation of payment system (OPS) activities since this digital currency can also be used to pay for off-app products and services.
Jirnexu partners with over 5 digital banking license contenders in Malaysia
The company is confident that it can help traditional banking players optimise their operations with the newly formed partnership; The race for digital banking licenses has intensified ever since the Malaysian central bank BNM received 29 applications for only five licenses.
BNPL firm Atome records 100X order volume growth in Malaysia
The company also added that its online and offline merchant network has grown to serve more than 500 retailers now, a 500% increase from when it first launched in Malaysia at the end of 2020; The growth comes against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and the extension of the movement control order.
myTukar appoints former BMW exec Jeffrey Ong as CEO
He succeeds Fong Hon Sum, who assumed the role of myTukar’s Chairman in June 2021; Prior to joining myTukar, he spent six years at BMW, designing the blueprints for its financial services products across the APAC and launching several programmes such as the BMW Group Corporate Mobility Solutions, BMW Group Private Circle Programme.
Gojek teams up with Indonesia’s Bank Jago for cashless payment
The integration will give Jago customers increased convenience when transacting on the Gojek app; The feature enables them to connect their bank account and Jago pockets to the Gojek app and make cashless payments for Gojek services including transport, food, and bill payments.
Entrepreneurship is at an all-time high, but are you doing it right?
Entrepreneurs are hyper-focused on building their business and bringing their ideas to fruition—and they should be—leaving the non-mission critical, tedious, time-consuming administrative tasks to professional and experienced advisers, secretaries, and accountants; Business success depends on many people, including customers, investors, and team members; Businesses need people who truly believe in their mission and vision, and are willing to hustle to achieve it.
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