Angel-funded on-demand laundry startup Mama Wosh is already gaining good traction in Kuala Lumpur

Just a few weeks after Anh Tu Sam’s birth to a Vietnamese mother and a Chinese-descent father in the city of Hanoi, his country plunged into a massive political unrest, forcing them to flee Vietnam. After several months of a perilous journey on a country boat, with a temporary stop in Hong Kong, Anh Tu Sam and his family ended up in the German city of Dortmund in 1980.

“We first arrived in a refugee camp near Dortmund,” Sam recounts the treacherous journey to e27. “Since then, we moved around many times and lived in places like Hamburg, Cologne, Bonn and Frankfurt. The first few months were hard, as I could not pick even a single word of the German language. This made my kindergarten tough. However, after several months of perseverance, I assimilated into the local culture and lifestyle.

“From then on, I enjoyed each and every moment of my life spent there. However, I always felt something amiss in my life. I realised that it was the yearning to return to my roots, meaning to go back to Asia. That’s what brought me back. I feel that it is my destiny to be here,” he shares.

Meeting future co-founder

While pursuing a Graduate course in Business Computing at a university in the European country, Sam met Holm Schimanski. Although they came from different backgrounds, they both shared some common characteristics and became thick friends. After graduation, Sam worked for a leading strategy consulting company and opened several F&B franchise stores, before eventually founding a VC-funded language startup. Schimanski, on the other hand, worked as an IT consultant for over a decade, dealing with large customers and implementing CRM and SAP software.

“It was 2015 and the O2O category was slowly taking off across the world, thanks to the success of companies like Uber and Grab,” Sam, now 39, shares. “We decided to try our luck on O2O. We sat together and brainstormed ideas around this. I was still itching to go back to Asia. Fortunately, Schimanski (now 38) was also okay with my idea as he, like me, always loved the Southeast Asian lifestyle.”

Also Read: eziPOD’s smart laundry locker doubles as your courier delivery point and personal storage

However, with the kind of economic growth rates in Asia, it was a no-brainer to set up a business in this part of the world, Sam thought to himself. “We conducted an in-depth research of all major ASEAN markets, such as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. After looking into GDP levels, disposable incomes, infrastructure, language barriers, market size etc., Malaysia seemed like the perfect starting point.

And the duo set foot in Malaysia, with an on-demand laundry startup.

Launched in Selangor in 2015, Mama Wosh is a laundry subscription service app. As customer, you can choose your time and location, and Mama Wosh’s “laundry angels” will come and pick the laundry. You will get back your clothes folded or ironed within a specified timeframe.

“Most people are frustrated with laundry and dry cleaning in general,” according to Sam. “Consumers spend 12-15 hours on laundry every month. Most laundromats and dry cleaners have limited business hours only. Bad cleaning, damaged and lost items are the most frequent complaints. Transparency in pricing is another problem. We are here to address these pressing issues.”

The Malaysian on-demand laundry segment is still in the nascent stages, despite the fact that there are already a handful of companies attacking different sections of the society. “We have seen a lot of laundry startups in Malaysia. Most came, stayed for a few months or a year, and then went offline again. Probably because they have underestimated the operational complexity of this business model,” Sam notes.

Most laundry businesses in the country are just mom-and-pop shops that have spent some money on a website and started to deliver to their existing customer base. Sam feels that these businesses know literally nothing about tech, online or digital. “We have also noticed that Asians in general are embracing mobile technologies much more than Germans. Back in our home country, we would have to deal a lot with legal and privacy issues such as the GDPR compliance. Here in Malaysia, the government is very eager in becoming a prospering digital economy. And we love it.”

Then there are coin laundromats which, in his view, are great for low income households, but for majority of the population, sitting around and waiting for an hour or more just to do your laundry seems like a very inconvenient waste of time.

The existence of the number of players such as eziPOD, Fresh Press, Mr. White Dry and Mobile Laundry, however, doesn’t really bother Sam and team. “We are looking at competition from two different angles. One the one hand, like Peter Thiel or the book ​Blue Ocean Strategy​ says,  you don’t want to have competition; ideally you are the only dominant player and run a monopoly. At the same time, competition can be a good thing as it fuels innovation, which in turn will benefit the end customer. In the end, we said to ourselves: several players in the market are a good indicator that there’s some demand. Let’s bring on the challenge and crush the competition, which we eventually did,” he shares.

