Singapore’s leading seed-stage VC firm KK Fund has announced a partnership with the Singapore arm of Industrial Growth Platform (IGPI), one of Japan’s largest management consultancy firms.

The partnership is aimed at facilitating the creation of new businesses by large corporations in Southeast Asia by combining the consultancy firm’s expertise in corporate transformation (CX) with the VC firm’s knowledge in growing startups.

As part of this, KK Fund and IGPI will co-launch an accelerator programme, SEA Point, for multinational companies (MNCs) to collaborate with regional startups and conglomerates on creating businesses.

Also Read: The secret is out: The missing piece that will boost your corporate innovation strategy

“There are many accelerator programmes for startups in Southeast Asia, but there are none for bigger companies who want to invest in new businesses or create their own startups for vertical integration purposes, especially in new markets,” said Koichi Saito, General Partner of KK Fund. 

“With SEA Point, we are able to reinvent the idea of the startup ecosystem from being top-down to being more collaborative on multiple levels,” he added.

Southeast Asia, home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, is an immense emerging market that has attracted significant investment in the last decade. The region has over 70 million small and medium-sized enterprises and 30 per cent of the world’s top startup ecosystems.

With the Southeast Asian Internet economy expected to hit US$300 billion by 2025, the region is a focal point for international business expansion and provides many cross-industry opportunities for collaboration and growth – specifically in terms of social infrastructure development and SME consolidation.

“We are increasingly seeing enterprises becoming active partners in and even establishing small companies of their own to service new markets — particularly in Southeast Asia, which is a very competitive market. Some may create their own branches while others may look for local partners to set up a joint venture,” said Koki Sakata, CEO of IGPI Singapore.

“Their approach to creating new businesses must be different from typical small, agile startup teams, which is why we are pleased to collaborate with KK Fund in supporting these large corporations and create a more diversified ecosystem,” he remarked.

Also Read: PolicyStreet raises US$1.8M from KK Fund, Spiral Ventures to grow its millennial-centred insurance platform

Since its establishment in 2015, KK Fund has invested in over 20 mobility and internet-related firms in Southeast Asia across a wide range of industries, such as fintech, logistics and healthcare. The names include Infofed, a Thailand e-sports community hub; Med247, a Vietnam-based O2O platform addressing post healthcare treatment; and Policy Street, a Malaysian insurtech startup.

In Q1 2020, the firm collaborated with public and private ecosystem players to launch its Meet Your Match initiative across seven Southeast Asian countries, which saw over 130 investors virtually meeting promising startups in each country. 

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Should startups begin with an exit in mind?

There are different ways of looking at this question. When founders present their companies and have a fully fleshed-out exit strategy, it might spook investors.

At the early stage of your startup, it’s nearly impossible to construct an exit strategy. At a time when you’re still figuring out product-market fit, user retention, product roadmap and other vital parts of the business, considering an exit strategy is premature.

Also Read: Become the entrepreneur you dream to be in 11 sessions

Investors want founders to focus on building their business and adding value with the least distraction possible. The saying goes that any strong company can fundraise (or exit). An exit event is an important milestone for a company. It doesn’t necessarily mean a departure for the founder.  

When and how to exit

The timing and exit strategy are crucial to maximising the returns of the VC firms and founders.

In reality, there’s no definitively optimal time to exit. As the future business circumstances are not set in stone and are extremely difficult to plan out, an exit is more a matter of the reasons to exit and in which circumstances the startup is ready to do so.

The first myth is that startups’ original exit plans come to fruition. There are too many unforeseen situations to predict what an exit will look like five or seven years later.

Also Read: GFC-backed Klikdaily plans to launch IPO in 3 years

The reality of when to exit needs to be supported by how to exit. Founders and shareholders can explore several avenues, but what is more important is to make sure incentives align across all parties.

The technicalities of an exit will differ from case to case, but there are a few similarities.

The most important one is getting the house in order. It doesn’t matter whether you’re preparing for an exit or a late-stage fundraising round — on both occasions, you want to make sure the company’s house is in order. 

(1) Are all the financial reports up-to-date and audited? (Acquirers want to review audited numbers. In the case the numbers are unaudited, the company needs to present clear arguments on why that is the case). 

(2) Are all the company procedures in place and documented? 

(3) What is the financial forecast based on historical financial results? 

(4) What is the outlook for the company, product and market roadmap? 

