Hi SEA fans,
Last two weeks, in the news:
🎢 SEA Group launches $1b venture fund
💰 Exits: Lomotif acquired for US$125m, Bizzy for US$45m
🛂 Immunitee and Affinidi to launch digital health passport between Malaysia and Singapore
Just funded 💸
🇸🇬 Neobank startup Tyme has raised a US$110m Series B from Apis Growth Fund II, JG Summit Holdings - Tech in Asia
🇮🇩 Fintech startup Xendit has raised a US$64.6m Series B from Accel, YC - TechCrunch
🇮🇩 P2P lending startup Amartha has raised a US$50m debt financing round from Lendable - TechNode Global
🇸🇬 Plant-based chicken maker startup Next Gen Foods has raised a US$10m Seed from Temasek International, K3 Ventures, EDB, NX-Food - Bloomberg
🇸🇬 Insurtech startup Symbo has raised a US$9.4m financing round from CreditEaseFintech Investment Fund, Think Investments, Integra Partners, Insignia Venture Partners, AJ Capital - Entrepreneur
🇸🇬 Social Commerce startup Raena has raised a US$9m Series A from Alpha Wave Incubation, Alpha JWC Ventures, AC Ventures, Beenext, Beenos , Strive - e27
🇮🇩 Wealth management startup FUNDtastic has raised a US$7.7m Series A from Ascend Capital, Indivara Group - TechCrunch
🇸🇬 Agritech startup Nutrition Technologies has raised a US$5m Pre-Series B from Hera Capital, Openspace Ventures, SEEDS Capital - The Business Times
🇸🇬 Edtech startup Erudifi has raised a US$5m Series A from Monk’s Hill Ventures, Qualgro - TechCrunch
🇻🇳 Edtech startup Manabie has raised a US$3m from Do Ventures, Genesia Ventures, Chiba Dojo - e27
🇸🇬 Fashion startup Pixibo has raised a US$1.4m Series A from Atlas Ventures - e27
🇲🇾 HRtech startup BrioHR has raised a US$1.3m financing round from East Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Y Combinator - TechCrunch
🇻🇳 Delivery E-commerce startup Lozi has raised a financing round from MetaPlanet Holdings - e27
🇻🇳 Online Real Estate startup Citics has raised a US$1m Pre-Series A from Vulpes Investment Management, Nextrans , TheVentures - e27
🇹🇭 Cybersecurity startup Datafarm has raised a Series A from InVent - e27
🇮🇩 Social Commerce startup RateS has raised a Series A from Genesis Alternative Ventures, Vertex Ventures - The Business Times
🇮🇩 Agritech startup Eden Farm has raised a Pre-Series A from Investible, AC Ventures, Corin Capital - e27
🇹🇭 IoT startup Swift Dynamics has raised a Pre-Series A from InVent - e27
🇸🇬 Drone startup F-drones has raised a Seed from Eastern Pacific Shipping, Schulte Group, Innoport, SEEDs Capital, Entrepreneur First, Orient Ventures, Superangel - F-drones
🇮🇩 Supply Chain startup Advotics has raised a Seed from East Ventures - East Ventures Blog
🇮🇩 Eyewear startup SATURDAYS has raised a Seed from Alpha JWC Ventures, Alto Partners, Kinesys Group - DealStreetAsia
🇮🇩 Grocery startup Dropezy has raised a financing round from Kopi Kenangan, Taurus Ventures, Ankiti Bose - Tech in Asia
Startups and downs 🚀
🇸🇬 Video-sharing service Lomotif has been acquired by Zash Global Media and Entertainment Corp, valuing the company at US$156m - Tech in Asia
🇮🇩 B2B e-commerce startup Bizzy has been acquired by microretail startup Warung Pintar for US$45m - Tech in Asia
🌏 Agent-based financial services network Payfazz has invested US$30m in payment infrastructure provider Xfers to form a new entity called Fazz Financial Group - TechCrunch
🇲🇾 Immunitee's passport, developed with Affinidi, will be the first health passport with a built-in vaccination registration system to be accepted in Singapore - MobiHealthNews
🌏 Iterative VC has revealed their new batch of 7 startups - Iterative VC
🌏 Carro has developed a service voicebot in partnership with Wiz.ai - Tech Coffee House
🌏 SOSV has revealed their 10th cohort of global mobile-first consumer apps, which includes Wallet Engine and Betagged from Singapore - Tech in Asia
🇸🇬 Singapore welcomes a new carsharing player, GetGo - Vulcan Post
