Bizzi, an AI-powered invoice processing automation solution in Vietnam, has raised US$3 million in a pre-Series A round led by Money Forward, a fintech company headquartered in Japan. 

Other investors include Do Ventures and existing investor Qualgro.

Bizzi plans to improve its product features and functionality and expand its customer network to other Southeast Asian markets with the new investment.

“We will support the company in building the largest receivables and payables management platform in Vietnam by sharing the know-how cultivated in the Money Forward Cloud business,” said Tatsuya Kanto, chief strategy officer at Money Forward.

Co-founded in 2019 by CEO Nghia Vu and CTO Nguyen Nguyen, Bizzi is a SaaS platform that automates the time-consuming accounting process for finance teams.

Also read: How automation and innovation will boost SME success in Singapore

Bizzi’s unified platform, powered by AI and robotic process automation (RPA), can be connected with vendors’ existing ERP/accounting solutions and automate financial operations such as bill payment, receipt scanning, compliance, and bookkeeping.

The startup claims that its technologies reduce the invoice processing time by 80 per cent, lower the cost by 50 per cent and boost transparency and tax compliance. 

According to a press statement, Bizzi has achieved a monthly invoice processing value exceeding US$300 million.

Secured by Amazon Web Services and applying international information security standard ISO 27001, Bizzi boasts of winning large clients such as Grab, GS25, Circle K, Tiki, Guardian, Medicare, Pharmacity, and over 4,000 vendors.

As per the “Accounts Payable Automation Market” report, the worldwide accounts payable automation market is predicted to reach US$3.1 billion by 2024, with a CAGR of 11 per cent during the 2019-2024 period.

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Image Credit: Bizzi

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Upmesh, a Singapore-based startup providing e-commerce functionality for live commerce merchants on social media, has closed a US$3 million seed financing round led by Indian VC firm Leo Capital.

Beenext, Prasetia Dwidharma Ventures, and iSeed SEA, besides Chinmay Chauhan and Abhinay Pedisetty (founders of BukuWarung), Royston Tay and Kwok Yang Bin (co-founders of Zopim), and Jonathan Barki (GoTo Financial, also participated.

Founded in 2020 by Wong Zi Yang, Soh Jan, Nhat Vu, and Shawn Teow, Upmesh helps sellers automate capturing orders and collecting payments when selling physical goods on Facebook Live.

The foursome came together in early last year to build live streaming interaction tools on top of the Twitch API. But during their research into live streaming in Southeast Asia, they discovered various challenges plaguing live seller merchants, such as collating orders with pen and paper.

Seeing an opportunity here, the foursome set out to create a regional platform with the depth of localisation necessary to suit each country’s live selling culture and expectations.

Also Read: Is Southeast Asia ready to give birth to interactive e-commerce platforms like Pinduoduo?

In the current form, Upmesh combines the respective strengths of e-commerce platforms and social media platforms to introduce community and discovery into a previously intent-driven online shopping experience.

How Upmesh works

The company provides merchants with a web app and dashboard. Merchants log in via Facebook and grant the web app permissions to access their Facebook page.

With these permissions, the web app can capture comments and tag them to the inventory items that the merchants have uploaded. Upmesh then uses Facebook Messenger to send a checkout link to the customers from the merchant’s Facebook page. Customers then click the checkout link to complete the checkout process and make payments.

The company has onboarded nearly 300 merchants in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines since its launch. It claims it currently processes almost US$40 million in annualised GMV.

“Enabling e-commerce functionality in live commerce is just the first step. Moving forward, we are working tirelessly to make Upmesh become the best place for communities around live selling to gather and share great products in a transparent format,” says CEO Wong Zi Yang. “Driven by a regional appetite for live streaming and the normalisation of e-commerce, the potential waiting to be unlocked by the evolution of e-commerce into a social, community-driven form in Southeast Asia is limitless. We are barely scratching the surface.”

Live commerce has in recent months gained prominence in markets all over the world as consumers turn to social media to discover, buy, and sell items.

In China alone, an estimated US$140 billion is transacted annually via live commerce, making up approximately 15 per cent of all online retail. Whatnot, an American live commerce platform funded by a16z and Y Combinator, in September 2021 closed a US$150 million Series C.

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Image Credit: Upmesh

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In the digital era, rapid advances in technology have managed to transform the way the world works. While some industries find this environment particularly favourable, other companies still have ways to go in engaging the right digital architecture.

