Tag: T shirts

Yangon-based logistics startup Kargo today announced its rebrand to Karzo, according to a press statement.

Having been focussing on both B2C and B2B segments, the startup also announced that it will be developing a new B2B-focussed strategy as it moves towards securing a Series A funding round this month.

Karzo connects independent truck drivers, fleet owners, and third-party logistics (3PLs) with businesses. The company claims that the platform “offers a more reliable and trackable distribution and delivery solution for businesses faced with outdated logistics in the region.”

Its refocus to the B2B sector came after noticing the high demand for transportation logistics services amongst businesses in Southeast Asia.

Also Read: E-commerce startup Get acquires Daung Capital to provide one-stop fintech solutions to Myanmar’s micro-entrepreneurs

Other than that, Karzo founder and CEO Alex Wicks expressed strong optimism for tapping into Myanmar’s “freight market” which is expected to grow by 300 per cent in the coming years.

“The focus on B2B also allows us to channel our resources in strengthening our presence along with key freight and border corridors of Myanmar to prepare for cross-border expansion across Southeast Asia. With such a fragmented logistics market, our platform simplifies tracking through one simple dashboard that manages shipments both across Myanmar to other markets in the region,” he added.

The logistics startup has already managed to raise US$800,000 in pre-Series A funding from Singapore-based Cocoon Capital and two angel investors.

The Burmese company had also been named ‘Best Logistics & Supply Chain Startup’ at the Echelon Top100 competition in Singapore in 2018.

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Image Credit:  MICHAEL WILSON

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China’s economic appeal is far from over, at least according to a 2019 member survey of the US-China Business Council (USCBC), which suggests that the Chinese market is still prioritised by investors over other markets. The survey found that 97 per cent of USCBC members experienced profitability growth in China over the past year.

Despite the less-than-stellar outlook, which is particularly compounded by the 2019 novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) scare, China continues to attract investments.

With the recently released figures on the country’s software and IT sector, investment movement, especially in the IT industry, is set to grow further.

The positive investor sentiment re-echoes the positive outlook presented in a Standard Chartered report that describes the world’s second-largest economy as a top-three priority for five out of 10 investors.

The report reveals that 49 per cent of global institutional investors list China as one of their top three investment destinations even with the uncertainties on the country’s market conditions. Additionally, 67 per cent of the investors surveyed affirmed the high demand for exposure to China as they expressed intentions to raise their Chinese investments in the year ahead.

21 per cent of the survey respondents regard China as a top (number one) priority while 28 per cent consider it a top three priority. Only 2 per cent say that the Asian economic powerhouse is not a priority, while 12 per cent think of it as a niche priority and 37% list it as one of their top 10 investment options.

It also bears pointing out that the 2019 World Investment Report ranks China as the world’s second-largest FDI recipient. It is also hailed as the second most attractive country for multinational companies for the 2017-2019 period.

Strong IT sector growth

Official data from the Chinese government reveal robust growth for China’s software and IT industry in 2019. This component of the Chinese economy generated RMB 7.18 trillion in revenues (approximately US$1 trillion), an impressive 15.4 per cent growth from the previous year.

Also read: How to start a business in China as a foreigner

In addition to the significant rise in revenue, the data presented by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology show that profits reached 936.2 billion yuan (around USD$134 billion), a year-on-year increase of 9.9 per cent.

Moreover, the Chinese software and IT sector hired more employees in 2019. Data show that the country hired 6.73 million employees in the sector, a 4.7 per cent year-on-year increase. Even better, the IT labor force received a 6.8 per cent per capita salary increase.

Defying expectations

Multinational businesses can attest to this notable growth amidst forecasts of slowing growth for the economies of Asia. One company that demonstrated such projection-defying developments is European IT company TenderHut.

Posting a 50 per cent year-on-year growth for 2019 with a US$9.6 million revenue, the company is taking advantage of the many opportunities presented by the unpredictable but generally positive global economy. The firm undertook a number of strategic takeovers, developed foreign divisions, launched new startup projects, and raked a few prestigious awards along the way.