(5) What are the exit scenarios for all founders, staff and shareholders? In case of an earn-out, are incentives aligned?  

IPOs and Southeast Asia

The holy grail of exits is an IPO, but in Southeast Asia (SEA), acquisitions make up the vast majority of exits. The rise of unicorns explains this.

SEA’s unicorns yield buying power, which has increased the opportunity for smaller startups to be acquired by them.

As many as 28 acquisitions have been made by SEA’s unicorns from 2015 to 2020. This number will increase over the next few years as more capital is coming to the region. 

Also Read: 5 things entrepreneurs need to know about running a business in the new normal

On top of the obvious rise of unicorns in SEA, the most overlooked yet pivotal circumstances that make exits possible are the startup support from stock exchanges and the first SEA funds currently reaching their vintage.

Both the US and local stock exchanges have programmes that establish SEA startups’ impetus to list on the respective exchanges.

For instance, NASDAQ has established a collaborative listings agreement with SGX to help startups eventually list on the former. With the success of Sea Group IPO, it’s clear that US Stock Exchanges offer an exit route.

And what about the local and regional exchanges? Up until now, local exchanges haven’t played a big part in tech IPOs. We do see an opportunity for SEA-based startups to consider Hong Kong and, in some cases, Japan for an IPO. These markets have growing liquidity for tech IPOs. 

An important driver for future exits is Southeast Asian VC funds approaching their maturity. With most major funds incepted in the early 2010s, funds across SEA are looking to generate a return on their investments before closing their first funds.

Also Read: What does Peter Thiel-backed Bridgetown’s IPO mean for SEA’s startup ecosystem?

By nature, they will make an effort to either locate acquirers for portfolio companies or, if appropriate, initiate secondary transactions. No matter how favourable the circumstances to exit are, many startups aren’t ready.

The number of companies in SEA valued over US$100 million is growing each year. We’re bullish on the exit landscape maturing at a fast pace.

Besides regional unicorns, more international companies are looking to increase their SEA exposure through funding and later on acquisitions. 

(Timo Fukar, an investment intern at Golden Gate Ventures, also contributed to this piece)

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Intro

My experience with my brother in Panama was amazing, until my concussion that is. After being fired from my job in China, I was shocked and confused. I had spent 10 months working my ass off to develop the HR management system, teacher training programme, and curated a massive library of thousands of pieces of educational content our teachers could quickly access from a local network I set up. And my thanks for making the private school a better place to work and study was getting the boot without a second thought. The sad part was, the owner (my boss) was an American like myself. So much for Americans sticking together. But I digress, let’s get to the lesson I learned.

The lesson

When the accident happened, I blacked out. During that precious minute, I could have been run over by a car that wasn’t paying attention. I could have broken bones, been paralysed, brain damaged, or even dead.

But, none of that happened. Even though it took me a year and a half, to quote, “fully recover.” I’ve never felt like the same person in that my personality changed. It was almost instantly noticeable, probably due to the hard-hit I sustained. Even my mom remarked on it as soon as I returned to the US a few days after the accident.

Despite all this, I feel like the accident made me a more patient, calm, considerate, and generous person. I was determined to make sure I didn’t waste my second chance at life. From that point in time moving forward, I was going to focus only on how to improve myself so I could do the thing I’ve wanted to do my whole life: help others find their passions.

Also Read: Podcast: Doing these 4 things will immediately make you happy

I feel like Panama completely challenged my understanding of life and the world, and made me become more focused and passionate about the things I love. My accident taught me that life is short, and even if we are enjoying our life, we could die at any time, so we must make sure we not only enjoy life, but plan for our future, and don’t forget to tell others we love them. I now tell friends I love them (if I do), and I am more much affectionate with people because we need love and support in our lives to be happy. I know it’s hard for some people to be so direct with their feelings, but I hope one day you’ll come to realise that love and emotions are a wonderful thing to be shared with others, not something to be hidden and kept to yourself.

Life is long and hard, and mostly unfair, but that doesn’t mean we can’t strive to be better humans and treat others with kindness because we don’t know what they are going through. Think about your parents or your grandparents. Call them, maybe they feel lonely because you’re not living with them anymore. Call that friend, don’t text, CALL! Call them, hear their voices, do a video call, meet them face to face if you can.

I know during this time with the virus, it’s hard to meet people, but do your best to rekindle those connections and allow people to feel your love, because what you’ll get back is their love, too. What I know of humanity is that we all crave to be loved and accepted. And remember, entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a sprint.