It is undeniable that digitalisation is crucial to business longevity, especially in a post-pandemic world. The home renovation sector is no different.

Amidst the lockdowns, the renovation industry is flourishing. In Hong Kong, the traditional renovation market is worth HK$14 billion (US$1.7 billion). Yet, more than 40 per cent of the industry does not even have a digital strategy in place.

With a bulk of the market still conducting business in a traditional setting, this presents an opportunity for those ripe for disruption to migrate their operations into the digital workspace.

Untapped potential in the renovation market in Hong Kong

With most of the world confined to their homes, home renovation services have soared in demand as people want to create the perfect living space. In Hong Kong, homeowners here are more willing to spend on renovation projects.

Where apartments are packed and space is scarce, constructing the right house plan can transform the way people live.

Paired with the increasing transactions involving Home-Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats amounting to HK$17.6 billion (US$2.2 billion) in the first half of 2021, the housing and renovation landscape in Hong Kong is slowly picking pace.

There is an opportunity in the market right now to build better infrastructure to accommodate increasing demand. Most homeowners are also digital natives. To get in on this first-mover advantage, contractors need to prepare their services to survive in the new playing field.

Leveraging the latest technologies to resolve diversified renovation needs

As such, HKDecoman, a technology-powered marketplace for renovation services, has placed synergy at the forefront of its strategy to digitally transform the industry. At its core, the platform allows homeowners to find traditional renovation companies that provide the services they need.

The Hong Kong-based startup works on a model of smart matching and big data. With an extensive knowledge base of about 1344 videos, 2648 articles, 905 case studies, 1479 floor plans, the system depends on big data to refer potential customers to suitable suppliers using an algorithm-based selection process.

Also Read: How proptech startup iMyanmarHouse remains profitable despite COVID-19

To illustrate, the AI-powered matching system defines the abstract needs of house owners into a set of parameters, which is used for matching with a database of over 1000 design and renovation suppliers. The companies on the platform would have gone through an interview where their services and specialisations are stored in a built-in algorithm.

The content on HKDecoman also generates a significant amount of traffic from search engines and social media, forming a foundation of the community. Not only does the system enable consumers to search for and find valuable recommendations businesses can also reduce the cost of lead generation through a scalable model.

With more valuable matches, the design and renovation firms can also boost their reputation by taking on projects within their expertise, essentially creating a win-win situation for both parties.

Creating synergy in the home improvement ecosystem

Besides simplifying a multi-structure renovation process using smart features, having an end-to-end solution has a synergistic effect on the ecosystem as a whole. In a time where businesses are looking to rebuild the economic downturn from the pandemic, HKDecoman seeks to provide multiple functions across players in the industry.

Alongside smart matching between homeowners and renovation companies, they offer a one-stop O2O decoration shopping platform via three channels: An online portal, a smart vending machine and a self-service showroom.

The company also owns Deco Academy, a learning centre that offers online and offline courses, 24/7 free Q&A with expert consultants, and a Deco Charter which mediates between two parties in dispute.

To illustrate the synergies within this environment, clients using the AI-based marketplace will proceed to buy materials from the shopping platform. Mall clients, on the other hand, can look for installation services via the smart matching software or learn DIY home repairing techniques from the Academy.

As a result, each advertising dollar spent not only benefits a single business unit but also drives traffic to others.

The impact of COVID-19 on the industry

In the past year, many brick-and-mortar businesses had to cease operations due to a decline in footfall. Traditionally, renovation retailers and suppliers go about their operations offline, from home inspections to sales meetings and the purchase of products.

Digital businesses, or those that were quick to pivot to online models, were able to avoid the bulk of these challenges with alternatives to old practices.

Also read: The world of proptech and its fate in a post-pandemic world

As an O2O online platform, HKDecoman managed to see a slight increase in leads during this time. However, due to more careful spending, especially on big-ticket items, the lengthened decision cycle lowered their sales for a while.

To ensure business continuity, the team took this opportunity to expand the infrastructure, establishing the solutions as a gateway for design and renovation companies to go digital and scale-up.

A pandemic-led slump has drastically shifted consumer spending and behaviour. Because of this, the recovery is expected to be a gradual revival rather than a sharp change. In particular, Hong Kong is facing a lot of other changes.

The emigration outflow, for instance, is a factor that has led to decreased demand during this period of time. On the other hand, pent-up demand plays a huge role in ramping up post-pandemic business activity.

