It did not look like the COVID-19 has affected the fundraising efforts of these startups –at least not at the moment.
While one might argue that this is because the funding rounds were secured before the pandemic hits the world, we can definitely say that the month of April ended on a high note for the Southeast Asian (SEA) startup ecosystem.
We covered a total of 29 early stage funding rounds in SEA-based companies, particularly for seed and Series A stages. There was a great variety of sectors being funded here, from agritech to B2B to logistics.
The following is a glimpse of the funding rounds being announced in April, in chronological order:
1. TaniHub
Funding: US$17 million Series A+
Investors: Openspace Ventures, Intudo Ventures, UOB Venture Management, Vertex Ventures, BRI Ventures, Tenaya Capital, and Golden Gate Ventures.
With this round, TaniHub aims to strengthen its market position and accelerate the expansion of service and geographical coverage for farmers and customers to encourage and build inclusivity.
2. ProSpark
Funding: Undisclosed pre-seed
Investors: Agaeti Ventures, Prasetia Dwidharma and angel investor Adi Adisaputro
ProSpark, which fosters capability building in organisations by bringing a distributed content marketplace and gamified engagement, will use the funds to expand its commercial footprint and strengthen its position in the market.
3. eDoctor
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: CyberAgent Capital, Genesia Ventures, Bon Angels and Nextrans
According to Doctor co-founder Huynh Phuoc Tho, the funding will be used to enhance further its remote healthcare consultancy and the capacity in connecting offline services to the users.
4. Rara Delivery
Funding: US$834,000 in seed funding
Investors: 500 Startups, Lim Der Shing, GK-Plug n Play, Royston Tay, Yang Bin Kwok, Vidit Agrawal, Neelesh Suryavanshee, Vishal Gupta
Karan Bhardwaj, Founder and CEO of RaRa Delivery, said that the funds will be used to acquire talent in Business Development, Operations, and Technology to further expand RaRa’s business in Indonesia.
Also Read: Morning News Roundup: Tigerhall, Growthwell Group raise funding rounds
5. BukuWarung
Funding: Undisclosed seed funding
Investors: AC Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, Tanglin Venture Partners, Michael Sampoerna
The company will use the funds to strengthen its market leadership and expand its team to grow across engineering, product, design, growth, and partnerships based out of Jakarta.
6. Webtrace
Funding: Undisclosed seed funding
Investors: Prasetia Dwidharma, Astra Ventura
The company said it plans to use the funds to strengthen its marketing and customer acquisition strategy as well as to expand sales headcount.
7. RISE
Funding: US$8 million in seed funding
Investors: Metro Company Limited, D2C Inc. (Japan), Chanwanich Company
RISE has announced plans to scale its services beyond Thailand to Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
8. Homebase
Funding: Undisclosed seed funding
Investors: Antler, Iterative, angel investors
The startup said in a statement that it will use the new funds to expand its infrastructure, make new hires, and push forward with its regional expansion plans.
9. MightyJaxx
Funding: US$3.2 million in Pre-Series A
Investors: KB Investment Co, Greycroft Partner, SGInnovate
Mighty Jaxx plans to channel the investment towards the further development of MightyVerse, its proprietary technology platform.
10. Kargo
Funding: US$31 million in Series A
Investors: Tenaya Capital, Sequoia India and Southeast Asia, Intudo Ventures, Coca-Cola Amatil, Agaeti Convergence Ventures, Alter Global, and Mirae Asset Venture Investment
The employees of the company recently joined the fight against COVID-19 by pledging US$1 million Logistics Relief fund for truckers moving essentials throughout Indonesia on the platform.
11. Kumu
Funding: US$5 million in Series A
Investors: Openspace Ventures, ABS-CBN, Summit Media, Kickstart Ventures
With the new funds, the company aims to develop its platform and improve its user experience.
Also Read: Thai edutech startups Conicle, Vonder receive funding from Stormbreaker Venture
12. Hoow Foods
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Nanyang Realty, Sunbo Angel Partners, Lighthouse Combined Investment Co.
The funds will be used to expand Hoow Foods’s scientific headcount, enhance its technology infrastructure and accelerate its operations and R&D capabilities in the region.