Indeed, everything in Malaysia is still in its infancy, Sam reveals. Search Engine Optimisation, affiliate marketing, digital analytics, email marketing, frontend/backend engineering– it’s tough to find talent with decent experience in those domains. “But we’re quite happy about it. What this means is that the situation gives us some advantage and a headstart over our competitors,” Sam smiles.

The revenue stream

In order to earn revenues, Mama Wosh banks on three services — ​laundry wash,​ ​dry cleaning​ and ​curtains​. With  its ​curtain PLUS service, the startup sends a team of people to do the heavy lifting for the customer. This means, these people remove, wash and re-install the curtains for the customer.

For the other two services, the startup enables customers to choose between ​regular turnaround time​ or ​next-day express turnaround​ at double the normal rates. In the beginning, Mama Wosh banked on a ‘pay-per-use’ model; if a customer had three loads of laundry in a month, he/she would make three bookings, get three deliveries and pay three bills.

“But, always having the customer and his problems in mind, we thought ‘how we can make their lives easier?’ That’s when we came up with the ‘L​aundry-​as​ -​a​-​S​ervice’ concept. It’s a subscription model where you pay a monthly flat fee and are entitled to have one laundry pickup every week. We would pick up the bag, and whatever you can fit into this bag gets washed, dried and folded,” he explains.

Also Read: How the son of a humble watch repairer became the owner of a multi-million dollar realty tech startup

Still in beta test mode, Mama Wosh is going to publicly launch the service soon.

In Sam’s opinion, the Malaysian market is not the biggest, and the company plans to expand to another country within the next 12 to 18 months. Whether it’s going to be Singapore or Thailand remains to be seen, he said. “There is no rush — in Malaysia alone, there’s enough business to make millions of dollars per month.”

A massive market

As per the company’s estimates, the laundry market in Southeast Asia is growing at a CAGR of 37 per cent and is estimated to reach US$1 billion in annual sales in 10 years from now. The market share of traditional players will steadily decline but offline retail will never go away. “Luckily, we have figured out how to fill out those gaps and have a strong physical offline presence.”

Looking into the future, Sam wants to shape an entirely new O2O category at a massive scale. He says popular apps like Grab and Go-jek started with ​transportation,​ then later ventured into other verticals, such as ​food,​ ​payments,​ ​parcels​.

“One day, they will have to deal with the laundry vertical. Given the massive market size, they cannot simply ignore laundry and sit on their ​transportation​ or ​food delivery​ cash cows forever,” he feels.

In the first two years of launching the company, Sam and Schimanski were doing freelance consulting jobs to bootstrap and finance Mama Wosh. “Last year a fantastic business angel joined our company and invested a small amount. Now that we have seen great traction over the past 12 months, we committed ourselves to work full time on Mama Wosh, and make this really big. We want to take our startup to the next level and hence looking for a seed round of US$350,000,” he concludes.

—-

The post A refugee in Germany in the 80’s, this entrepreneur is now back in Southeast Asia to achieve his dreams appeared first on e27.

The startup frenzy is real; Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad are all upwardly mobile cities with young graduates eager to grow and learn

Over the last few months, I have been able to spend a significant amount of time in Pakistan — accounting for the largest continuous period I’ve spent in the country in the past 15 years. I took the opportunity to learn more about the emerging startup ecosystem here, and wanted to jot down my thoughts on what I’ve learnt after speaking to dozens of founders, operators and investors over the last 4 months.

Firstly, I’m very encouraged by the excitement around technology companies in Pakistan and none of what follows should take away from that. It’s not uncommon now to sit next to a passionate group of founders discussing the problems of the day at a coffee shop in Karachi or Lahore. Startup focused events seem to be popping up everywhere, too. I was at 021Disrupt in November and found it to be well attended, with thoughtful speakers and engaged participants. Even the government is getting behind the idea, although much of that is still to materialize (I wouldn’t hold my breath).

It’s important to state that my thoughts are naturally biased because of my experiences founding or operating early stage companies in Toronto and Singapore during periods when the ecosystem was on a rapid upswing. Each country was unique and had its own localized challenges, but there are still patterns that emerged which I feel Pakistan can learn from.

VC activity in Pakistan: Not on the map

When you talk about venture capital activity, Pakistan is simply not on the map.

According to the 2017 KPMG Global Analysis of Venture Funding Report, approximately US$155 billion was invested by venture capital firms across the world. These funds involved deals across all stages of the funding lifecycle including seed, series A, and onwards. Of this, Pakistan’s share was a measly $23.1 million in the same period.

