Hi SEA fans,
Last two weeks, in the news:
🌏 Idinvest Smart City Fund 2 reaches first close at US$97m, to dedicate up to 40% to Asian investments
💰Singapore reveals 2021 budget, including S$11bn for Covid Resilience and acceleration in EV strategy
📲 Offline messaging & social apps like Clubhouse see surge in usage in Thailand and Myanmar
✈ Business travel is on with Connect@Changi - the facility, which allows contactless business meetings and stays, has opened
Just funded 💸
🇸🇬 Robotics startup Ratio has raised a US$10m Series A from Frasers Property, JustCo, zVentures - Tech in Asia
🇹🇭 Insurtech startup AppMan has raised a US$4.6m Series A from Casmatt, Krungsri Finnovate, KTBST Group, Phillip Capital, Siam Alpha Equity - e27
🇻🇳 Hotel Booking startup Go2Joy has raised a US$2.3m Series A+ from HB Investments, Platform Partners Asset Management - Phocus Wire
🇸🇬 Internet Connectivity startup Transcelestial Technologies has raised a US$2m financing round from Kickstart Ventures - e27
🇮🇩 Martech startup Member.id has raised a US$1.1m Series A from East Ventures, Traveloka - East Ventures Blog
🇵🇭 Profit Optimization startup Mosaic Solutions has raised a US$1m Pre-Series A from Gentree - e27
🇸🇬 Online News Portal startup TechNode Global has raised a US$1m Seed from Kairous Capital, Nutty Capital Ventures, SPH Ventures - TechNode
🇸🇬 Urban mobility startup SWAT has raised a financing round from ComfortDelGro Ventures, EDBI, Global Brain, Goldbell Group, iGlobe Partners, LKJ Capital Japan, MomentUM, Ruvento Ventures, Singapore Economic Development Board, The University of Tokyo Edge Capital - SWAT Mobility
Startups and downs 🚀
🇸🇬 EV carsharing firm BlueSG has been acquired by Goldbell Group for at least US$18.8m - CNA
🇲🇲 Offline messaging app Bridgefy (Mexico) has been downloaded 1m times following the Myanmar internet lockdown - Reuters
🇸🇬 Insurtech CXA Group has sold its HK and Singaporean brokerage arms to Global insurance brokerage firm Pacific Prime - AFP
🇮🇩 Interview with Jason Thompson, CEO of fintech OVO, on the Indonesian fintech landscape - LinkedIn
🇸🇬 Social commerce startup Webuy is betting on Pinduoduo's group buying model - KrASIA
🇲🇾 Sugar dating app Sugarbook's founder has been arrested - The Straits Times
🇹🇭 P2P lending startup Funding Societies is launching in Thailand - Tech in Asia
🇸🇬 Neobank Revolut has launched accounts for 7-17 YO, Revolut Junior, to promote financial literacy and good money management habits among children - Tech Coffee House
🇸🇬 C2C marketplace Carousell's fraud rate has dropped to 0.026% in Q4 2020 - Tech in Asia
🇸🇬 GANK Global has launched its marketplace of video game coaching and support services - Digital Journal
The Unicorn Belt 🦄
🇮🇩 Gojek and Tokopedia are reportedly nearing a 60/40 merger deal - Bloomberg
🇮🇩 Traveloka is aiming at a SPAC listing in 2021 - Nikkei Asian Review
🇮🇩 Gojek's GoStore will integrate with Facebook Shops and Instagram Shopping - KrASIA
🇮🇩 Tokopedia is collaborating with OLX Autos to sell cars and related services online - AIM Group
Venture Capitalists 🎢
🌏 Idinvest - Eurazeo has reached the first close for its Smart City Fund at US$97m, to invest up to 40% in Asia - Tech in Asia
🇹🇭 SCB 10X, the investment arm of Siam Commercial Bank, has set up a US$50m VC fund focused on blockchain and digital assets - DealStreetAsia
🇸🇬 Temasek's biggest focus from now on will be climate change, says incoming CEO - The Straits Times
🇸🇬 With 200 family offices managing US$20bn AUM, Singapore is a place of choice for billionaires - CNA
🌏 Interview with Wing Vasiksiri, founder of VC fund iSeed at 23 - The Venture Journey
🇸🇬 Trive Ventures has launched a philanthropy fund - Tech in Asia
🇮🇩 Founding member of Pavilion Capital Koh Wai Kit has joined East Ventures as Venture Partner - The Business Times
Corporates 👨💼
🇸🇬 Pioneering the contactless economy, Connect@Changi has opened to enable short term business stays in Singapore - The Straits Times
🇮🇩 Shopee topped Indonesian e-commerce in 2020 by number of visitors - 90m/month on average - Nikkei Asian Review
🇸🇬 AirAsia to launch food delivery in Singapore, with 0 commission - Vulcan Post
Smart Nations 🏛️
🇸🇬 Singapore has revealed its 2021 budget, including S$11bn for Covid Resilience, an extension of the Job Support Scheme, and S$30m for EV initiatives - Seedly
🇹🇭 Clubhouse experiences surge in usage in Thailand as a live platform for debate - Reuters
🇸🇬 Singapore is the 5th market for datacenters, worldwide, per a report by Cushman & Wakefield - Cushman & Wakefield
🇸🇬 60,000 EV charging points by 2030 to rule out ICE by 2040: Singapore is accelerating its transition - SCMP
Food for thought 🍜
🌏 Filipino netizens top world ranking in average daily time spent on the internet, at 10.56 hours (vs 7 worldwide average), Malaysia ranks 6th at 9h, Indonesia ranks 8th and Thailand 9th - We Are Social
🇮🇩 US$39b AUM, 6% market share, Indonesian Islamic banking still lags behind its Malaysian counterpart - KrASIA
The Fountainhead ⛲
🇮🇳 India has set free the process of making maps and generating geospatial data - NDTV.com
🇮🇳 UPI transactions on Whatsapp have fallen by 31% in January - KrASIA
🇮🇳 Tesla plans to open an EV manufacturing plant in India - Business Standard
🇨🇳 Steam has officially launched in China - a16z
🇨🇳 China is home to 80% of world solar production capacity - MacroPolo
🇨🇳 Alibaba has set up a new airport logistics hub in Liege, Belgium, the launchpad for its European expansion - the Guardian
Also 🤫
🇻🇳 Happy Lunar New Year, from the US ambassador in Vietnam, in rap version - Twitter
🇲🇾 Happy Lunar New Year, in 3D retail - LinkedIn
🌏 Former CEO of Lazada Pierre Poignant's startup Branded has raised a US$150m funding round from Target Global - TechCrunch
🌏 Take a virtual walk in the world's biggest cities with City Walks - Product Hunt