Surviving the pandemic continued to dominate the theme in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem in July.
One of the most notable funding rounds of the month was announced by Indonesian travel tech giant Traveloka, who raised US$250 million. The funding round was first reported by Bloomberg in early July, though the company had also confirmed at the end of the month.
Interestingly, Traveloka had to have its valuation decreased by 17 per cent from their last fundraising. In their official statement, the company admitted to having been “profoundly affected” though CEO Ferry Unardi noted some recovery in their key markets.
Another impact of COVID-19 is that it became a trigger for businesses to migrate to online platforms. Startups that are helping this process had also announced funding, such as Indonesia’s Buku Warung and AwanTunai. AwanTunai stole our attention with their debt funding announcement, once again proving debt funding as a promising alternative for startups.
From the fintech sectors, we covered StashAway’s US$16 million Series C and Payfazz’s US$52 million funding rounds. Always a favourite of investors, we also covered a funding round for Walrus.
Also Read: Meet the most notable later stage funding rounds announced in May
Another popular sector is new protein with Burgreens and Karana announcing their funding rounds to grow their businesses, which all work in developing the alternatives to meat.
As the awareness of environmental impact continues to rise, investors are also aiming for startups that are building solutions to solve environmental woes such as SOLshare.
A unique sector that had secured a funding round in July is Partipost, a platform that works with social media influencers.
In the Philippines, edutech startup Avion School also scored funding as edutech startup in the region continued to gain popularity.
We recorded at least 17 funding announcements made in July with Singapore and Indonesia continuing to dominate, at nine and five announcements.
Also Read: Here are the early stage funding rounds announced by SEA startups in May
What is coming up next month? As always, there will always be sectors that remain popular among investors such as e-commerce, fintech, and green tech.
For fintech specifically, we believe that Ant Group’s upcoming IPO is going to rock the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, tightening the competition among e-payments services in the region.
As the region continues to battle the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, startups that are working to help conventional businesses migrate to digital platforms will be in demand. In a recent interview with e27, Marc Dragon of Reefknot Investments pointed out the available opportunities in the supply chain and logistics sector.
The recent downfall of Indonesian fashion e-commerce startup Sorabel will also provide some valuable lessons for startups in the same field. It is likely that we will see more funding rounds for fashion tech companies; however, as with the case of Traveloka, these funding will focus more on survival instead of growth.
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Image Credit: Frank Busch on Unsplash
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