Yet, there’s been a surge in VC activity in Pakistan lately, so this year’s numbers are likely far higher than last years. Sarmayacar officially announced the close of its $30 million fund dedicated to Pakistan. I2i ventures is also in the throes of closing a $15 million early stage fund of its own. Furthermore, regional funds are starting to take notice and directly investing in local companies. But I feel this is still a drop in the ocean for Pakistan, a country of over 200 million people and 60 million 3G/4G connections. After all, Pakistan seems responsible for a large part of the Middle Eastern companies’ healthy valuation. Pakistan has, in fact, grown so rapidly that it’s a priority market for Uber now with over 30,000 drivers plying its roads. “The country has surpassed all expectations and goals,” said Anthony Le Roux, Uber regional manager for Middle East and North Africa while talking to the Express Tribune.

Some naysayers may postulate that a lack of exits in Pakistan has been a key deterrent to the emergence of private venture funding. But the fact is that foreign companies that have been willing to take risks and wade out into the unknown are emerging victorious. The example of German incubator Rocket Internet is pivotal here. It first started up in late 2012 when ecommerce in the country was virtually non-existent and mobile consumers  had to contend with 2G speeds. Daraz, its flagship venture, enjoyed the bulk of funding but its other ventures such as Foodpanda, Lamudi, Carmudi, Easytaxi, and Kaymu were also similarly encouraged to grow. Some failed but some didn’t as is standard with venture-backed companies across the world.

Also read: Why is Pakistan not producing Unicorns like other Asian countries?

Daraz was recently acquired by Alibaba in a $200 million deal, which is a 10x return on investment for Rocket from what I understand. The exits will come once investors start deploying capital early, just like they’re supposed to. A similar refrain was very common in Singapore circa 2009, but no one talks about the lack of exits less than a decade later. This is within range of expected VC shareholding period before exit, so an argument that it may be too early doesn’t pass the sniff test entirely.

At the same time, startups in Pakistan need to also watch out for whom they let in on their cap tables. I’ve met a few companies that we’re offered – and in some cases accepted – term sheets asking for 50%+ in equity for a few thousand dollars. Vulture capital is alive and well here and such terms are regressive and surely going to be responsible for more than a few promising starts being wasted.

But despite these funding gaps and in spite of what local founders will often tell you,  I don’t believe that capital funding is the only – or even the biggest – challenge that needs addressing before the startup ecosystem really comes into its own here.

What else is missing besides Capital?

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

– Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A common problem whether you’re building your company in San Francisco, Shanghai or Karachi is finding, hiring and retaining really great people who want to work on your dream. The smartest Pakistanis graduating from the best local colleges don’t want to work at early stage startup companies. This can change, especially since larger companies are notorious for their terrible culture. From my experience hiring local talent for back offices, I’ve come to realize that Pakistani employees value job security and stability over most other perks that can be offered.

Large families, low wages, culture and few breadwinners make for an environment that compels well-educated folks to not take risks. I have been successful in hiring here when focusing on finding the few who are willing to take risks. I don’t see a concerted effort by founders here to identify, hire and reward those folks, even though almost every founder I spoke to agrees that talent is a huge issue for them. There is some good news on the horizon: as larger technology companies (Careem, Daraz, etc.) get built in Pakistan – not to mention large offices for Silicon Valley companies with Pakistani founders such as Keep Truckin’, Elastica and Affiniti – the “Paypal Mafia” effect should kick in and supply experienced leadership talent (and future founders) for the next generation of startups.

Employee shareholding is usually not offered, and startups tend to try to hire just like large corporates do, through LinkedIn, job posts, and their own network. This is not an optimal strategy when trying to identify a small subset of pirates who are willing to buck the trend and do something exciting with their careers. In fact, if I was a talented twenty-something curious about startups but not ready to take the plunge, I wouldn’t even know where to start looking short of landing up at a paid, expensive event. There are no community outreach efforts such as job fairs, open houses and other active ways to investigate what startup careers could look like. This seems like an easy win to me.

Also read: Insurtech has a growing role in Pakistan, and it can change lives through better financial smarts

Furthermore, Pakistani society tends to be very cliquey, and people move in their own (perceived) socio-economic stratas. Sadly, this means founders don’t coalesce together often in social settings, and aren’t able to trade notes or collaborate on solving some of the common problems they face. It seems as if startup folks here view the market as a zero-sum game; as if there simply isn’t enough room for everyone to succeed. I hosted a mixer for local founders and operators and was surprised how they tended to stick to their own socio-economic strata even when in the same room as others who have the exact same problems as them. This knowledge sharing is vital when operating in an emerging ecosystem — serendipity and a strong network help you short-circuit problems when you don’t have the funding to afford too many mistakes.