“After a period of intensive consolidation of the IT industry, we have entered a time of strategic investments, which, in the coming years, will lead us to maximization of profits and expansion to other markets,” said Robert Strzelecki, President of the TenderHut Capital Group.

The startup maintains an optimistic outlook for the Chinese market that it designated its Guangzhou office as the seat of the Chinese Solution4Labs operation.

The local office implements specialised laboratory software on the local market, in contrast to most other companies that only operate in China to take advantage of local labor. There is a clear intention to leverage Chinese demand in achieving market scale.

New investment access routes

New investment access routes have emerged as China continues to attract domestic and foreign investors.

For example, when it comes to equities, the scheme that connects the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock markets— referred to as the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect—is already used by 51 per cent of the investors surveyed.

An additional 18 per cent said that they plan on using the scheme in the succeeding year. For fixed-income investments, around 33 per cent of the respondents said that they are considering the China interbank bond market.

The presence of new access channels, however, does not mean that investors have already abandoned the older schemes. As the Standard Chartered study reveals, 62 per cent of investors said that they are still using the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme, while 31 per cent said they use the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) scheme.

Risks and threats

Unfortunately, China is facing a serious economic threat in the ongoing Wuhan novel coronavirus problem. To date, there are still no signs of the infection slowing down.

The severe health scare is causing factory shutdowns and a daunting impact on economic activity. People are advised to work from home, although those in the manufacturing industry will find this challenging. Inflation has sharply risen as food prices soared.

The tech industry has not escaped the adverse consequences. Numerous companies have temporarily closed their stores, offices, and factories. These have resulted in product shortages and delays in product launches. The Chinese economy is logically suffering a slowdown as the disease directly affects industries that comprise more than half of the country’s GDP.

Also read: Why China should be the next market for your startup or scaleup

Some analysts, however, are hopeful that the problem will not linger for long. Wang Huiyao, founder of the Centre for China and Globalisation, believes China’s economy has become more resilient compared to 2003 when it tackled the SARS outbreak.

Huiyao is confident that China’s deeper resources, more effective policy levers, and improved production capacity and technology make it more capable to weather the crisis. On the other hand, Zhang Jun, dean of Fudan University School of Economics, believes that the coronavirus is unlikely to cripple China’s economy.

China’s new foreign investment law takes effect this year, which is expected to help boost capital inflows as it trims the negative list for foreign investment.

The challenges from the novel Coronavirus will need to be overcome, however, in order to achieve the expected benefits of this significant piece of legislation.

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Image: Pixabay

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Greenly, a Surabaya-based F&B fast-casual retail chain startup that serves healthy food and beverages, has secured an undisclosed sum in a seed funding round, led by East Ventures.

Several unnamed angel investors also participated.

The company plans to use the fresh funds for product innovation, technology development, and expand its network both locally and into other cities.

Edrick Joe Soetanto and Liana Gonta Widjaja founded Greenly after the duo struggled to find a healthy diet option in Surabaya, Indonesia second-biggest city. They realised there are a gap and scarcity of affordable healthy food that is fast, easily accessible and has a wide range of product menu.

“We seek to address the gap between healthy but expensive food offered by existing players, and affordable but unhealthy food provided by the fast-food chain network. We founded Greenly as a fast-casual chain serving various salads, grain bowls, cold-pressed juices, smoothies, nut milk, and other healthy products that are created using natural and fresh ingredients,” said Gonta.

The business idea at that time was also timely with the rise of the middle-class economy in Indonesia that is health-conscious, creating an opportunity for the founders to tap in.

Also Read: A decade of innovation: How East Ventures is building Indonesian tech ecosystem from the ground up

The data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that the average Indonesians consume only 122 grams of vegetables and 92 grams of fruit every day. These numbers are lower than the recommended daily intake level of 300-400 grams of vegetables and 100-150 grams of fruit.

In 2019, Greenly opened its first outlet in Surabaya with the mission of democratising healthy diet in Indonesia.

Gonta is a Nutritionist from UC Berkeley with experience in the health and F&B industry. She is also the figure behind hundreds of Greenly’s recipes.