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This article was first published on We Live To Build.

Image Credit: Michal Czyz on Unsplash

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Ant Group’s much-awaited stock market debut received a huge blow after the Chinese market regulators surprisingly suspended it at the last minute.

The group, which spun out of Alibaba in 2010, was anticipating a record US$34.5 billion debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK).

The suspension came as a shock for many as Ant has long been seen as a champion of China’s economy.

Also Read: What Ant Group’s upcoming IPO means for the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem

As per several reports, the plug was pulled on the IPO due to regulatory changes in the fintech space and “possible failure to meet disclosure requirements” by Ant. Its founder Jack Ma’s public criticism last month of financial regulations as stifling innovation could also have acted as a trigger.

e27 spoke to several industry experts in Southeast Asia to know how they look at the overall episode. They all agree that this will send a wrong signal to the investor world out there.

“The suspension demonstrates the depth of complexity of investing in China,” according to Chia Jeng Yang, Principal at Singapore-based VC firm Saison Capital.

“While investors around the world have a lot to learn about the rich Chinese fintech (or techfin) ecosystem, understanding the regulatory and political undercurrents is still an important dimension to being part of the country’s fintech story. As a general lesson, being able to navigate through the developing regulatory frameworks remains an important cornerstone, especially for fintechs in emerging markets,” he says.

For Jasmine Ng, former CEO of Razer Fintech, the decision is a definite blow to investor confidence in Chinese-listed stocks.

“That a regulatory body can allow it to go this far before it pulls the plugs is a huge concern and plays a big impact on investor confidence. I believe moving forward, there needs to be greater transparency to processes before investor confidence can be fully reinstated,” she comments.

The move is unlikely to make an impact on the fintech sector in China, opines Dave Ng, General Partner of Singapore-based new VC firm Altara Ventures. “But what is more important is the potential perception on the Chinese capital market and exchanges instead.”

Also Read: Should you start a business with exit in mind?

When any company plans to go public, there is a lot of preparation and co-ordination required among the different stakeholders, including the management, regulators, relevant authorities, securities exchange and investors. It is a comprehensive process. Hence, when an IPO gets delayed, it will to a certain extent reflect upon the various parties involved.

“In a landmark IPO such as Ant Financials, you can imagine that a lot of work has been done and continues to happen in the backdrop. The temporary setback is such that market participants, especially the international community, will ask if China’s system is ready and comparable to the NYSE or NASDAQ, which I think it is,” he observes. “Even though the Ant IPO is delayed, it could likely take place by Q1 next year.”

“In the meantime, as the various parties work out the kink, it will actually make the eventual process and outcome stronger. That will be the bright spot to look forward to when the IPO does happen,” he concludes.

Ma wanted Ant to be seen as a technology company that closely works with financial institutions and he envisioned less regulations and more freedom under the Chinese laws for the group.

However, as the company grew exponentially, Chinese financial regulators began to feel that its business model of connecting lenders and borrowers should be closely monitored.

Also Read: Koh Boon Hwee-backed US$100M+ VC fund Altara Ventures to invest in 20-25 firms in SEA

“The whole perception of China’s fintech market won’t change because it has never been a free market to begin with,” says Sergei Filippov, Managing Partner, Morphosis Capital Partners. “Fintech is closely regulated and monitored in every leading country, including China. In all these countries, financial services companies want to be seen as technology firms to enjoy less regulatory oversight.”

He further adds that the IPO halting is a warning for high-level entrepreneurs that every private company should follow the rules of the game and it’s not businesses that set rules in China.

“Business and politics have always been deeply intertwined in China. Additionally, President Xi Jinping is extremely concerned about the safety and stability of China’s financial system, and loosening the control over the Ant lending platform would be seen as a direct risk,” Filippov concludes.

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Image Credit: Alipay

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Global multi-stage VC firm Lightspeed Venture Partners has announced the launch of the third edition of Extreme Entrepreneurs (EE), a learning programme designed to train budding high potential founders hungry to build market-leading businesses.

Launched in 2018 with a mission to nurture industry-disrupting founders and companies, EE takes neither equity nor does it collect fees for the programme.

The sole selection criteria for the participants is whether the founders will benefit from, and make the most of, the programme.