Next, I believe there isn’t enough focus given to mentorship. Or more accurately, a lot of the mentorship being offered is of dubious value. This is a sad result of a lack of experienced founders and seasoned operators in Pakistan. This is partially because the industry is young, but also because unlike India and China, there is no large stream of overseas Pakistanis looking to come home from Silicon Valley to start their next companies. Equally worryingly, there is no shortage of tech incubators in Pakistan touting expertise but other than fancy photo-ops and terrible term sheets — what are these funded entities actually doing? I hope first time founders realize that just because an individual is being touted as an expert does not make them one. I’ve seen these “mentors” try to upsell startups on paid consulting services, such as engineering support. Do your research and critical thinking before getting in bed with such actors.

Lastly, because of the acute lack of talent and capital, as well as these other systematic problems I’ve tried to outline here, I believe founders are stretched so thin and are so operational in their companies they have a hard time conceptualizing the larger vision. I’ve only met a handful of startups that are even thinking about how their ideas would fare beyond Pakistan’s borders. Even hyperlocal ones have a tendency to simply copy what’s working in other countries and apply it to a Pakistan context, with little thought given to localization. I know it’s tough to zoom out and think big when you need to do nearly everything yourself, but this stuff was never meant to be easy. Thinking through where things are going and being able to articulate your vision passionately and defend it logically is key to fundraising, recruiting and a lot of the other problems outlined here.

I don’t see this as an optional luxury. Here’s why: Unlike other large countries, the Pakistani startup scene is maturing at a time when neighboring China is starting to flex its technological muscle globally. Companies here will have to actively compete with well funded ones from China – not to mention Silicon Valley and elsewhere — looking at international markets to compensate for slowing domestic growth. This inevitable global competition is a self-inflicted wound and I wonder how many great Pakistani startups were lost because Pakistan arrived shockingly late to the 3G/LTE party in 2014.

Also read: Bottom of the Pyramid sector in Pakistan can open new opportunities through increased mobile engagement

To be clear, I’m pretty bullish on Pakistan’s prospects. The startup frenzy is real. Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad are all upwardly mobile cities with young graduates eager to grow and learn. Our grandparents know about Uber, Careem, and Daraz and acutely aware of the power of the internet. It sure will be very exciting to see how this plays out over the next few years.

On a personal note, I’m interested in helping Pakistani companies grow and scale. If you’ve got an idea you’re contemplating, are already a startup founder in the thick of things, or just have an opinion you’d like to share, find me on Twitter (DMs open) or find me on LinkedIn. And if you’re an investor looking at Pakistan seriously, I’m happy to connect you with some great companies here.

—-

e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Photo by Aa Dil on Unsplash

The post 200M people and zero Unicorns? Here’s to building the next great startup in Pakistan appeared first on e27.

Carput does on on-the-spot repairs such as car battery change, jumpstarts, spare tyre change, and emergency petrol delivery

Upon returning to his home country after higher studies in Australia, Eugene Tan decided to get around Kuala Lumpur using his mother’s old car. Unfortunately, the car played spoilsport and the engine failed to turn over, owing to a faulty battery.

“Getting the car battery replaced seemed to be a daunting task; there was no transparency in the industry,” he revealed to e27. “After waiting for more than two hours, a mechanic came in and did the needful, but he overcharged me for the labour. I thought we could do better and that Malaysia needed a culture of transparency and reliability.”

This was the turning point for Tan to start a company, which would provide on-demand roadside assistance in his country. “And thus Carput was born.”

Launched in 2016, Carput can come in handy during sticky car situations in Malaysia. “We realise that the automotive assist industry is massive, and that the use of mobile tools is non-existent, especially in a market where the primary mode of transportation is a personal car and where mobile penetration is at an all-time high. That’s why we designed Carput,” he said.

Also Read: No time to have your car serviced? MisterTyre comes to your aid at the tap of a button

According to Tan, Carput is a must-have mobile app for every car driver as it specialises in getting car drivers back on the road as soon as possible. “We focus on on-the-spot repairs such as car battery change, jumpstarts, spare tyre change, emergency petrol delivery, and if the car can’t be repaired on site, we are able to tow your car back to your preferred workshop.”

Carput was was co-founded by Tan (CEO) with his school mate Mark Chew Yihaur (COO). After their secondary education, they met again while pursuing higher studies in Australia. Post graduation, Tan worked as a Tax Accountant, and Yihaur as an Acoustic Engineer in Melbourne.

