Malaysian fintech platform Gotrade raises US$7M seed round; Investors include UK’s LocalGlobe, Social Leverage, Picus Capital, Raptor Group, Gmail creator Paul Buchheit, and Deutsche Postbank ex-CEO Frank Strauss; Gotrade allows users to invest in US stocks, neither charging them commission nor requiring a minimum deposit size; Users from 150 countries can buy fractional shares in companies on the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq starting from US$1.
Vietnamese proptech startup Propzy seeks to raise US$50M Series B; A year ago, it secured US$25M Series A led by Gaw Capital and SoftBank Ventures Asia; Propzy in an online brokerage platform that serves the secondary and rental market; The firm is also looking at potential acquisitions to accelerate growth.
Zilingo raises US$35M bridge funding from existing backers; According to a DealStreetAsia report, the financing is likely to have been in the form of convertible debt; Zilingo suffered a major blow from COVID-19 and executed substantial streaming exercise, refocusing its business on Asia while putting its US and Europe expansion plans on hold.
Why Indian businesses view Singapore as a preferred investment base in Asia; Indian companies form the single largest foreign business community in Singapore due to the country’s enabling investment environment, advanced infrastructural set-up, and location in SEA, which serves as a launchpad to access markets in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia etc.; The island state hosts HQs and corporate offices of over 8K Indian companies; The outward Indian FDI to Singapore stood at US$62.9B (till Aug. 2018).
Tokocrypto CEO on how he built Indonesia’s leading crypto exchange despite being a Singaporean; It is the first cryptocurrency exchange in Indonesia and is co-founded by 30-year-old Pang Xue Kai; It started off as a cryptocurrency exchange providing futures trading and cryptocurrency custody services soon gained popularity as more Indonesians discover about their services; The firm is backed by Binance.
Lenskart launches ‘Lenskart Vision Fund’ to invest in startups; It will invest up to U$2M in each of the selected startups, and will also provide market access via its 700 retail stores and online channels across India, Singapore, West Asia and US; Focus sectors include D2C eyewear and eye care brands, technologies enabling access to vision care, eye testing technologies, etc.
Leadership lessons from Singapore’s first CIO; Prof Alex rose to prominence in the 1990s when he was appointed as CIO by the Housing and Development Board, Singapore; According to him, neo banks and fintech are giving tough competition to legacy banking and financial institutions; The region is absorbing fintech to every possible process and operation.
Fairbanks bags US$2M from ADB Ventures for Indonesia expansion; The US fintech firm offers a B2B mobile loans and payments platform for MSMEs in emerging markets; It primarily provides working capital credit to unbanked and women-operated FMCG micro-merchants for inventory purchases.
Paragon Pictures raises pre-Series A from SALT Ventures, Inter Studio; Paragon Pictures is a content production company that develops various IPs from movies, series, animation content, to livestream content; The production house is known to be under the umbrella company of Ideosource Entertainment, a subsidiary of NFC Indonesia and M Cash.
Axiata Digital ramps up effort to secure Malaysia’s digital bank license; It has partnered with local bank RHB; The country’s central bank BNM is set to issue up to 5 licences by Q1, 2022; Axiata Digital is also looking to announce 2 partnerships with agencies in the financial industry to further enhance the consortium’s potential.
MaGIC kicks off Malaysia Startup Hub for regional expansion; MaGIC’s MyStartup Hub Programme 2021 is inviting globally successful startups to set up hubs in the country as the ideal gateway to the ASEAN market; Collaborating with Malaysian ministries and agencies, MyStartup Hub provides help in company incorporation, local talent acquisition, and market access.
Nexea starts accelerator programme application for Malaysian tech firms; The 5-month programme offers multiple investment rounds starting from US$12K to US$60K, reaching up to US$240K; Successful applicants will be coached on improving traction, strategy, and other startup fundamentals. They will also get around US$481K worth of benefits and resources from the programme’s partners.
Global fashion e-tailer Shein launches new hub in Singapore; Currently, it already has websites for Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Philippines; Shein produces fashion products in its home country China and sells them overseas; The fashion giant is said to be rolling out 1,000 new fashion items every day.
Sea Group’s Shopee forays into food delivery in Malaysia; Seven months ago, the company partnered with US-based Weyland Tech to offer food and grocery delivery services in Jakarta; Shopee will compete with established players such as foodpanda, GrabFood, and Lalamove.
Investors form Fintech Angel Operators (FAO); The FAO network includes individuals who hold senior appointments at fintechs including Grab Financial, PayPal, Stripe, Revolut and Remitly; Members of the FAO network are investors with fintech operational expertise in Southeast Asia who are looking to invest angel-sized cheques into startups.
14 startups get US$886K in R&D grants from DOST-PCIEERD; Chosen from 54 R&D proposals submitted to the council on its first call, nine of the country’s new breed of innovators came from Luzon, three from Mindanao and two from the Visayas; Under the first cycle of the DOST-PCIEERD Startup Grant Fund Program, the 14 startups were selected for their innovative solutions that are aligned with the overall theme, “Jumpstarting the economy in the new normal.”
Now you can buy Sansiri’s houses, condos with crypto; The partnered with Thai fintech startups Bitazza and XSpring Digital to enable the use of cryptocurrencies in transactions; XSpring Digital specialises in asset tokenisation, enabling financing for and access to traditional assets through its investment portal.
—
Image Credit: Unsplash
The post Ecosystem Roundup: Why Singapore is a preferred investment base for Indian firms appeared first on e27.