Also Read: Lightspeed Venture Partners raises maiden India fund of US$135M

EE3.o will see two cohorts participate annually in the six-week-long programme. Expanding on previous editions, the new edition will involve startups across Southeast Asia and India and it will be fully remote.

As part of the programme, the founders can look forward to masterclasses with mentors for insights into building successful businesses. Past mentors include Max Levchin (co-founder of PayPal and Affirm), Alex Chung (co-founder of Giphy) and John Thompson (Chairman of Microsoft).

Additionally, they can anticipate honest but constructive business feedback from Lightspeed investors and clinics to hone their skills across areas such as marketing and product design.

Also Read: Lightspeed opens Singapore office to ramp up investments in SEA

“EE takes your blinkers off; it inspires founders to dream bigger and illuminates new ways of thinking, in addition to opening minds to new possibilities,” said Vaibhav Agrawal, Partner at Lightspeed.

“When founders ‘feel’ and ‘see’ differently, it automatically changes the trajectory of their businesses,  just like how Raghu, Jaya Kishore and Rashid – founders of Yellow Messenger who participated in EE2018 – have executed their business’s growth after joining the programme,” he added.

EE.3.0 will run live every Tuesday and allow founders to learn alongside running their startups. Applications for the programme, which will start in  January 2021, are now open. 

Entries for EE 3.0 are now live at https://ee.lsvp.com. 

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Photo by Proxyclick Visitor Management System on Unsplash

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Ant’s IPO fiasco set to clip its wings and dent its value; The last-minute ambush by China’s regulators was seen by analysts and investors as an attempt to cut Ant founder Jack Ma and his financial services empire down to size but they expected it to eventually list as planned; Ma’s public criticism last month of financial regulations as stifling innovation had put him on a collision course with regulators. Reuters

Despite pandemic, Indonesian startups raised US$1.9B over 52 rounds by Q3 2020; As per a Amvesindo report, fintech, edutech, SaaS dominated the funding rounds; It predicts social commerce, foodtech, and any verticals that are related to digitalisation of supply chain and SMEs will continue to experience growth. e27

How two-year-old GudangAda managed to keep VCs interest ‘intact’ despite COVID-19; The firm raised two big funding rounds in quick succession in Feb and March 2020; Since its launch in early 2019, GudangAda’s transaction volume had more than doubled every single month, until hitting US$1B GMV in the first 12 months. e27

Is SEA the world’s next HR-tech hub?; Having a reliable HR ‘tech stack’ doesn’t just improve workers’ efficiency, collaboration and engagement – it can also help transform workplace culture in the process; HR tech can also level the playing field for employees who are historically underrepresented, from the candidate selection to the promotion process. HRD

Accelerating Asia plans to launch a new ‘up to US$50M fund’ in Q1 2021; It already runs an MAS-licensed fund, from which it plans to invest up to US$7.3M in the first four to five cohorts; The accelerator-cum-VC fund is also expanding into India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. e27

Microsoft (MS) makes strategic investment in Indonesia’s Bukalapak; Bukalapak is raising US$100M, in which Microsoft will co-invest, along with existing backers GIC and Emtek Group, for a valuation between US$2.5B and US$3B; The e-commerce firm will adopt Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform. e27

Indonesian B2B logistics-tech startup Logisly nets US$6M Series A led by Monk’s Hill; It connects shippers with trucking companies from a network of verified corporate carriers; Since 2019, Logisly has partnered with more than 1K businesses, including 300+ corporate shippers and has 40K+ trucks in its network. e27

Beamstart launching US$10M early-stage fund in SEA; The fund will invest in tech startups mainly at the pre-seed/accelerator to late-seed stages and will cut a cheque of up to US$100K per company; According to founder, with the rise of China, COVID-19’s after-effects, the emergence of 5G, rising ‘individualism’ among Gen-Z, and the exponential growth of mobile-internet usage offer huge opportunity in SEA. e27

Pre-seed VC firm Hustle Fund secures US$30.4M commitments for Fund II; The US$50M fund, based in Singapore and the US, has secured commitments from 78 investors, including Chinese online giant Shanda; Hustle Fund invests US$25K in pre-seed startups; Fund I has invested in 80 startups. DealStreetAsia

Singapore crypto wallet operator Math Global secures US$7.8M Series A+; Investors include Alameda Research (lead) and Multicoin Capital; MathWallet enables storage and cross-chain exchanges of over 50 major public blockchain tokens such as BTC, ETH, Polkadot; In the past, it has raised a significant amount of investments from from Fenbushi Capital, Fundamental Labs, etc. DealStreetAsia