They met again in Kuala Lumpur in 2013, and decided to start something themselves, which led to the founding of Carput.

“Requesting a car breakdown services is easy, as it should be, during a stressful situation. That’s why we invested into developing an easy-to-use mobile app;  to be more efficient and quicker,” he explained. “We envisage a future where automotive assist will finally be quick, reliable and transparent. Carput is an extension of an already growing business, The Battery Shop, and we are determined to expand our presence in this limitless marketplace.”

He observes that the automotive services industry in Malaysia is huge and has one of the highest car ownership rates in the world. However, things in this industry are still mainly done the traditional brick-and-mortar way. “Our goal is to shake up the industry by introducing technology, starting from automotive roadside assistance and then towards the many other services relating to owning a car.”

In the initial phase of building the company, Tan and team faced some big challenges, finding an appropriate business model being the biggest. “In those days, we had to meddle with different business models to ensure sustainability. The entirety of the business model was a challenge — how to market at scale, how to fulfil 100 per cent of demand efficiently, what are our financing options? For the most part, we relied on testing, failing and learning from our mistakes to be where we are today,” Tan shared.

The current challenges are manifold and are of a different kind. “In roadside assistance we are always trying to be quicker. In 2019, we are challenging ourselves to try and get our average response time to below 30 minutes. This might be far-fetched in a place like Kuala Lumpur, but we have leveraged on technology to get our response time down from 66 minutes to 42 minutes in the past two years. Thirty minutes is in sight now, and it will definitely be a challenge to achieve it,” he went on.

Indeed, Carput is not the only company providing roadside assistance in Malaysia. MisterTyre is another company (which we featured last year) that allows customers to buy tyres, battery and engine oil, and to schedule a fitting/service at any suitable location of choice, at the click of a button. According to its Czech Founder Dennis Melka, MisterTyre seeks to transform automotive aftermarket services in ASEAN through low prices and doorstep delivery of services.

Carput’s Tan, however, sees competition from a different perspective. “Competitors are always seen in bad light, but we embrace them. In fact, we have made partnerships with several automotive startups, including MisterTyre. We truly believe that the way to drive the automotive technology industry forward is to work together. We all have the same goal — digitisation to recreate an industry to be safer, quicker and more efficient for both service providers and customers. This will never happen if we are always locking horns with each other.”

Like MisterTyre, Carput also earns revenue through the products and services it provides. “We employ our own mechanics to execute these services while also partnering with other forward-looking workshops and tow truck providers. Having a balance of both internal and external service providers gives us more coverage and speed to scale,” he reveals.

When asked, Tan refused to disclose the traction, but he reveals Carput gets hundreds of calls per day.

Carput raised its initial capital from a friends and family round. “We do have plans to raise funding in the future, but upon reaching certain milestones,” Tan noted.

The post Carput shifts roadside assistance into top gear with its on-demand service appeared first on e27.

PT Investa Wahana Development or Wahana Group from Indonesia reportedly has committed US$200 million in the digital payment and e-commerce platform

Indonesia-based digital payment and e-commerce platform KinerjaPay announces a signed agreement between the company and PT. Investa Wahana Group, with the latter committed to investing US$200 million.

The breakdown of the fund would be a subscription for US$100 million in shares of the Company’s Series F and an addition $100 million in shares of the Company’s Series G Convertible Preferred Stock.

Also Read: Southeast Asia-based early stage venture fund East Ventures appoints its first female partner

KinerjaPay shared its plan to fund the company’s peer-to-peer lending operations, potential acquisitions, and strategic investments in Indonesia as part of their expansion plan for 2019. The fund will further be used to allocate a certain portion of the subscription proceeds to repurchase KinerjaPay’s stock in the open market, subject to the rules and regulations of the SEC.

“This investment commitment should transform the company into a significant market presence in our e-commerce and peer-to-peer lending operations, principally in Indonesia,” said Chairman and CEO of KinerjaPay, Edwin Witarsa Ng.

For 2019, the company that also trades in United States will expand into prepaid mobile business, P2P lending, mobile payment solutions, online gaming, and e-commerce services initially in Indonesia’s growing economy and expanding in Southeast Asia. The company also intends to make investments in certain related industries in other foreign countries.

The Series F Preferred Stock of KinerjaPay bears a dividend of 6% per annum, is convertible into shares of the Company’s Common Stock at an average of $1.80 per share.