On a macro scale, Southeast Asia represents a fast-growing internet sector. As the region moves to the online space, consumers will not only expect but demand digital services. With the proven business model, the right go-to-market strategy and potential synergy, HKDecoman has established itself as a leader in Hong Kong’s online renovation services.

The time is ripe for the startup to venture into the flourishing SEA economy, bringing its services to local markets, with the help of accelerator programmes such as 500Startups and the blueprint for a renovation ecosystem.

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Talino Venture Labs, a global venture studio for inclusive fintech, has secured US$1.25 million led by Wavemaker Labs, a next-generation corporate innovation fund investing in North America and Southeast Asia.

Foxmont Capital Partners, Johnsen Global Business Ventures, and Manila Angel Investors Network (MAIN) also joined the round.

The Philippine startup will use funds for technology R&D and working capital.

Talino Venture Labs also announced that it has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder.com and received commitments of over US$270,000 from almost 100 investors.

Also Read: Edukasyon investor Foxmont joins Philippine proptech startup AHG’s US$1.1M seed round

Born in the intersection of Silicon Valley and Southeast Asia, Talino Venture Labs is on a mission to bridge financial inclusion for over 1.7 billion people around the world. It uses the venture studio model to build repeatable, scalable, and profitable fintech companies that empower underserved, underrepresented groups around the world with financial access and mobility.

Talino has already incubated six fintech startups, such as BayaniPay, Neotech, Asenso, Saphron, Unawa, and DevCon. They together serve ~10 million customers within the US and Asia corridor.

“Talino Venture Labs started almost three years ago with the mission to become a venture studio for inclusive fintech,” said CEO Winston Damarillo. “While our venture studio has already been able to raise US$7 million in venture capital for our portfolio companies and operate profitably with over US$2 million in revenue since 2019, our latest funding round and our equity crowdfunding campaign signal a new chapter in Talino’s history.”

“Now, we’re making Talino itself accessible to retail investors who want to invest in innovation with impact. For as little as US$100 on our Wefunder campaign, they can be part of our journey to empower the emerging middle class with inclusive fintech innovation. This is closely aligned with our own mission of inclusive finance as we make financial opportunities available to more people around the world,” he added.

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Image Credit: Talino Venture Labs

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GDP Venture joins Easy Crypto’s US$12M Series A

The story: New Zealand-based crypto startup, Easy Crypto, has secured US$12 million in a Series A round of funding led by Nuance Connected Capital.

Investors: Indonesian VC firm GDP Venture, New Zealand-based Pathfinder KiwiSaver (a retirement fund), Icehouse Ventures and Even Capital, and US-based Hutt Capital and Seven Peaks Ventures.

The plans: The funding will be used to expand into new markets, particularly Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

What is Easy Crypto: Founded by siblings Janine dan Alan Grainger in 2018, it trades more than 150 types of crypto assets. So far it has recorded US$750 million in sales. It currently has operations in South Africa, Australia, the Philippines, and Brazil.

Japan’s SmartRyde nets US$1.6M in Series A 

The story: SmartRyde, a global airport transfer marketplace in Japan, has raised US$1.6 million in a Series A funding round.

Investors: Angel Bridge (lead), SG Incubate, Yamaguchi Capital, SMBC Venture Capital, Hiroshima Venture Capital, Iyogin Capital, Inventum Ventures, individual investor and serial entrepreneur Shouji Kodama, Nobuaki Takahashi (NOB LLC), and Optima Ventures.

What is SmartRyde: It’s creating a marketplace to connect local transport operators and online travel agencies (OTAs). As of August 2021, it has collaborated with more than 650 transportation operators and more than 25 OTAs, including top global players such as Booking.com, Expedia, Trip.com, Traveloka (Indonesia), and Despegar (Argentina).

Plans: It will strengthen system integration with OTAs on the demand side, build a booking management system for transportation operators on the supply side, and promote digital transformation.

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Image Credit: Easy Crypto

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You have come up with a great startup idea. You have spent months vetting the idea with dozens of customer interviews. You have even written some code to build a quick and dirty prototype.

However, when you met with some angel investors to getting funding for your company, they told you that you need to have a business co-founder. Luckily, it turns out that your college classmate who has an MBA really likes the idea and wants to join the effort.

He wants to join as a founder and get founder equity. But it doesn’t seem fair to split the equity 50/50. After all, you came up with the idea and did a lot of work to get the idea off the ground.