Edrick is a serial entrepreneur and a former Consultant at PwC. He took the role of the chief commander in developing and executing Greenly’s business strategy.

“We aim to provide healthy food and beverages that are affordable, convenient, and easily accessible. Our mission is to bring a healthy diet to all levels of society and make it happen in Indonesia as something democratic, not just for a niche market. We are confident with the support of East Ventures and all partners, we can realise this mission,” Soetanto added.

Also Read: Alibaba, Facebook co-founders back East Ventures’s new US$75M fund focused on Indonesia

One of the main components of Greenly’s strategy is integrating the new retail concept with an O2O approach, distinguishing them from other traditional big players. Greenly adopted a multichannel-sales style by combining both physical outlets and online delivery.

As of today, Greenly operates five outlets in Surabaya — one in a mall with a cafe/restaurant concept, while four others are cloud kitchen dedicated to delivery service.

The digital readiness of Surabaya is the main component that contributes to Greenly’s achievement in developing its business through online platforms, which accounts for 50 per cent of its sales. Research from East Ventures — Digital Competitiveness Index 2020 report has placed Surabaya in the third position among 24 biggest cities in Indonesia for its digital competitiveness.

Willson Cuaca, Managing Partner of East Ventures, explained, “Based on EV-DCI, Jakarta is the best city to support the development of digital-based businesses. Successful founders from outside Jakarta must be able to adapt quickly and expand to the capital.”

“Our trust in the founders outside Jakarta has been proven previously by the success of IDN Media, where they expanded from Surabaya to all of Indonesia. We believe that Gonta and Soetanto can bring Greenly from Surabaya to Jakarta, as well to other cities, and provide healthy food and drinks for all Indonesian people,” he added.
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Picture Credit: East Ventures

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Cross-channel engagement platform MoEngage raises US$25 Million Series C funding led by Eight Roads Ventures

Having recently achieved Amazon Web Services (AWS) Retail Competency, MoEngage, intelligent customer analytics, and cross-channel engagement platform have raised US$25 Million in Series C funding. Eight Roads Ventures led the round with participation from its US-based sister fund, F-Prime Capital, along with Matrix Partners India and Ventureast.

“The latest round of funding will help us reach more brands and empower them with the next-generation customer engagement platform built for the mobile-first world that is easier to use, fully integrated and intelligent,” said Raviteja Dodda, Founder & CEO, MoEngage Inc.

More and more digital platforms are going for a one-dashboard approach in mobile apps, especially in the field of customer engagement. The end-to-end and one-for-all model has been proven effective as it centralises the process and the analytics, insights reports, and automation.

In MoEngage’s case, brands can engage with their customers across channels and personalise touchpoints in one dashboard. MoEngage’s AI and automation platform map customer journeys and develops personalised offers, updates, recommendations, and other communications across mobile, web, email and SMS- thus delivering an omnichannel experience.

Also Read: The changing focus of mobile commerce in Southeast Asia

“The rapid rise of mobile has increased the complexity of how digital-first and consumer-focussed enterprises interact with customers. Marketers now need to seamlessly engage with customers in a personalized and real-time manner across different channels,” Shweta Bhatia, Partner at Eight Roads Ventures concluded the trend.

JPMorgan reportedly plans to merge its blockchain entity Quorum with ConsenSys [Channel News Asia]

JPMorgan Chase & Co reportedly is in discussion to possibly merge its blockchain unit Quorum with Brooklyn-based startup ConsenSys, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The merger signals how cryptocurrency is still relevant and continues to become an option despite its often volatile values. With the largest bank by asset in the US enters into the next step of blockchain capability with the planned merger, it shows that blockchain still got a bright future to consider moving forward.

JPMorgan’s Quorum blockchain uses the ethereum network, the software that underpins ether, one of the most well-known cryptocurrencies. JPMorgan uses its blockchain unit to run the Interbank Information Network, a payments network that involves more than 300 banks.
JPMorgan also said it would use Quorum to issue a digital currency called JPMorgan Coin that is designed to make instantaneous payments using blockchain.