Monde Nissin CEO, Temasek invest Bits x Bites China foodtech fund worth US$70M; The fund has hit the first close at US$30M; Bits x Bites aims to back early-stage Chinese and international entrepreneurs that are focused on the Chinese market and coming up with solutions for the Chinese food supply chain. GreenQueen

B2B marketplaces will be the next billion-dollar e-commerce startups; For many entrepreneurs running B2B marketplaces, the pandemic created new demand for their platforms; They are discovering creative new ways to monetize their networks, ensuring their approach is tailored to the complex and nuanced world of B2B e-commerce. TechCrunch

Indonesian omni-channel sales SaaS platform iSeller secures Series A from Mandiri, Openspace; The company claims its revenue and active merchant pool doubled, driven by an increased volume of online transactions during COVID-19; It currently processes 5M+ transactions a month. e27

iMedia Group acquires 90% of Malay language portal BeautifulNara; With BeautifulNara joining OhMedia, Ittify and Goody25 in the group, the combined network will have a reach of over 13M Malaysians; BeautifulNara will focus on the overall expansion of iMedia’s websites, covering trending daily news and Kimchi Daily, featuring all things KPOP. e27

Business management platform for SMEs Osome raises US$3M from XA Network, AltaIR Capital; The Singapore startup uses AI and ML techniques combined with the experience of human experts to solve problems in the fragmented accounting and corporate services industry; Osome’s product is used by 4100+ firms across UK, Singapore, HK. e27

SociaBuzz raises funding from UMG IdeaLab to connect businesses in Indonesia with creators, talents; It runs five platforms — Gigs, Shoutout, Tribe, Shop and Affiliate; The platforms together have around 72K influencers/creators/talents and 1,350 active users. e27

GGV Capital investor Hans Tung shares his definition of a fundable startup; People with bad personality are still very young but they still get the right thing; But it’s still hard because bad personalities in entrepreneurship are not easy to get along with, they’re tough to handle and they obviously have their own faults. e27

Malaysian edutech AOne secures US$500K led by Wavemaker; AOne brings together a B2C marketplace and B2B backend management software for all kinds of local enrichment lessons across SEA; It currently serves 800+ enrichment centres, managing 50K+ lessons, 100K+ learners and educators across multiple cities. e27

How to tackle fraud and counter-party risk in an increasingly compromised world of finance; AI is showing great promise in identity verification; There are business opportunities in using advanced technology, complying with KYC and AML regulations is proven to give companies a competitive advantage. e27

‘What I learned from funding my second startup… with a credit card’; You need to consider interest rates from the practical, logistical side; A small business administration loan, for example, usually is only 5.5- 8%; So using a credit card is an expensive route that’s going to take you much longer to pay back; The longer you’ve got money tied up in debt, the longer it will be before you can channel money into real growth and innovation. The Next Web

Here’s how AI is helping cities improve traffic management; Today’s cars are generally equipped with features such as park assist, cruise control, adaptive front lights and lane keeping assist; These devices support drivers in terms of providing aid, warning and assistance, rather than replacing them in driving activities. The Next Web

Fintech sector to create more jobs in Singapore; The emergence of digital banks in Singapore will open doors for several opportunities for jobs and collaborations; But finance professionals must reskill or upskill their digital capabilities in areas such as data analytics; The demand for jobs in areas like UX/UI design and cloud applications may also increase. hrmasia

Visa partners with Nexttech to promote digital payments adoption in Vietnam; This is aimed at expanding the network of sellers and buyers on social commerce platforms; Along with the rise of e-commerce, consumers have also been adopting digital payment methods more; The value of mobile and online transactions in Vietnam has increased by 238%. TechInAsia

Vietnam shows significant progress among APAC digital societies, says GSMA Intelligence report; Its digital society index went from 37 in 2016 to 49 in 2020, a 12-point difference; The result placed Vietnam in 8th spot among the 11 surveyed countries, putting it in the group of “transitioning” nations, besides Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and India. VN Express

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Photo by Henry Laion Unsplash

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It is hard to believe that four years had passed since the last US presidential elections.

While politics have never been our focus at e27, we always believe that the tech industry does not stand in a silo. Thus any major global events will affect the industry –no matter how far-fetched it seems.