So, how much equity should you give your co-founder so that he feels motivated to join and work long hours to make the company successful?

This is a question that I commonly get asked by founders as they build out their management team. There is no magic formula that you can plug numbers into that will spit out an equitable founder equity split.

However, in this article, I can share the general principles that you can apply to come up with a reasonable equity split that you can use for the basis of negotiation with your co-founder.

Employee option pool

Before you split up equity with your co-founder(s), you need to first set aside an Employee Option Pool to grant options to employees that you hire. Most VCs will require you to set aside between 15 to 20 per cent of the company’s equity for an option pool.

The best way to determine this percentage is to develop a budget outlining how many employees you plan to hire in the next two years and assigning how much equity you would give to each position.

For example, members of your management team might get between two to three per cent of equity whereas entry-level employees would get between 0.1 to 0.2 per cent equity.

Also Read: SEA tech founders playbook: A to Z of becoming a fundraising legend (Part 2)

Cash investment

If you and/or your co-founder(s) are planning on investing actual cash into the company, it should be treated like any other outside investment. You can then select an appropriate valuation for the company and then calculate the equity that each of you would get as a result.

To determine an appropriate valuation for the company, you can consult with local angel investors to get their feedback on the company’s valuation based on the team and the progress you have made.

Let’s say that you invested S$50,000 into the company and your co-founder invested nothing and you valued the company at a S$1 million valuation. You should get $50,000/$1,050,000 or around five per cent of the company. The remaining equity can then be divided based on the rules outlined below.

Idea development

Ideas can be a dime a dozen as a startup’s success will depend largely on execution. However, if you have spent a few months seriously validating the idea before recruiting a co-founder, then you should get some credit for developing the idea.

Or perhaps, you are a technical founder and you have already developed a prototype for your idea. Idea validation should get you a five to 10 per cent premium whereas IP development should get you a 20-25 per cent premium depending on how much time you have invested in developing the IP.

CEO’s role

If there are two co-founders, you can’t split the equity 50/50 as you could end up in a tie in deciding contentious issues. Since the CEO is the final arbiter of decisions, he or she should receive more equity.

Investors also value the CEO role compared to other roles in the company and will grant more equity to a CEO if they are hiring an external CEO. The CEO should get a five per cent premium for taking on that role.

Doing the math

Let’s take the example so far to see how the equity should be split up. The two founders both start off with a 50/50 split in terms of shares or 50 shares each out of 100 shares. Since you are the CEO, you get an additional five shares.

You have also done the idea validation and built out a prototype – as a result, you should get an additional 25 shares. So, you end up with 50+5+25 = 80 shares and your co-founder ends up with 50 shares. This means that you get 80/130 = 62 per cent and your co-founder gets 38 per cent of the founder’s equity.

However, you still need to account for the employee option pool and the equity you should get for investing S$50,000 in the company. This means that you allocate 20 per cent to the option pool, another five per cent for your investment leaving 75 per cent of founder equity to split up.

You will get 62 per cent* 75 per cent or 47 per cent and your co-founder will get 28 per cent. Your total equity stake will now be 47 + 5 = 52 per cent and your co-founder will get 28 per cent. This means that you get twice the equity as your co-founder which seems fair.

Also Read: Exceptional founders to nurture, invest in promising startups as part of Monk’s Hill Ventures’s new programme

Utilising a neutral arbiter

You can do all the math in the world to come up with an equitable equity split. However, you could still end up in a difficult negotiation with your co-founder(s). I, therefore, recommend that you find an experienced and well-respected founder or investor to come up with the equity split recommendation that all of you have to abide by.

That person can interview each of the co-founders to understand their contributions and then recommend the equity split that you should follow. This will result in significantly less contention and bad feelings among the founders.

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StratifiCare, a predictive medical diagnostic solutions startup in Singapore, has raised S$1 million (US$729,000) in seed funding from ADB Ventures and early-stage venture capital Sprout. 

Other participating investors are Jeffrey Tiong, CEO of PatSnap, and Quek Siu Rui, CEO of Carousell.

Using the fresh capital, StratifiCare will set up pilot manufacturing facilities. It will also carry out clinical trials for its Dengue prediction test, StratifiDen, in the diseases-affected Asian nations. 

The company also plans to collaborate with clinical partners to test out StratifiDen in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

“This could have a very significant impact on the way Dengue treatment is managed in Asia and beyond,” said Yichu Zhang, investment associate at ADB Ventures.

