Gojek-Tokopedia merger will only heat up the battle for tech dominance in SEA; Gojek has been fighting fiercely with Grab, while Tokopedia with Sea, which has rapidly expanded its e-commerce market share throughout SEA, including Indonesia; The firms are also in a 3-way battle for digital payment supremacy across the region.
Singaporean fintech startups record a 355% surge to hit US$492.8mn in funding in Q1 2021; According to a report by Boston Consulting Group, the surge was largely driven by Grab Financial Group’s US$313.2mn Series A in Jan; Other large rounds include Payfazz’s US$30mn investment in Xfers and Endowus’s US$17.3mn Series A.
The complete list of who owns how much in GoTo; Top 7 investors –including SoftBank (15.3%), Alibaba (12.6%), and Temasesk (7.2%) — account for 50.8% of GoTo’s total shareholding; Of the total 3.12mn shares, Gojek founders Nadiem Makarim and Kevin Bryan Aluwi holds 58,416 shares and 205 shares, respectively.
TaniHub raises US$65.5mn Series B; Investors include MDI Ventures (lead), Add Ventures, BRI Ventures, Intudo Ventures, and Openspace Ventures; An agritech startup, TaniHub offers a range of agriculture value chain services through TaniHub (e-commerce platform), TaniSupply (logistics platform) and TaniFund (embedded fintech platform).
Oyo seeks US$600mn in debt financing as COVID-19 cases surge in India; It’s holding talks with banks and investors for a five-year term loan B at 850 basis points over LIBOR, higher than the typical guidance for this type of facility in APAC; Oyo recently announced it will provide 8 months’ worth of salary and other bereavement benefits to families of employees deceased due to the virus.
Microsoft’s VC arm infuses US$6.25mn into NextBillion.ai; NextBillion.ai will use the capital to expand into newer domains like NLP and facial recognition; It has earlier raised US$7mn led by Lightspeed and Falcon Edge; The AI startup builds hyperlocal solutions, particularly in emerging markets where language and geospatial infrastructure challenges are significantly complex and unique.
DBS, SGX, StanChart, Temasek form JV for carbon credits exchange, marketplace; The Climate Impact X (CIX) will leverage satellite monitoring, machine learning and blockchain; CIX will launch the exchange and the project marketplace by the end of 2021 to facilitate the sale of large-scale carbon credits through standardised contracts, catering primarily to MNCs and institutional investors.
More investors flock to Vietnam’s smart-home market; According to a report by Statista, this year the market is expected to be worth US$184mn; Experts said smartphones and the internet, especially 5G technology, have becoming more and more popular among Vietnamese consumers, and increasing incomes have encouraged middle-class consumers to opt for smart-home technologies.
Vietnamese social commerce firm bags US$1mn seed to tap into lower-tier areas; Investors include Venturra Discovery and Golden Gate Ventures (co-leads), and iSeed SEA; Mio focuses on selling fresh produce, such as fruit, vegetables, and meat; According to Huynh, consumers buy these kinds of products in high frequency, and it will increase the quantity of transactions.
Central banks work to link multiple CBDCs across borders; The Central Bank of the Bahamas has the distinction of launching the world’s first CBDC, the Sand Dollar, in Oct 2020; While CBDC trials and implementations so far focused on domestic and mainly retail use, they have the potential to enhance the efficiency of cross-border payments without the need for a global unit of account.
Asian fintech enters accelerated innovation phase; Embedded finance, or the integration of traditional retail financial services into platforms that millions use on a daily basis, has gathered momentum during the pandemic. Startup entrepreneurs and early-stage investors have redoubled their efforts in this area and later-stage investors and public stock markets have taken notice.
Indonesian govt agency to scrutinise Gojek-Tokopedia merger to avoid tech monopoly; The KPPU said neither company has given the agency notice about the merger, but they are allowed to notify authorities 30 days after the transaction; The agency will then review the transaction “to focus on various relevant markets in the GoTo Group ecosystem, as well as the potential for monopolistic practices or unfair business competition that can arise after the transaction.
Debunking BNPL myths: Is it going to be the primary mode of payment?; The myths the public holds about BNPL — such as viewing BNPL as an insecure cyber platform, a service that encourages irresponsible spending behaviour, or a credit trap that profits off customer penalties — are by and large, untrue.
In your journey to attain great CX, how much are you prioritising a great employee experience (EX)?; In the same way we champion great customer relationships, a new kind of EX is the way forward to help employees reach their full potential — one that is personal, relevant, and responsive.
Grab to pilot delivery robot runner service in Singapore; The delivery robots will hand off the orders to Grab’s delivery-partners at a central collection point for last-mile delivery; The service will allow the Grab delivery-partners to shave off between five to 15 minutes between deliveries, the soon-to-be public company said in a statement.
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