Also Read: Indonesia’s online media company IDN Media secures Series C funding round from EV Growth

The Series G Preferred Stock also pays a dividend of 6% per annum and further provides for the Company’s right to force the conversion at $1.80 per share, provided that the KinerjaPay shares are trading at $3.50 per share or higher for a period of 20 days commencing six months after the date of issuance of the Series G Preferred Stock.

The signed agreement is expected to close within the next ten days.
–

Photo by lucas Favre on Unsplash

The post KinerjaPay signs agreement to receive US$200M investment from Wahana Group appeared first on e27.

IDN Media’s target readers include Millennials and Generation Z age group

IDN Media, a multi-platform online media company based in Indonesia, today announces that it has raised a Series C funding round led by EV Growth. EV Growth is a joint venture of East Ventures, Sinar Mas, and Yahoo! Japan.

Participating in the round is Charoen Pokphand’s company True Digital & Media Platform and the corporate venture arm of LINE Corporation, LINE Ventures Global Fund.

Also Read: Southeast Asia-based early stage venture fund East Ventures appoints its first female partner

IDN Media has stated that the Series-C investment will be focussed towards readers growth acceleration. It will begin by going local as the company believes will help it advancing its product offerings and technology.

IDN Media was founded in Surabaya, Indonesia in 2014 by brothers Winston and William Utomo. The company’s mission is to democratise access to accurate and positive information that seeks to represent the voice of Millennials and Gen-Z in Indonesia.

As of today, IDN Media operates its main online media IDN Times, the women-focussed Popbela.com and mother and parenthood content on Popmama.com. It also boasts a cooking how-to video channel called Yummy TV, a creative solution named IDN Creative, an event management service IDN Event, and influencers management platform IDN Creator Network.

IDN media says is has amassed 50 million monthly unique users on its platforms.

“While this Series-C investment an important milestone in our journey, the mission to become the voice of Millennials and Gen Z remains a work in progress. We will keep working hard to become a company that brings positive impacts on the society,” said Winston Utomo, Founder and CEO at IDN Media.

Willson Cuaca, EV Growth’s Managing Partner also backed the statement. “IDN Media has a loyal user base, and more importantly, it has created a healthy and sustainable business,” said Cuaca.

Also Read: 200M people and zero Unicorns? Here’s to building the next great startup in Pakistan

“Moving forward, the focus is to keep improving our product and technology offerings to help connect more brands to our audience, and ultimately to help them grow their business. 2019 will be a very exciting year for us,” said William Utomo, Founder and COO at IDN Media that claims to have worked with over 200 brands in 2018 through its creative channels.
–

Image Credit: IDN Media

The post Indonesia’s online media company IDN Media secures Series C funding round from EV Growth appeared first on e27.

Melisa Irene joined the company in 2015and was previously promoted to Principal. 

Focussing mostly on early stage startups based in Southeast Asia and Japan, East Ventures has made quite a number of investments, especially in Indonesia. The natural move for the company is to establish new Partner, for the first time, this person will be a female, Melisa Irene.

Irene, from Indonesia, is said to have joined the company in 2015 and her first role in the firm was an Associate. East Ventures shared that Irene has successfully closed multiple deals for the company.

Within three years time, Irene was made the firm’s Principal before finally promoted as the first female Partner.

Also Read: 200M people and zero Unicorns? Here’s to building the next great startup in Pakistan

Irene herself shared an unlikely ascendency to the role of Partner: East Ventures was her first full-time job.

“I joined VC because I always wanted to witness and take part in Indonesia’s digital transformation era. With EV, every day is a new learning ground as we always bet on young and mostly ‘first time’ founders to build Indonesia’s tech ecosystem,” said Irene.

“I look forward to supporting our team to execute on EV’s mission in advancing Indonesia’s digital ecosystem. I am hopeful that this could be a benchmark that meritocracy is the ultimate parameter- not gender,” she added.

Willson Cuaca, the Managing Partner of East Ventures said, ”Irene joined EV right after school without investment experience nor digital industry knowledge. Over years, she developed personal traits that applicable thought out every VC tasks given to her and she aligned with our firm core values; integrity, empathy, and velocity. We welcome Melisa Irene as our youngest partner (probably youngest in the region) and looking forward to her impact in our ecosystems.”

Also Read: Indonesia’s P2P lending platform KoinWorks secures Series A funding from Quona Capital

Melisa Irene graduated from Binus International University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Accounting degree and was a multiple national-level debate championship winner.

She is proof that you can start with no experience in the industry and make it to the top.
–

Image Credit: East Ventures

The post Southeast Asia-based early stage venture fund East Ventures appoints its first female partner appeared first on e27.