Also read: Are biomedicine and healthcare coming of age?

Launched in 2015 by CEO Anthony Chua and friends, StratifiCare develops a broad range of predictive in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) solutions to power personalised medicine. The company says each solution can minimise hospital (re)admissions, reduce the usage of ineffective treatments, and enhance patient outcomes.

StratifiCare claims that by detecting the concentrations of particular proteins in the patient’s blood, StratifiDen can assist doctors in diagnosing severe disease complications (such as internal bleeding) and the hospitalisation needs of Dengue patients.

According to a joint study published in 2019 by four American universities, global warming, increasing urbanisation, and mosquito geographic expansion would put one billion additional people in temperate zones at risk of Dengue infection by 2080. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) also estimates that 390 million people are infected with Dengue fever each year.

Given that less than five per cent of hospitalised Dengue patients develop severe complications, StratifiDen helps assure hospital resources are reserved for severe cases during major outbreaks while also reducing the financial burdens on Dengue patients and their families from unnecessary hospitalisation. 

According to figures from a University of Washington health economics research, StratifiDen adoption would save Dengue-affected developing nations throughout the world around US$7.6 billion of direct medical cost savings per year, claims the company. 

“StratifiDen ensures that scarce hospital resources are reserved for severe Dengue patients during large Dengue outbreaks,” said StratifiCare co-founder and CEO Dr Anthony Chua.

Also read: Predictive analytics is shaping the modern life

Apart from the Dengue prediction test, StratifiCare has also expanded its offerings to include cancer medical diagnostic tests by leveraging the knowledge and infrastructure built to develop predictive medical diagnostics for StratifiDen.

According to the McKinsey report, the medtech market in Asia-Pacific is expected to expand to over US$133 billion in 2020, up from US$88 billion in 2015, surpassing the European Union as the world’s second-largest market.

Industry Insights Research also stated that the medtech sector contributed S$13 billion (US$9.4 billion) to Singapore’s GDP. 

The number of homegrown medtech firms in Singapore has increased from 100 in 2014 to more than 250 in 2018, with several recent Neuroglee Therapeutics, One BioMed, and  Leben Care deals.

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Image Credit: StratifiCare

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Greywing, a Singapore-based startup providing operating systems for the maritime industry, has raked in US$2.5 million in seed funding.

Investors include Flexport, Transmedia Capital, Signal Ventures, Motion Ventures, Rebel Ventures, Entrepreneur First, and Y Combinator (YC).

Greywing was part of YC’s winter 2021 batch.

The new capital will support the launch of Greywing’s real-time carbon scoring solution. This tool will enable shipping companies to make decisions to minimise the carbon footprint of crew changes regarding shore-based operations, flight bookings, deviation of voyage routes, among others.

The solution comes as a part of Greywing’s new tool, Crew Change, which provides vessel operators visibility on the factors impacting seafarers’ management — especially when the COVID-19 requirements and restrictions complicate operations at each port.

“The factors impacting a maritime voyage have grown in complexity with climate change and COVID-19 being thrown into the mix, and Greywing’s traction is accelerating to match the pace of these evolving challenges,” said Greywing CEO Nick Clarke.

Also read: Maritime tech founders are more likely to find opportunities working with corporates: Dr Mark Lim of PIER71

Founded in 2019, Greywing builds solutions to support and automate ship operators’ decision-making through actionable intelligence, better data and communication.

Its four product lines are route intelligence tool CRY4, vessel monitoring system Flotilla, port-agent communications tool Semaphore, and crew management and analysis system Landfall.

With its web-first and user-centred operating system catering to the maritime industry, Greywing addresses various issues occurring during the entire voyage, such as crew changes, piracy incidents, and vessel risk. The company claims that more than 1,400 crew changes have been assessed via the system.

“The maritime industry has entered a new era where data and analytics supercharge actionable digital solutions,” said Nikolas Pyrgiotis, VP of Technology Ventures for Signal Group. “Greywing integrates data trapped in commercial, technical and crewing siloes to enable more efficient and sustainable operations for shipping companies.”

CTO Hrishi Olickel added that Greywing aims to improve efficiency across carbon, threat and cost verticals by improving decisions even before its clients’ crewing operations take action.

As per the third IMO GHG study, maritime transport accounts for about 2.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, with around 940 million tonnes of CO2 released annually. This will undermine the objectives of the Paris Agreement if actions are not put in place soon enough.

