Hi technauts!
I am delighted to announce Idinvest Partners' participation in Cove’s Series A, along with Keppel Land.
Cove is a coliving operator active in Singapore and Indonesia. The company leases properties from landlords, furnishes and optimizes the layout then rents out by the room with all-inclusive flexible leases via its online, community-oriented platform.
In 24 months and with US$2m in initial seed investment, the company led by former Lazada executive Guillaume Castagne has grown to operate 550 rooms in Singapore & Indonesia, leveraging strong partnerships with regional real estate giants such as Lippo Group. After Indonesia, Cove is now looking at Vietnam & the Philippines as the two next geographical milestones of its expansion.
Just funded 💸
🇸🇬 Coliving startup Cove has raised a US$4.6m Series A from Keppel Land, Idinvest Partners, Venturra, Picus Capital, Antler, Yuj Ventures, Found Ventures - Deal Street Asia
🇲🇾 Car marketplace startup Carsome has raised a US$30m Series D from Asia Partners, Burda Principal Investments, Ondine Capital - e27
🇸🇬 Fintech startup Tazapay has raised a US$3.2m financing round from Surge, Saison Capital - e27
🇸🇬 Edtech startup Kyt has raised a US$2.5m financing round from Titan Capital, Surge - Tech in Asia
🇲🇲 Offgrid solar startup SolarHome has raised a US$2m Series A2 from TRIREC , Insistor Impact Asia Fund - DealStreetAsia
🇸🇬 Mini-app creator startup Appboxo has raised a US$1.1m Seed from FF APAC Scout, 500 Startups, Plug and Play, Antler - TechCrunch
🇻🇳 Facial recognition startup Palexy has raised a US$1m financing round from Access Ventures, Do Ventures - e27
🇸🇬 Wireless communications startup Whizpace has raised a US$0.92m financing round from undisclosed investors - The Business Times
🇸🇬 Cybersecurity startup Credify has raised a US$0.74m Seed from TIS, Beenext, Deepcore - Tech in Asia
🇲🇾 Energy management startup JM Newton has raised a US$0.711m equity crowdfunding round from undisclosed investors - e27
🇹🇭 E-commerce enabler startup N-Squared has raised a Series A from KKP Capital, Siam Alpha Equity (SAE), Chanwanich Group, AHMP, ECG-Research - e27
🇻🇳 Rent-to-buy startup Homebase has raised a Pre-Series A from VinaCapital Ventures, Class 5 Global, Pegasus Technology Ventures, 1982 Ventures - e27
🇮🇩 Social E-Commerce enabler startup Desty has raised a Seed from East Ventures - East Ventures Blog
Startups and downs 🚀
🇲🇾 Online property data company MyProperty Data has been acquired by real estate marketplace PropertyGuru - e27
🌏 Hiring a CFO right before Covid: good timing for a roller coaster ride at car marketplace Carro, that eventually led to EBITDA profitability - Insignia Business Review
🇸🇬 Nextbillion.ai has won the Slingshot competition, receiving S$200k in grants and S$50k in cash prize - Slingshot
🇲🇾 Digital media group iMedia has acquired Chinese language portal Moretify - e27
🇹🇭 Blockchain-powered fintech startup Lightnet has partnered with Siam Commercial Bank for cross-border fund transfers from South Korea to Thailand - SCB
🇰🇭 P2P lending marketplace Rai Capital and Goldbell Financial Services have set up a P2P lending JV in Cambodia - Yahoo
🇸🇬 Healthtech startup DocDoc has partnered with tech provider SpesNet Global Group to match insurance providers with policy holders - Tech in Asia
🇲🇾 Drone startup Aerodyne has partnered with DHL Express for drone delivery services - Digital News Asia
The Unicorn Belt 🦄
🇸🇬 The Grab-Singtel consortium has won the digital banking licence and appointed ex-Citi Charles Wong as CEO of the entity - Grab
🌏 Grab would be in a position to acquire Gojek, per an internal note - The Straits Times
🇮🇩 Passengers don't tip enough because they can't see driver's gratitude, Gojek product study says - Gojek Blog
🇮🇩 Grab Indonesia has launched a carbon calculator in partnership with crowdfunding platform Benih Baik and research institute World Resources Institute - KrASIA
Venture Capitalists 🎢
🌏 SEA-focused Chinese VC ZWC Partners has completed the first close of its new USD fund at US$400m - Tech in Asia
🇸🇬 Enterprise Singapore, IMDA, the National Research Foundation Singapore and MAS have launched a US$9m Singapore Blockchain Innovation Programme - e27
🇹🇭 Thailand set to beat Singapore for the second year in a row with 23 IPOs and US$3.94b in proceeds - CNBC
🌏 75% of the 30 highest funded startups in SEA have received shadow capital, i.e. from institutionals which bypass the standard GP structure - The Business Times
Corporates 👨💼
🇸🇬 Chipmaker Infineon (Germany), will spend US$27m on a global AI hub in Singapore - The Straits Times
🇸🇬 On air with Min Liang Tan, CEO of Razer - KrASIA
🇸🇬 DBS will launch a member-only cryptocurrency exchange - DealStreetAsia
🇸🇬 Electric taxi firm HDT has shut down - Vulcan Post
🇻🇳 Foxconn is shifting part of its Apple production to Vietnam - Reuters
🇸🇬 Outdoor advertising company JCDecaux has launched its first programmatic OOH media on 38 digital bus shelters, powered by it supply side platform, VIOOH - JCDecaux
🌏 Rising defaults and ultra-low interest rates will be the 2 major risks of 2021, DBS says - CNBC
Smart Nations 🏛️
🇸🇬 Singapore approves lab-grown meat, made by Eat Just, a world first - the Guardian
🇸🇬 Grab-Singtel, Sea Group, Ant Group and the Greenland Financial Holdings consortium are the winners of the Singapore digital banking race; here is what we can expect now - Vulcan Post
🇸🇬 Singapore will host the World Economic Forum in 2021 - The Straits Times
🇸🇬 Singapore has announced a S$25b Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2025 plan focusing on health, sustainability, the digital economy, and manufacturing - The Straits Times
🇮🇩 Into Indonesia's latest & complex labor 'Omnibus' law - Singapore Global Network
🇸🇬 Singapore is moving to phase III on Dec. 28th - MOH
🇸🇬 Singapore & the UK have signed a free trade deal, replicating the pre-Brexit conditions - CNA
🇸🇬 GrabPay, Razer and Singtel Dash will be eligible to Paynow & Fast transfers from February 2021, enabling seamless connection between bank accounts and e-wallets (instead of topups) - Vulcan Post
🇸🇬 Europe and Singapore have updated their bilateral working agreement on emerging technologies such as VTOL to favor more rapid adoption - Flight Global
Food for thought 🍜
🇸🇬 OpenNodes has released its 2020 blockchain report - Open Nodes
🇮🇩 Successfully expanding from Singapore to Indonesia and maintaining your corporate culture, by cross-border social commerce platform RateS - Insignia Business Review
🇮🇩 Knock knock Instagram, Tik Tok is taking over Indonesia - KrASIA
The Fountainhead ⛲
🇨🇳 1 year of operation, 200 IPOs: this is Shanghai Tech Board - CNBC
🇨🇳 Department stores are not dead: the keys to a successful O2O retail strategy, as seen in Alibaba's Intime stores - Jeffrey Towson
Also 🤫
🇸🇬 Foodpanda is hiring a Chief Makan Officer to try out the 15,000 eateries in Singapore - Mothership
🇮🇷 Tricks to put your app back on the Apple Store, even when it has already been banned...the story of Iranian superapp Snapp - Rest of World