13. Digital Commerce Intelligence
Funding: US$706,000
Investors: Velocity Partners
The new funds will be used to scale DCI’s services across Southeast Asia.
14. CloudEats
Funding: US$1.4 million in seed
Investors: Undisclosed family offices, angel investors
CloudEats claims that food brands in its platform offer 15 per cent to 20 per cent cheaper rates compared to competitors.
15. Easy Eat
Funding: Undisclosed Pre-Series A
Investors: Bala Chandra, angel investors
The less-than-a-year-old startup, which also has offices in Malaysia and India, will use the capital raised to build the team and launch the product.
16. SensorFlow
Funding: US$8.3 million in Series A+
Investors: Openspace Ventures, Gaw Capital Partners
The company said it plans to use the funding to develop solutions for automating heating ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems that help hotels manage COVID-19, hiring new talent in hardware and data science roles and for international market expansion.
17. OnPoint
Funding: US$8 million in Series A
Investors: Kiwoom Investment, Daiwa-SSIAM Vietnam Growth Fund II L.P
The company will use the funds for hiring and developing data-driven capabilities.
18. Axinan (igloo)
Funding: Undisclosed Series A+
Investors: InVent, OpenSpace Ventures, Linear Capital, Singtel Innov8, Cathay Innovation, Partech Partners
The fresh round — which takes Igloo’s total investment raised to date to US$16 million — will fuel its expansion plans into Vietnam, as well as help it strengthen its foothold in the Philippines and Thailand.
Also Read: Vickers Venture Partners leads US$34M funding round for US-based Lumitron
19. Moovaz
Funding: US$7 million in Series A
Investors: Quest Ventures, Supply Chain Angels, SGInnovate, others
Quest Ventures’ investment is a testament to its belief that the moving industry is burgeoning in Asia with 40 per cent of international relocations stem from Asia.
20. Tigerhall
Funding: US$2 million
Investors: Surge, XA Network, Taurus Ventures, angel investors
The company said it will use the investment for product development, new senior hires, market expansion, and supporting organisations in digitalising their learning programmes being key focus areas this year.
21. BuyMed (Thuocsi)
Funding: US$2.5 million in Series A
Investors: Surge, Genesia Ventures
The new capital will be used to expand locally as well as into other parts of Southeast Asia.
22. Tinvio
Funding: US$5.5 million in seed
Investors: Surge, Global Founders Capital, Partech Partners
The company plans to use its newly-raised capital for product development and market expansion, primarily focusing on Australia, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia (SEA).
23. Qoala
Funding: US$13.5 million
Investors: Centauri Fund, Sequoia India, Flourish Ventures, Kookmin Bank Investments, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Mirae Asset Sekuritas
The company said that it will use the funding to invest further into its technology, people, and brands to fuel its multi-channel strategy.
24. ZuBlu
Funding: US$1 million in seed funding
Investors: Wavemaker Partners, Mana Impact, She1k
ZuBlu is also backed by Hong Kong-based startup investor and accelerator, Betatron.
Also Read: Insurtech startup Qoala secures US$13.5M in Series A funding led by Centauri Fund
25. Helicap
Funding: US$10 million in Series A
Investors: Saison Capital, East Ventures, Access Ventures, Lamivoie
This round pushes the startup’s total funds raised to date to almost US$17 million.
26. Conicle
Funding: US$900,000 in pre-Series A
Investors: Humanica, 500 TukTuks, Stormbreaker Venture
The funds will be used by the startup to expand into the international education market, as well as to further develop a comprehensive solution for Human Resource managers to improve their employees’ skills, drive digital transformation and respond to future work trends.
27. Vonder
Funding: Undisclosed seed funding
Investors: Pongsak Trakulsuk, Stormbreaker Venture
The seed funding will be used to further penetrate the B2B corporate training market for HR, corporates and SMEs, in addition to developing and expanding new products for the regional market.
28. Eduka System
Funding: Undisclosed seed funding
Investors: Init 6
The two-year-old Eduka develops online test system for schools and students.
29. Funtap
Funding: “Seven digit” Series A
Investors: Makers Fund, DT&Investment, Colopl Next, Soulbei
The company said in a statement it will use the funding to develop its digital content platforms for entertainment and education in the future as well as prepare for overseas expansion to countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, among others.
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