ConsenSys is a blockchain startup that grew rapidly during the 2017 crypto bubble. It was founded by Joe Lubin, one of the co-founders of ethereum.

As for ConsenSys, a merger with Quorum would align with its shift toward growing its software division. The plan after the merger is to maintain the Quorum brand and keep it open source, one of the sources said.

Seqoia Surge’s graduate Classplus nabs US$2.5M in Pre-Series A funding [Inc42]

Delhi-NCR-based edutech startup Classplus announces that it has raised US2.5 million in Pre-Series A round of funding from Blume Ventures. Classplus was a part of the Sequoia Capital India’s Surge programme, and the venture capital company has also invested in this funding round.

Angel investors such as Cred’s founder Kunal Shah, general manager of Xiaomi Indonesia Alvin Tse, partner at Locus Ventures Eric Kwan also participated in the funding round.

The interest in backing edutech around the Asia Pacific continues to rise, with Gredu from Indonesia that offers a similar platform to teachers, parents, and students who also raised Pre-Series A funding in January.

Edutech continues to become a frontrunner in the tech-enabled field, with the next unicorn from Southeast Asia is expected to be edutech, showing how it becomes more relevant for consumers.

Also Read: Leading Southeast Asian tech companies share insights on user engagement, brand loyalty at MoEngage #GROWTH19

Founded in 2018 by Rustagi and Bhaswat Agarwal, Classplus lets coaching institutes, tuition centres, and private tutors to manage its class online with a mobile app. The startup takes a subscription fee from coaching institutes for its software suite, which handles class communication, payments, assessments, online learning programmes, and attendances.

London-based AI startup accelerator Skymind to expand to Indonesia, Malaysia

Skymind Global Ventures (SGV), an Artificial Intelligence-focussed startup fund-cum-accelerator based in London, is planning to expand to Malaysia and Indonesia in Southeast Asia.

In January, Skymind launched a US$800 million fund to back promising new AI companies and academic research across the UK and globally. Skymind plans to train up to 200 AI professionals for its operations in London and Europe and eventually expand the programme into Southeast Asia.

According to an e27’s article, the use of AI and industry acceptance has been growing steadily internationally, particularly in Southeast Asia. The region has been identified as one of the target markets for the investment fund, with a significant portion of the US$800 million to be made available to growing the region’s ecosystem.

SGV is a dedicated AI ecosystem builder, enabling companies and organisations to launch their AI applications and bring their business cases to life. It provides clients with supported access to Eclipse Deeplearning4j and other open-source tools as well as global capital funding and talent development.
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Picture Credit: MoEngage

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Carousell, a leading B2C and C2C consumer marketplace in Singapore, announced today the appointment of Jennifer Lim as Head of People.

In the new role, Lin will be responsible for operational excellence and talent strategy for the rapidly scaling organisation.

Lim’s appointment follows Carousell’s recent merger with 701Search. The company plans to continue its focus on accelerating growth with Lim leading efforts in scaling the organisation.

In doing so, Lim will leverage her experience with M&A integrations to harmonise operations and company culture across Carousell Group.

Lim was previously Chief People Officer at video-on-demand service HOOQ, and Human Resources Director (APAC) at Nike.

Also Read: [Updated] Reaching Singapore’s unicorn status, Carousell expands its presences to eight markets through 701Search’s mergers

Her 20-plus years of expertise in organisational development, talent acquisition and change management was instrumental in building the HOOQ’s leadership team in the region and optimising its talent strength to set up its creative centre in Manila and engineering hub in Bandung.

During her stint with Nike, she led numerous organisational transformation efforts to support its growth objectives for their APAC Apparel office based out of Hong Kong.

“Today, we’re privileged with the opportunity to serve tens of millions of users across eight markets. We’re at a stage where we can really redefine e-commerce in a meaningful way, address overconsumption and make second-hand the first choice,” said Siu Rui Quek, Co-founder and CEO of Carousell.

“One of our greatest strengths now is having a passionate and talented team of over 750 who are deeply committed to our mission. With Lim’s experience in scaling talent, engagement, and synergy across complex global organisations, we can focus on realising the full potential of our people, and reimagining classifieds for our users,” Quek added.