🇮🇩 The story of MYCL, which produces a mushroom-based substitute to leather - e27
🇸🇬 Hotel management and booking platform RedDoorz is offering free accommodation via donation of unused SingapoRediscovers Vouchers - Travel Daily
🇲🇾 Accelerator ScaleUp Malaysia has selected 11 companies for their second cohort, investing US$676k in total - Digital News Asia
The Unicorn Belt 🦄
🌏 Gojek's food offering GoFood was margin positive in 2020 - The Jakarta Post
🌏 Traveloka to launch buy now pay later services in Vietnam and Thailand - Fintech News
🇮🇩 Tokopedia has launched Tokomart, which enables users to buy daily essentials from the closest seller - Tech in Asia
🌏 Mobile marketing firm InMobi has partnered with Gojek to enable brands to conduct surveys with Gojek users - Tech in Asia
🌏 28.5 is the average age of unicorn founders in SEA (at founding) - Saison Capital
Venture Capitalists 🎢
🌏 Sea Group has launched a US$1b venture fund, Sea Capital, led by David Ma, formerly with Hillhouse Capital - Bloomberg
🌏 Asia Partners has reached the final close of its fund I at US$384m - Tech in Asia
🌏 AppWorks has raised US$114 million for its Fund III - Tech in Asia
🌏 Rainmaking has launched Motion Ventures, a US$22m fund focusing on maritime startups - e27
🇸🇬 Incubator Ripple2Wave, a JV between VFT Ventures and Emerald Technology Ventures, has launched its first hackathon on water tech - LinkedIn
🌏 US vs SEA VC Dynamics, by Chris Sirisereepaph - Jeremy AuJeremy Au
🌏 Deal legal terms, explained - Qualgro
Corporates 👨💼
🌏 Sea's group revenue doubled in 2020 to US$4.4b - Vulcan Post
🇸🇬 The global R&D center of TikTok will be in Singapore - The Straits Times
🇸🇬 Dell has invested US$50m for a Singapore R&D center focusing on edge computing - The Straits Times
🇸🇬 Zig is ComfortDelGro's vision of superapp, includes taxi, hotel, restaurant, booking - The Straits Times
🇵🇭 Xebia and DigibankASIA have partnered to launch digital bank UNObank in the Philippines - TechNode Global
🇮🇩 Google for Startups has launched its program in Indonesia - LinkedIn
Smart Nations 🏛️
🇹🇭 Thailand to allow tourists to quarantine in resorts in April or May, to authorize them to move freely after three days if test is negative - CNA
🇸🇬 Singapore to become SEA's hub for green finance, with S$19b projected investment in green bonds - CNA
🇸🇬 Dependant pass holders who want to work will have to apply for work passes instead of letters of consent - CNA
Food for thought 🍜
🇻🇳 How SaaS is the key to unlock Vietnam's new retail potential - Vietnam Vision
🌏 2020 food delivery GMV reached US$11.9b in 2020, with Grab contributing to half of it - The Low Down Momentum
🇮🇩 The roadmap to 2025 for Indonesian payment innovation - Saison Capital
🌏 Why Buy Now Pay Later is picking up in SEA: less credit card penetration, less aversion to installment payments - Entrepreneur
🌏 In the mobile first world, CRMs are dying, but instant loyalty is rewarded - Dialogue Review
The Fountainhead ⛲
🇮🇳 Construction tech startup Infra.Market has raised a US$100m Series C led by Tiger Global and has become India's latest unicorn - TechCrunch
🇮🇳 Koo is India's homegrown version of microblogging platform Twitter - YourStory.com
🇨🇳 Xiaomi has resurrected MiTalk, following Clubhouse boom (and ban) - SCMP
🇨🇳 Through Vivo, Oppo and OnePlus, BBK is the world’s largest smartphone maker, with 19% market share in 2020 - KrASIA
🇨🇳 China to become the first country in the world where online surpasses offline retail sales, in 2021 - Warehouse Automation
🇨🇳 Minority Report - Tracking emotions with facial recognition to detect potential criminals or unstable people is booming - the Guardian
🇨🇳 Animal Farm - Huawei is into pig farming now (powered by AI) - BBC
Also 🤫
🌏 With the pandemic, the US is discovering the power of QR codes - Forbes