According to Greywing’s statement, 35 per cent of maritime emissions are linked to untracked flights and other down-the-line costs in the operating supply chain. Besides, the carbon impact mitigated by Greywing’s new carbon footprint tracking tool for a single vessel is equivalent to taking 274 cars off the road every year.

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Image Credit: Greywing

 

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Grab buys stake from OVO’s early investors to up its stake in the e-wallet to 90 per cent
OVO is now one of Indonesia’s leading e-wallet with about US$2.9B in valuation and nearly 100M downloads; Grab’s acquisition of a majority stake in OVO will likely face some bumps ahead as the Singaporean firm will have to find a local entity to transfer this stake.

Ajaib, the ‘Robinhood of Indonesia’, adds US$153M to its kitty to become a unicorn
Investors are DST Global (lead), Alpha JWC Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Horizons Ventures, Insignia Ventures, and SoftBank Ventures Asia; Ajaib claims to have attracted over 1M stock investors in Indonesia, a country with a total of around 2.69M retail equity investors.

a16z leads Axie Infinity parent Sky Mavis’s US$152M Series B round
Co-investors are Accel Partners and Paradigm; Sky Mavis invented the play-to-earn concept for people to play, live, work and earn within virtual worlds; Its first game is Axie Infinity, where players breed, battle, and trade digital pets called Axie.

Jeff Bezos’s investment firm, Tencent back B2B e-commerce startup Ula’s US$87M Series B round
Lead investors are Prosus Ventures, Tencent and B Capital; Ula will use the funds to expand in SEA, add new categories, scale its BNPL offering, and build a new local supply chain and logistics infrastructure.

Singapore fintech Incomlend nets US$60M from Europe’s Fasanara Capital
The company plans to launch an ESG-focused SME financing programme called Incomlend ESG Invoice Financing Programme; It will give qualifying SMEs access to Incomlend’s invoice financing solutions. The program also aims to help investors connect with ESG-focused SMEs.

Society Pass files for US$27M Nasdaq IPO
The e-commerce enabler will offer nearly 2.9M shares; The money will be used to expand the platform through acquisitions of regional e-commerce firms and applications; Society Pass recently acquired the Vietnamese online marketplace Leflair.

OR partners with 500 TukTuks to establish US$50M ORZON Ventures
It will invest in the most promising startups in Thailand and SEA, seeking opportunities to create new S-Curve businesses; Focusing on both OR-related technologies and new businesses under the theme of mobility and lifestyle to further enhance business strength and create long-term growth.

SME digital financing platform Funding Societies raises US$18M debt funding
Investors are Helicap Investments, Social Impact Debt Fund, and a Japanese financial services group; The firm is on track to raise US$120M in institutional debt for funding the growth needs of MSMEs in SEA; Funding Societies enables access to finance by using alternative data points, including but not limited to the MSME’s cash flow to underwrite these loans.

Co-working major JustCo loses lawsuit to Dathena Science over late handover of leased space
JustCo had failed to hand over units on four floors of the OCBC Centre East building in Raffles Place on time in violation of an agreement made between the two firms in January 2020; The high court ruled in favour of Dathena’s claim of US$210K which comprised its security deposit and an advance monthly membership fee.

Qapita nets US$15M Series A to facilitate liquidity solutions via a digital marketplace
Investors include East Ventures, Vulcan Capital, NYCA, MassMutual Ventures and Endiya Partners; Qapita a fintech startup focused on ESOPs and cap table management; It plans to add new products to its platform to provide solutions for private companies, startups, investors, shareholders and employees.

Singapore logistics startup Qxpress acquires Hong Kong firm KorChina Logistics
Korchina’s network spans 17 countries and covers major markets in Asia including China, Thailand, Korea, Japan, and Singapore; Qxpress is mulling an IPO in the US as soon as 2022; The potential listing could bump the Crescendo Equity Partners-backed firm’s valuation between US$500M and US$1B.

VFlowTech lands US$3M to scale low-cost, long-duration energy storage solutions beyond Singapore
Investors are Wavemaker Partners, SEEDS Capital, Sing Fuels and angels; VFlowTech claims that its batteries can store renewable energy for an expected life span of 25 years; The firm’s vision is to achieve diesel-free status in remote and rural areas by providing communities there with low-cost, reliable cleantech solutions.