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Picture Credit: Carousell

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Updates: Tourkrub representative has issued a correction to clarify that King Power Click does not lead Tourkrub’s ongoing Series B fundraising.

Thailand-based travel tech startup Tourkrub, which acts as an online travel agent for tour packages, is raising a US$5 million Series B funding round.

The funding round followed a US$3 million round that the company has raised previously from King Power Click, the digital arm of Thailand’s leading travel retail group King Power Group.

Other participants in the previous round were SMEs Private Equity Trust Fund by the Government Savings Bank (GSB) of Thailand, the third lot which managed by Premier Advisory Group, Tao Kae Noi by Itthipat Preeradechapan, and 500 TukTuks.

According to the company statement, Tourkrub will use the funding to support its regional expansion plan and improve the travel experience. It plans to strategically take advantage of the fact that Bangkok is one of the top choices of transit for outbound travellers.

Founder and CEO Jakapan Leeathiwat commented that outbound tourism has been booming over the past six years with 8.8 per cent annual growth on average thanks to the growing middle class, the emergence of an ageing society and baht appreciation. Group tour alone shared around 25 per cent of Thai outbound travellers with 10.2 per cent growth on average. The figures showed that outbound tourism outpaced the growth of Thai GDP of 3.5 per cent growth YoY.

This raises high optimism for the travel company who aims to build a strong footing through this data.

Also Read: Understanding China’s market as a first time traveller

“It can be seen that travelling abroad has become a norm and culture of Thai people, whether the first jobber, working parent and senior. Tourkrub saw the important role of technology to address complexity in tour business and that’s why we jumped onto this bandwagon,” he continued.

Since its establishment in 2016, the company claimed to have experienced 700 per cent growth.

Leeathiwat further detailed that there were around 40,000 users booking a tour service via Tourkrub last year, up 53 per cent compared to the previous year. The transactional billing valued more than THB1 billion (US$32 million) last year, up 33 per cent compared to the previous year.

Tourkrub expects its customers to reach 100,000 (up 250 per cent) and worth more than THB2.5 billion (US$80 million) this year.

For King Power Group, the investment marks its first in the travel tech startup scene.

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Image Credit :  Tourkrub

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Bangkok-based PeerPower, a digital financing platform connecting business owners and investors, announced today it has received an undisclosed sum in pre-Series A round from InVent, the venture capital arm of Intouch Holdings.

Joining this round is existing investor Business Online Public Company (BOL).

PeerPower will use the funds to invest in product development and broadening its digital financing services.

The fintech startup claims it is the first in Thailand to issue Crowdfunding Bonds, approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission Thailand (SEC).

PeerPower leverages technology to provide better returns to investors. Investors can open an online account and choose to invest in businesses based on individual risk appetite. Its crowdfunding platform utilises data to maximise risk for investors and makes it easy for them to quickly build a portfolio of crowdfunding bonds, diversify risk, and earn steady cash flows, it claims.

Also Read: InVent makes 1st US investment in VR advertising startup Social Nation

For business owners, issuing crowdfunding bonds signals the readiness to engage with savvy investors. Facilitated by PeerPower, crowdfunding bond issuers provide quarterly financial updates to investors.

“In 2019, SMEs contribute 43 per cent of Thai GDP and drive 85 per cent of Thai employment (Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion). However, one of the challenges facing SMEs today is timely access to financing. InVent sees an opportunity to solve the financing gap for SMEs through the use of technology and product innovation, empowering business owners to strengthen their capabilities and grow their business,” said Dr.Narongpon Boonsongpaisan, Head of InVent.

With its Crowdfunding Bonds, Boonsongpaisan said that PeerPower has brought a viable asset class for investors to invest in.

“Last year, 2.3 trillion Thai baht of unrated bonds were issued in Thailand (Thai Bond Market Association), which presents a significant opportunity for SMEs. In the past, bonds used to be accessible only by large companies, now SMEs can issue crowdfunding bonds through PeerPower,” said Vorapon Ponvanit, Founder and CEO of PeerPower.

