Baby products e-commerce startup Kyarlay snags US$750K from EME, United Managers Japan Inc.
Kyarlay, a Myanmar-based baby products e-commerce and delivery provider, has raised US$750,000 in funding from Myanmar-based VC firm EME, United Managers Japan Inc., which marked its largest investment to date.
The company was co-founded by husband and wife Soe Lin Myat and Nang Mo while expecting their first child.
Both Soe Lin Myat and Nang Mo previously worked for SEA Group; they implement a balance between the tech giant’s standard and localised approach in their new business.
Through its app and contents, Kyarlay claimed to have created a strong community among young Myanmar parents. It recently started to develop their own branded products for the Myanmar market with the intention to offer quality items for a lower price to their customers.
Kyarlay marks EME’s eighth investment in Myanmar since launching in October 2018. EME is a VC firm based in the country and provides post-investment support to its portfolio companies to help them scale.
Singapore-based mobile ordering startup Eatsy halts operations
Singapore-based mobile ordering platform Eatsy has announced that it will halt all operations from April 1 until further notice in a push-notification to all users yesterday.
Also Read: Ex-Oway employee’s rural e-commerce startup Ezay secures investment from EME Myanmar
Claiming negative business impacts resulting from COVID-19, Eatsy informed all customers that they must redeem any cashback they have accrued by March 31.
Tim Davies, COO of Waitrr, another mobile ordering and payment service in Singapore, commented on the matter: “We are saddened to hear the news. This couldn’t have come at a worse time for Eatsy’s restaurant partners who we know are all suffering as a result of COVID-19.”
Waitrr allows the automation of order taking and payment processes that enables restaurants to increase the capacity of their staff so they can provide personalised, premium service to their guests.
Home interior startup Shadez receives US$100K funding from Inflection Point Ventures
Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) has invested US$100,000 in the Mumbai-based interiors startup Shadez.
Shadez claims to be India’s first paint company to deliver a painting job in a day’s time with the liberty to choose paint of your choice.
For the seed round, IPV said it will provide incubation support to the team with expertise in business strategy, expansion, and risk mitigation.
According to co-founders Adarsh Anand and Amit Tiwari, the funding will be used to expand to other metro cities and scale up operations by adding manpower and focussing on marketing and machinery.
Jignesh Kenia, an IPV investor said, “Shadez is changing the game with respect to painting services by considerably reducing the delivery time through efficiency, planning, and well-trained labour. They literally take away the pain out of the painting job with their one-day turnaround for repainting jobs.”
Robo-advisor startup Smartly shuts down operation, citing intense competition
VinaCapital, Vietnam-based asset management firm that owns Singapore-based robo-advisor Smartly, has shut down the latter’s operation due to “intense” competition in the digital investment advisory space, DealStreetAsia reported.
Founded in 2015, Smartly was acquired by VinaCapital in 2019. Through a notice on its website, the startup said its decision to wind down operations was guided by its parent company’s strategic considerations since weeks ago.
Also Read: Vietnamese VC firm VinaCapital Ventures officially debuts with US$100M
“After evaluating the investments that would be necessary to continue to build the platform in terms of both technology and talent, we arrived at the decision that this business in Singapore no longer aligns with our group’s strategic objectives,” the firm said late Wednesday.
Smartly’s portfolio includes more than 20 exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and the startup charges its customers annual management fees of 0.5-one per cent, and the underlying ETF fee charged by the ETF providers (0.1-0.25 per cent per year).
Smartly said it has arranged the return of all funds held in customers’ accounts and informed them of another service provider with whom it has negotiated a special arrangement, according to VinaCapital.
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Image Credit: Kyarlay
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