When President Donald Trump won the election in 2016, his America-first policies have made Silicon Valley anxious. As elaborated in this post by Daniel Fries, the immigration crackdown that the Trump administrative championed had potentially made it harder for global tech talents to obtain travel and work visa to the US. Even the Indian tech leaders had to meet Trump officials to discuss the changes in the H1-B visa requirements.

The move turned out to be just the beginning as we later witnessed how the US government aims to tackle down major Chinese tech giants with their data security issue.

Four years passed and despite the initial shock, the global tech startup ecosystem continues to thrive. Startup hubs around the world continues to thrive, with a great number of them being in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, providing alternatives for both talents and investors to focus their attention in.

But for the Southeast Asian tech startup ecosystem, there are other opportunities to shine in: The US-China trade war.

Also Read: Koh Boon Hwee-backed US$100M+ VC fund Altara Ventures to invest in 20-25 firms in SEA

The eagle, the dragon, and the tiger

Within the past five years, the Southeast Asian (SEA) tech startup ecosystem continues to become a favourite of global investors, from both the US and the APAC region. Even leading names in the Silicon Valley ecosystem such as Tim Draper and Peter Thiel are making great moves in SEA.

But the excitement peaks with the rise of the US-China trade war. In Jumpstart, Sharon Lewis wrote how ASEAN countries are “reaping the benefits” of the rising tariffs that the US has been imposing on China.

“For instance, Vietnam has benefited considerably, with 46 per cent of US imports worth US$31 billion shifting out of China and into Vietnam this year, subsequently adding an additional US$14 billion in exports to the US … Big tech companies are also looking to move their China bases, looking to Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand as alternatives. Naturally, the Trump administration is fully supportive of this,” she elaborates.

This update opens up opportunities for startups particularly those in the logistics and supply chain sector.

In a recent interview with e27, Marc Dragon, Managing Director of Reefknot Investments, reveals how the US-China trade war has led industry players to consider how their businesses are being run. He divides it into the “three buckets” of impact: Digitalisation and visibility of supply chain, sourcing strategy (including the supply chain sourcing design) as well as cash flow management, resilience, and financial stability of the supply chain.

When there is an opportunity, there are investments flooding in. And the numbers are not playing around. For example, even during the pandemic, Indonesian startups raised US$1.9 billion in funding by Q3 2020, according to the Indonesian venture capital association Amvesindo. A similar situation happened throughout the region; the pandemic might cause a glitch in the matrix, but it is only temporary.

Also Read: A closer look at Zendesk: fostering better customer relationships for startups everywhere

So how does this translate to the US election result?

Whether this situation will continue or not depends on who the next president his and his approach in handling the matter. Interestingly, even if candidate Joe Biden wins the election and becomes president of the US, there is no guarantee of a significant change, given that his take on the matter remains “uncertain”, according to experts.

Biden has been quoted stating that he will “get tough on China” as per this CNBC report while criticising the measures that Trump administration has taken.

Regardless of election results, in the past years, the SEA startup ecosystem has proven its ability to grow from strength to strength. From financial crises to a global outbreak, even when the situation gets tough, our entrepreneurs have shown its capacity to rise above it.

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Image Credit: Luke Stackpoole on Unsplash

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Temasek, others invest US$30M into Bits x Bites China food-tech fund

The story: China’s VC firm Bits x Bites has raised US$30 million in the first close of its US$70 million foodtech fund, according to Greenqueen.

Investors: Temasek, Monde Nissin CEO Henry Soesanto, and other unnamed conglomerates and family offices.

More about this story: Bits x Bites aims to back early-stage Chinese and global founders who are coming up with solutions to improve the the country’s food supply chain. These include precision agriculture, crop and animal health, alternative proteins and nutrition.

Also Read: Afternoon News Roundup: Temasek, others invest US$500M in American plant-based meat company Impossible Foods

“With African Swine Flu, COVID-19, and uncertain trade relations, nothing else is more urgent in China today than growing the self-sufficiency and sustainability in food production,” Matilda Ho, Founder of Bits X Bites.

fREADom raises US$2.5M for its full-stack English learning platform

The story: Edutech app fREADom, owned by Indian startup Stones2Milestones, has raised US$2.5 million in a pre-series A round of funding, according to a press statement.

Investors: Unreasonable Capital, Goldhirsh Foundation, undisclosed angel investors, FaaD Network and Lets Venture.

More about the story: fREADom currently has 200,000 users on its platform and expects its annualised revenues to cross US$7.5 million by March 2021.