The company also hired former LendingClub COO John Donovan to its Board of Directors

Tima, a Vietnamese fintech company with a large P2P lending network, announced today it is beginning the process of raising a Series C investment round.

Upon completion, this late-stage round would be a big deal for the Vietnamese ecosystem. It would mark another successful late-stage investment after Topica raised a US$50 million Series D in November.

Tima raised a US$3 million Series B round in October that valued the startup at around US$20 million.

In 2016 it raised a Series A round from Dunearn Singapore Fund and G Capital.

Also Read: Vietnam-based restaurant tech startup KAMEREO raises US$500K

The company also announced it has appointed John Donovan, the former COO of LendingClub, to its Board of Advisors. LendingClub is an American P2P lending company that has facilitated US$46 billion worth of transactions since its inception in 2006.

“As consumers go online around the world, they look to access financial services in a more efficient and fair way. I look forward to working on the Board of Tima to help this happen in Vietnam” said Donovan in an official statement.

Also Read: Southeast Asia-based VC ATM Capital makes first close of new US$200M fund

Tima claims to have over 30,000 lenders on its platform and nearly 2.8 million borrowers.

For lenders, Tima uses bank accounts at Nam A Bank to hold and manage the money they are willing to lend. Borrowers use this avenue to pay off their debts.

A partnership with VietinBank helps Tima manage financial risk on its platform. VietinBank uses its insurance service help borrowers pay off loans if they run into unforeseen financial trouble.

—

The post Vietnamese financial marketplace Tima launches Series C effort appeared first on e27.

The company helps businesses to build an interconnected data sensing environment

Singapore-based IoT startup Overdrive has completed its US$2.9 million Series A round, which was solely funded by Southeast Asia B2B-focussed VC Tin Men Capital.

Founded in 2015 by CEO Aston Chia and COO Zen Chin,  who were university schoolmates in Australia, the company has developed an IoT platform that enables businesses to build an interconnected data sensing environment, extracting data from different sources such as goods or vehicles and machinery.

The platform is then configured to optimally deliver business objectives such as real-time tracking and monitoring, exception alerting and command centre visualization.

Overdrive has implemented its platform in large companies and institutions such as Nanyang Technological University, Fedex, Ascendas, and Ministry of Manpower in Singapore, as well as  Volkswagen and Mazda in Malaysia via its local partner.

The company said its tech is unique because it features both an open architecture to ingest both in-house and partnered intelligence modules as well as an ability to tweak device-level firmware and connectivity — making the platform highly robust and scalable.

“Overdrive has built a powerful and dynamic platform in allowing any devices and sensors to communicate with each other and with data and video capabilities,” said Chia, in an official press statement.

Also Read: Vietnamese financial marketplace Tima launches Series C effort

“In order to keep our current and potential customers invested in our vision, we continue to upgrade our platform aggressively to stay ahead,” he added.

Chia said the newly-raised financing will help Overdrive to scale up its industrial asset tracking tech for the supply chain, construction and facilities management sectors, with a focus on delivering solutions in the Singapore and Malaysia markets.

“We are scaling up our R&D bandwidth as we speak and have already embarked on a few industrial level implementations with customers in Singapore and Malaysia, with more markets and sectors, being targeted over the next 18 months,” added Chin.

—

Image Credit: Overdrive

The post Singapore IoT startup Overdrive raises US$2.9M Series A from Tin Men Capital appeared first on e27.

The investment is led by Mirai Creation Fund II a fund from Toyota Motor Corporation and SPARX

Pricebook, the gadget discovery platform from Indonesia, shared today that it has secured its fourth round of funding led by Mirai Creation Fund II (two), a fund invested by Toyota Motor Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and SPARX.

Joining the round is existing investor KLab Venture Partners Co., Ltd.

The amount raised was not disclosed.

Pricebook plans to use the fund to further accelerate the O2O integration with its offline sellers through the website and social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram. It also plans on staying on top of its gadgets and electronics coverage.

Also Read: ClassPass buys top Asia competitor GuavaPass

Pricebook collects product information like reviews, specifications, and online articles, and availability in both online and offline stores through their channels, allowing shoppers to make decisions only after getting all the necessary information.

To date, the company claims to have millions of users each month accessing the information shared on Pricebook’s website and social media.

Besides becoming the platform for gadget information, Pricebook also offers marketing solutions for manufacturing brands and financial companies.