PeerPower said that crowdfunding bond issuers on the platform so far has included businesses from media to food production, software house and a rock climbing gym. Eligible businesses can raise funds through PeerPower’s crowdfunding platform with interest rates ranging from 6 to 22 per cent depending on their PeerPower assessed credit grade.

PeerPower said it will continue to enable financing access to business owners including high-growth companies and mid-cap companies.
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Picture Credit: PeerPower

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GAIN, a programme launched in 2015 by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), aims to provide end-to-end expansion support to local companies.

The programme was launched to render business-growth interventions to local tech scaleups, spanning the sectors of cloud, big data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), e-commerce, blockchain, cybersecurity, drone technology, robotics, finance, fintech, etc. It is spearheaded Global Growth Acceleration (CGA), a newly-minted division of MDEC.

As per a press statement, more than a hundred local and regional tech entrepreneurs and digital ecosystem partners gathered at the recently-held GGA Kick-off 2020 to learn how CGA division to assist in fuelling high-potential Malaysian headquartered tech companies to skyrocket on the global stage.

“In a short time span, the GAIN Programme has achieved exceptional results, yielding a cumulative export revenue of over RM4 billion. We have also witnessed an upward trend of Malaysian tech companies expanding exponentially into the region. These success stories must be amplified without reservations,” said Surina Shukri, CEO of MDEC.

Also Read: Malaysian edutech startup Forward School raises US$500K pre-seed funding for expansion

Shukri also emphasised that Malaysia is increasingly recognised as the destination of choice for digital initiatives in ASEAN, and the country has been actively rolling out business-friendly initiatives and policies to encourage higher foreign direct investment.

“The Malaysian government has laid a strong foundation for stable and sustainable economic growth. The time is ripe for tech entrepreneurs around the world to capitalise on Malaysia’s potential as the Heart of Digital ASEAN,” she added.

Gopi Ganesalingam, MDEC Vice President of GGA, said: “Starting 2020, the GAIN Programme will be embracing prolific tech startups to leverage on the tried and tested growth-intervention strategies that we have been deploying for tech scaleups. This will allow MDEC to provide clear end-to-end expansion support for Malaysian tech companies at all growth stages.”

ASEAN is on track to becoming the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2030 and the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) projects that ASEAN’s digital economy is expected to expand 6.4 times from US$31 billion in 2015 to US$197 billion by 2025.

“As ASEAN’s digital economy is increasingly driven by younger tech-savvy entrepreneurs, we welcome companies to leverage on our eight tech ecosystems in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, Australia and the UAE. With over 200 strategic partners consisting government and trade agencies, investors, business associations, resellers, end customers and regional media, the GAIN Programme has positioned itself as a credible business growth enabler that has united the digital ASEAN landscape,” added Gopi.

Also present at the GGA Kick-off 2020 were founders of three prominent Malaysian tech companies — Forest Interactive, Innovate2U, and Softspace.

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SoftBank-backed e-commerce platform Brandless shuts down – TechCrunch

San Francisco-based Brandless, an e-commerce platform that sells a variety of cruelty-free products, is the latest of SoftBank Vision Fund-backed company to face trouble that eventually led to its shutdown.

The update will lead to further scrutiny over SoftBank Vision Fund’s reputation. When SoftBank made its investment into Brandless, TechCrunch dubbed it as a “surprising development” as the company was considered “relatively nascent” to raise such a big amount of funding. Once again this is a lesson on the importance for startups to have a build a strong brand presence before scaling their business, and for investors to ensure that process.

What happened to WeWork in 2019 had led to a growing trend of investors expecting a clear path towards profitability from its portfolio. This latest development will further strengthen that awareness and demand.

Video platform Clipchamp raises US$8.8M in Series A funding round – Press Release

Australian video creation platform Clipchamp announced an AU$13.2 million (US$8.8 million) Series A funding round led by Tola Capital with participation from TEN13 and existing investors.

With the funding round, the company also announced that it has reincorporated in the US while its headquarters will remain in Brisbane, Australia.