“We are now scaling our solution fast to reach 10 million within the next 12-18 months. With a product that’s working for 200,000 plus users, a profitable business model and a mission-aligned passionate leadership team, this round of capital are well-timed for fueling growth,” said Kavish Gadia, co-founder and CEO, Stones2Milestones.

Halodoc launches veterinary services on its platform

The story: Halodoc, a health-tech platform based in Indonesia, has announced the launch of veterinary services on its platform.

More about the story: The telemedicine platform will now be able to help pet owners get medical consultation via messenger chat, even though pet owners may still need to proceed with offline consultation as a follow-up.

Also Read: How HaloDoc aims to open greater access to healthcare for all Indonesians

About Halodoc: Founded in 2016, Halodoc enables patients to communicate directly on smartphones and desktops to 20,000 licensed doctors in the country, whenever and wherever.

In addition to that, the platform also serves as an at-home checkup-booking platform and medicine delivery vehicle through its application that’s connected to 1,300 pharmacies.

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Image Credit: Unsplash

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Osome, a Singapore-based startup providing an accounting and corporate compliance app for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), has raised US$3 million in a new funding round from XA Network and European VC firm AltaIR Capital.

As per a press statement, Osome will use the funds for product development and marketing efforts across its Singapore, Hong Kong and UK markets.

This follows an initial US$2 million funding round led by Target Global in 2018.

Also Read: Fintech startup Osome snags US$3M funding led by Target Global, preparing Hong Kong’s, UK’s expansion

Osome leverages Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning techniques, combined with the experience of human experts, to solve the problem of time-consuming administrative tasks, such as payroll and secretarial work. This way, it aims to disrupt the fragmented accounting and corporate services industry.

“We want to make it simple for our clients to go digital and acclimatise themselves to the current economy,” said Victor Lysenko, Founder and CEO of Osome.

The startup claims more than 4,100 companies are using its product daily with an annual growth rate of over 200 per cent.

“Osome taps into a large and fragmented market opportunity and plays in an industry which is ripe for disruption. The company’s business model drives a step-change in both efficiency and customer satisfaction through automation, leading to a high potential for growth and profitability,” said Gilberto Gaeta, a member of XA Network.

“We decided to invest in Osome as we have trust in the business model and see the team’s ability to scale it. The service is vital for many new enterprises and has huge growth potential,” said Igor Ryabenkiy, Managing Partner of AltaIR Capital.

Also Read: What any founder needs to know about the art of accounting

The recent economic crisis and global lockdown caused by COVID-19 has pushed SMEs to accelerate the adoption of digital solutions. Osome says it has been at the forefront of this movement and is participating in Singapore’s Start Digital initiative, where grants are distributed to SMEs for the adoption of digital solutions to reduce administrative workload.

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Image Credit: Osome

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Hustle Fund, a US- and Singapore-based pre-seed VC investor, has hit the first close of its second fund at US$30 million, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Also Read: Hustle Fund closes US$11.5M fund from Shanda, Naver, LINE, plans to shift focus to SEA

The new fund, which started fundraising in May 2019, intends to make the final close at US$50 million.

As per a DealStreetAsia report, Chinese online gaming giant Shanda is returning as a Limited Partner for fund II

Hustle Fund was started by Elizabeth Yin and Eric Bahn (former Partners at 500 Startups), and Shiyan Koh. The VC firm focuses on investing in pre-seed software startups in Southeast Asia, the US and Canada.

On average, Hustle Fund cuts a cheque of US$25,000 per startup in startups with a minimum viable product (MVP). After investment, the fund works closely with the team to assist in growing their business.

Hustle Fund makes nearly 50 investments annually, mostly in the B2B, fintech and consumer digital health sectors. Its investees include Vietnamese electric motorbike startup Datbike, Singapore-based logistics firm Moovaz, and Malaysian telehealth startup Ora Group.

Also Read: Hustle Fund has invested in Singapore-based moving logistics startup Moovaz

Sticking by its proven method of investing small amounts in pre-seed startups, Yin believes learning well is more important than money for executing a good idea. This is especially so in the pre-seed stage, where there is a limit to the return money and resources have on the execution.

Last week, Singapore-based Beamstart announced that it would launch a US$10 million digital accelerator fund for Southeast Asia, which will focus on investing in technology startups in their earliest stages.

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Image Credit: Hustle Fund

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