The company’s official statement reads as such:

“Pricebook’s strength lies in the adaptation of Indonesian behavior online and offline. Over the years of operation, Pricebook has realized that, though Indonesia’s internet population and the e-commerce market is rapidly growing, the gap between heavy online shoppers and those not remains to be wide.”

“Heavy online shoppers made purchases based on pricing data, while many others preferred to see the product and the seller before purchase, a big market full of inefficiency, hence the O2O shopping discovery platform,” it continued.
–

 

Also Read: Vietnam-based restaurant tech startup KAMEREO raises US$500K

Image Credit: Pricebook

The post Indonesia gadget discovery platform Pricebook raises its fourth round of funding appeared first on e27.

Also, True Digital Park inks four partnership deals and Tokyo Century increases Grab stake

Tesla breaks ground on first China factory — [Financial Times]

Elon Musk today announced plans to build Tesla’s first China factory by the end of the summer with the goal producing its first Model 3 vehicles by the end of 2019.

According to the Financial Times, the plant will be called Gigafactory 3 and is expected to have the capacity to produce 500,000 cars a year.

The goal of the plant is to produce only Model 3 vehicles meant for the China market. Model 3s built for the global consumer will be built in the US and more high-scale vehicles (which will also be sold in China) will also be built in America.

Shanghai Giga will produce affordable versions of 3/Y for greater China. All Model S/X & higher cost versions of Model 3/Y will still be built in US for WW market, incl China.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2019

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The Tesla stock price has risen 5.77 per cent today.

Bangkok’s True Digital Park inks partnership with four tech giants — [Press Release]

True Digital Park, the large-scale startup-focussed infrastructure project in Bangkok, announced today it has partnered with tech giants Cisco, Microsoft, Epson and Ricoh to help build a “state-of-the-art work environment”.

Examples of some of the technology being implemented are heat maps, facial recognition technology, smart office appliances, AI products and an ‘innovation experience center’.

The breakdown (copied directly from the press release) is as follows:

• Cisco: Cisco will incorporate Heat Map that collects data on space utilization within True Digital
  Park for further analysis, management and effective communication with the users; and Smart
  Lighting that operates power control at the office and meeting rooms to ensure Smart Office
  and Smart Building.
• Microsoft: To enhance the security standards at True Digital Park, Microsoft would introduce
  an AI-driven face detection and facial recognition system to automatically monitor incoming
  and outgoing foot traffic instead of relying traditional card-based alternatives. This new system
  is powered by Cognitive Services on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
• Epson: Epson’s innovative “Laser Projector” delivers better resolution and longer service life
  than those of conventional projectors. Epson will also provide interactive projectors at board
  rooms and high-contrast projectors at large conference rooms. All projectors support wireless
  connection to ensure efficient and engaging meetings.
• Ricoh: Ricoh’s multifunctional printers will be installed to support activities handled by start-
  ups and users at the convention centers inside True Digital Park. Ricoh Experience Center
  will also be established as a platform to ignite creativity under the concept of open innovation.

ClassPass buys top Asia competitor GuavaPass — [e27]

ClassPass, a product that allows people to book gym classes at various locations, has bought its top Asian competitor GuavaPass.

Both companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. It is expected to be finalised by the end of January.

ClassPass will bring onboard about half of the GuavaPass staff and use the acquisition to facilitate rapid expansion across Asia and the Middle East.

The specific locations are Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Shanghai and Singapore. GuavaPass will cease operations in these cities. The brand will be used in other markets but will still be under the ClassPass umbrella.

Tokyo Century boosts investment in Grab — [Press Release]

Tokyo Century, a Japanese financial services company, has boosted its investment in Southeast Asian ride-hailing company Grab, raising its total investment to US$175 million.

According to a press release, part of the investment is going towards Grab Rentals, which rents private-hire vehicles for people to use in Singapore.

The goal of this is to help facilitate more flexible driver arrangements as well as finance the upcoming launch of a fleet of electric vehicles.

Overdrive raises US$2.9 million — [e27]

Singapore-based IoT startup Overdrive has completed its US$2.9 million Series A round, which was solely funded by Southeast Asia B2B-focussed VC Tin Men Capital.

Founded in 2015 by CEO Aston Chia and COO Zen Chin, who were university schoolmates in Australia, the company has developed an IoT platform that enables businesses to build an interconnected data sensing environment, extracting data from different sources such as goods or vehicles and machinery.

The platform is then configured to optimally deliver business objectives such as real-time tracking and monitoring, exception alerting and command centre visualisation.

—

The post Today’s top tech news, January 7: Tesla breaks ground in China and GuavaPass is sold appeared first on e27.