SaaS accounting startup Bizzi banks US$3M pre-Series A
Investors are Money Forward, Do Ventures, and Qualgro; Bizzi is an invoice processing automation solution powered by AI and robotic process automation; Bizzi connects vendors and customers to automate financial processes namely bills payments, receipt scanning, compliance, and bookkeeping.

Greywing raises US$2.5M seed round
Investors are Flexport, Transmedia Capital, Signal Ventures, Motion Ventures, Rebel Ventures, Y-Combinator, and Entrepreneur First; Greywing is building solutions for ship operators to automate their business, through actionable intelligence, better data and communication.

Indonesian online lender UangTeman sued for US$1M
The lawsuit was filed by a Japanese company called Real Capital for defaulting on its loan obligations; But UangTeman CEO Aidil Zulkifli says that his company did not have any legal or contractual relationships with Real Kapital.

Innoven Capital backs millennial mothers-focused Philippine e-commerce startup edamama
edamama will use the capital to accelerate its logistics and fulfilment capabilities in advance of a Series A funding round early next year; In July, edamama bagged US$5M Gentree Fund, Robinsons Retail Holdings, Kickstart Ventures, and Foxmont Capital.

21 Southeast Asian startups that help banks gain ground in fintech competition
These fintech startups are blazing a path in innovating and supporting traditional banks’ digital transformation and expansion on all fronts.

Singapore’s travel-tech startup Vouch bags US$1.1M led by Forge Ventures
The startup will use the funds to innovate its new product line of guest experience platforms and expand its business into global markets, including Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea and the UK; Vouch’s AI and chat-bot tech allows guests to scan a QR code on their mobile phones to check-in, make room requests, order F&Bs and receive instant answers to FAQs.

Komunidad nets US$1M funding to help businesses adapt to the consequences of climate change
Investors are Wavemaker Partners (lead) and ADB Ventures; Komunidad provides environmental intelligence services for clients in utilities, agriculture, mining, education, BPO, and local government sectors in SEA and India.

Hometaste raises US$576K via ECF platform pitchIN to scale cloud kitchen business
Hometaste enables customers to order food from home chefs in their neighbourhood, currently concentrated in Klang Valley; It provides support for home chefs by giving them a platform to expand their F&B business.

Next-gen fleet management platform TransTRACK.ID raises US$550K
Investors include Cocoon Capital (lead), Indonesian Women Empowerment Fund; TransTRACK.ID offers an all-in-one, fleet telematics solution to help the logistics industry optimise fleet operations; The platform collects and analyses real-time telemetry data such as geolocation, fuel level, mileage, and maintenance alerts for each vehicle.

ShopeeFood gears up for Thailand launch
This comes after Foodpanda’s business in the country lost a number of users and merchants on its platform after a social media fiasco in July; Foodpanda Thailand was blasted online after it said it would fire a rider who took part in a pro-democracy movement.

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Image Credit: Ajaib

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Funding Societies (also known as Modalku in Indonesia), an online lending platform for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Asia, has secured US$18 million in debt funding.

Lead investors in the round are Helicap Investments, Social Impact Debt Fund, and an unnamed Japanese financial services group.

Also Read: Samsung backs Funding Societies to drive its vision of financial inclusion for SMEs in SEA

Together with funding received from European impact investors such as Triodos Investment Management for Indonesian business loans, Funding Societies is on track to raise US$120 million in institutional debt.

Funding Societies will use the new funds for lending to deserving MSMEs, propelling its mission of enabling financial inclusion in the region.

Established in 2015, Funding Societies provides MSMEs with business financing. It harnesses the power of technology to give underserved yet creditworthy MSMEs financial access through its digital platform.

In Southeast Asia, MSMEs contribute to more than 50 per cent of each ASEAN Member State’s GDP. Still, because many lack a strong credit track record or collateral, they are often rejected for business loans by traditional financial institutions.

Funding Societies enables access to finance by using alternative data points, including but not limited to the MSME’s cash flow — its ability to repay the loan — to underwrite these loans.

Licensed in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, Funding Societies claims to have helped finance over 4.8 million business loans with over US$1.5 billion in funding in the last six years.

Also Read: SME lending during the pandemic: Is it sensible or unwise?

In December 2020, the lending startup received an undisclosed amount of investment from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (SVIC). A few months earlier, it secured US$40 million in April.

Its other backers are Sequoia India and Softbank Ventures Asia.

Helicap is a Singapore-based alternative lending firm that provides private debt investments to accredited investors, including family offices, HNIs, impact funds, and institutional investors.

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