gojek in advanced talks with Tokopedia for a US$18B merger; They’ve signed a detailed term-sheet to conduct due diligence of each other’s business; gojek and Tokopedia have considered a potential merger since 2018, but discussions accelerated after deal talks between gojek and Grab reached an impasse. More here
gojek, Tokopedia make not-so-strange bedfellows as they pursue union; Having an e-commerce biz in its portfolio would broaden gojek’s appeal to public market investors; For Tokopedia, a merger would help command a higher valuation in the capital markets and pose stronger competition to Shopee; The combined entity spanning ride-hailing, payments, e-commerce, and food delivery could raise larger pools of capital at faster pace in the public markets. More here
GoBear shuts down amidst decreased demand for its financial products, services; To date, the startup has raised US$97M from investors such as Walvis Participaties and Aegon; Last May, it acquired digital lending platform AsiaKredit; As of May 2020, GoBear had 100+ commercial partners and its services were used by over 55M people. More here
Conglomerate Malaysian United Industries (MUI) to step up focus on startup investments; It created an early-stage VC vehicle Pan Malaysia Ventures in Aug 2020; MUI aims to invest in tech or tech-enabled businesses at the seed or Series A stage, primarily in Malaysia, and also across SEA; It has no immediate plans of raising from external investors as it will invest from its balance sheet. More here
India witnesses a string of startups joining unicorn club; As per data compiled by Venture Intelligence, Pine Labs, Nykaa, Unacademy, Razorpay and Postman have joined the club; 2020 also brought the first unicorns from the Indian social media and content space: Glance and Dailyhunt; India is expected to be home to 60K-62K startups by 2025, including 100 unicorns. More here
Indonesian robo-advisory platform Bibit snags US$30M; Investors are Sequoia India, East Ventures, EV Growth, 500 Startups; In 2020, the company claims to have added 1M+ first-time investors; As per a report, the number of retail investors in the country grew by 56% y-o-y in 2020, mainly driven by millennials. More here
Europe- and Asia-focused SPAC Poema Global raised US$300M in US IPO; Peoma plans to list on NASDAQ; The SPAC seeks to complete business combinations with firms that have validated technologies and attractive unit economics, with a particular focus on Europe and Asia. More here
Genomics tech startup Nusantics raises Series A led by East Ventures; The Indonesian firm will use the funding to continue to innovate in the field of microbiome analysis and medical diagnostic kits; The company is currently developing its third-generation COVID-19 PCR test kit that can detect SARS-CoV-2 in a salivary sample. More here
Indonesian edutech company Zenius raises pre-Series B; Investors include Alpha JWC, Openspace, Northstar, BeeNext; The company offers an online platform focusing on developing critical thinking and scientific reasoning; A year ago, it secured US$20M Series A from Northstar. More here
Singaporeans working for top e-commerce firms are the most unsatisfied in SEA despite higher salaries, finds study; The iPrice study also finds that that only 31% of women occupy C-level roles within e-commerce companies in the region; Overall, there is a 60-40 disparity between men and women when it comes to being in positions of power. More here
Bullish VCs spot big promise in Vietnam’s e-logistics; Logistics is in its preparatory phase with a lot of untapped potential and will explode by 2022, according to Do Ventures’s Vy Le; Given there is an increasing demand in domestic consumption for foreign goods, both first-mile and last-mile activities in Vietnam are expected to become more vibrant. More here
Heritas Capital aims to hit initial close of US$30M fund II in H1 2021; HVF II aims to invest in up to 15 seed and Series A startups in sectors ranging from foodtech to edutech across Asia; The VC firm recently led a US$3M Series A+ in Indonesian edutech Cakap. More here
Singapore emerges as foodtech hub, thanks to state support; The city-state has positioned foodtech as a key industry deserving of support from state entities from the R&D stage all the way to market entry and sales; It has strong IP rights protection and a highly skilled talent pool. More here
Singapore-based AI food ingredient analysis platform ProfilePrints secures 7-figure pre-Series A; Investors include SEEDS Capital, Glocalink, Leave-a-Nest, BP de Silva Group; ProfilePrints allows food growers, collectors, wholesalers, manufacturers and retailers to predict quality profiles without human intervention or destroying the sample. More here
Malaysian lifestyle social commerce platform Poptron raises US$1M from a NASDAQ-listed co.; It’s planning to raise an additional US$375K via pitchIN; Poptron connects microbrands selling high-quality, natural and eco-friendly products or artisanal goods with like-minded global users. More here
Top 5 fintech predictions that will take over the world in 2021; Digital banking is gaining immense popularity; The main reason for this evolution is that it provides customer due diligence and also eliminates tedious verification processes based on paperwork and visiting banks physically. More here
Vietnam attracts global investment in tech-driven businesses; With growing interest, sci-tech and ICT have continued to be among the most attractive sectors to international investors and businesses in Vietnam in 2020, despite the pandemic; The country’s total registered FDI in sci-tech and ICT hit about US$1.25B in the first 11 months of 2020. More here
How blockchain can help combat ongoing fraud in the Halal food industry in SEA; By using blockchain, the food industry can now ensure that the food sold is traceable back to the source; Food fraud typically involves mislabeling or using fake labels, as in the case of the Malaysian Halal meat scandal. More here
Tribecar partners with Carro, NTUC Income to launch usage-based motor insurance in S’pore; Unlike conventional fixed costs auto insurance premiums, usage-based insurance charges are tied to the vehicle’s mileage, location and timing consumption; Tribecar has adopted this insurance programme, allowing it to provide car-sharing rentals from US$0.38 per hour. More here
Digital trends that will transform SEA businesses in 2021; Virtual onboarding and training of staff, interacting and working with customers remotely, and enabling digital communications for customers and stakeholders will be critical. More here
Vietnam’s fintech forecast to be robust this year, driven by the creation of regulatory sandbox; The strong development of fintech in Vietnam was driven by the rapid growth of e-commerce platforms and the government’s efforts to accelerate digital transformation and cashless payments to cope with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. More here
The new ‘self-service’ era: where B2B selling is headed in 2021; B2B buyers have come to crave the ‘Amazon-like’ experience they’ve become accustomed to in their personal lives; Sellers need to make info around product details and purchasing methods clear right on their e-commerce platform to provide a seamless shopping experience. More here
Singapore-New Zealand digital economy partnership takes effect; It allows companies in both countries to conduct biz with greater efficiency, increased trust, reduced costs or digital barriers; It will also facilitate cooperation among SMEs, with capacity-building efforts and dialogues held to promote info sharing and exchange. More here
Temasek-backed ABC World Asia leads Series C round in Indian farm-tech startup CropIn; Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan’s family office and UK’s CDC Group also joined; The AI startup provides SaaS products to farms and development organisations globally to improve predictability, efficiency and sustainability of crops; CropIn has raised $33.1 million so far. More here
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