As a video creation platform, Clipchamp enables creators to produce a video without having to rely on expensive or complicated equipment or software. This investment showed once again that content is king –particularly video content. Especially since the company itself stated that the video content creation market is now an AU$135 billion industry with 720,000 hours of new content updated on YouTube every day.

Also Read: SoftBank, Grab show interest to invest in Indonesia’s new capital city

Circles.Life raises funding round by Warburg Pincus, reportedly closer to unicorn status – e27

Singapore-based digital telco startup Circles.Life has raised an undisclosed funding round which was reported by Tech In Asia to have brought the company “closer” to the unicorn status.

Once again this indicates Southeast Asia’s strength as a market in drawing investors’ interest, as global investors continued to invests a large amount of funding into growth-stage companies. However, as predicted in a report by Cento Ventures, in the upcoming years, this type of funding might become rarer as investors will focus more on investing in more early-stage companies –with smaller ticket size.

Medicinal cannabis startup HempStreet raises US$1M in Pre-Series A – Tech In Asia

India-based healthcare startup HempStreet, which focuses on research and retail of cannabis for Ayurvedic medicine, has raised US$1 million in pre-series A funding round led by US-based pharmatech firm Pharmacon and private investor Romain Barberis.

This is a relatively exciting update for an Asia-based cannabis startup, and it is in line with the potential of the global medicinal cannabis industry. Even within Southeast Asia, countries such as Thailand had seen a “green gold rush” following the recent legalisation of cannabis use.

HempStreet will not be the last Asia-based startup to raise funding. However, this development will certainly be limited to markets where the use of medicinal cannabis is legal.

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Singapore government-owned startup builder and investor SGInnovate has announced that its founding CEO Steve Leonard would be concluding his term in May 2020.

Leonard will continue to serve as the CEO in the remaining months of his term.

As its Founding CEO, Leonard has been instrumental in forming and building SGInnovate as an entity whose mission is to help entrepreneurial scientists build investable deeptech startups.

Also Read: Startup Genome, MDEC partner to boost Malaysia’s startup ecosystem, focussing on policy action

“Helping to create and build SGInnovate has been my complete focus for four years. From imagining it in 2015 to its launch in 2016 and operating as a highly-professional group as we enter 2020, I feel tremendous personal pride,” said Leonard.

“The conclusion of my current term in May represents a good time for organisational renewal. Every team moves forward based on fresh ideas and energy, and I’m very confident in the men and women of SGInnovate to continuously bring new capabilities to the deep tech startup ecosystem in Singapore,” he added.

Leonard is a technology-industry leader with a wide range of experience, having played key roles in building several global companies in areas such as software, hardware and services.

Prior to his role as the CEO of SGInnovate, the US-born Leonard served three years as the Executive Deputy Chairman of the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), a government statutory board under the purview of Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information. In that role, he had executive responsibility at the national level for various aspects of the information technology and telecommunications industries in Singapore.

Leonard serves on the advisory boards of a range of universities and organisations in Singapore. Leonard also serves as an independent non-executive Director at SingPost, and AsiaSat, a Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed commercial operator of communication spacecraft.

Also Read: Great Deals raises US$12M from Navegar to be the Alibaba of Philippines

Yong Ying-I, Chairman, SGInnovate, said, “The Board and management want to thank Steve for his leadership in building up SGInnovate as a leading entity in Singapore to support entrepreneurs to build deep tech startups. We wish him every success in his future endeavours. SGInnovate will continue its work to build the deep tech ecosystem and entrepreneurial community as we look to the future.”

SGInnovate works with local and international partners, including universities, venture capitalists, and major corporations to help technical founders imagine, start and scale globally-relevant early-stage technology companies from Singapore.

Since its launch in 2016, the SGInnovate team has been part of the building and investing in 90 deeptech startups, as well as creating an engaged deep tech community of more than 33,000 people.

The organisation said in a statement that it would continue to work closely with a wide range of partners and co-investors to back entrepreneurial scientists through equity-based investments, access to talent and business-building advice.

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