Advance.ai co-founder and CEO Jefferson Chen
Sea raises US$6B in equity, bond sale
The equity deal comes as Sea reportedly gears up for market expansion across its different businesses, including those of Shopee in LatAm and its food delivery business in SEA; Shopee is also expanding into Europe by opening in Poland.
Singapore’s Advance.ai to enter unicorn club with new US$200M round
The AI startup has landed Warburg Pincus as the lead investor of the fundraise; Using AI-driven technology, the startup offers digital identity verification, fraud detection, and credit scoring, among other services.
Indonesian payment gateway Xendit set to join unicorn club after upcoming fundraise
It is finalising a funding round led by Tiger Global that will catapult its valuation beyond the US$1B mark; Xendit reportedly clocked an annualized total payment volume of US$7.5B in 2020.
Temasek tags Philippine platform Lucky Shopping as scam
Lucky Shopping is an investment platform in the Philippines that claims to be a unit under Temasek; This comes after a letter of apology – supposedly written by Temasek chief investment strategist Rohit Sipahimalani – made rounds online after members reportedly encountered payment issues at Lucky Shopping.
Serial entrepreneur Patrick Grove mulls listing SPAC in Singapore
Patrick Grove, the co-founder and CEO of internet company Catcha Group, has reportedly been in talks with the Singapore Exchange for the potential listing of a SPAC; In January, Grove took his SPAC named Catcha Investment public in the US.
Embattled Reebonz files for voluntary liquidation
The luxury marketplace, which recently made headlines for owing sellers payment, has appointed a provisional liquidator to wind up the company that was founded in 2009; Reebonz director Samuel Lim Kok announced that the company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business.
GoTo to extend closing of pre-IPO round as its first targets sale of OVO
As per DealStreetAsia, the Indonesian company is in talks to raise about US$2B in the pre-IPO round; The divestment process between OVO’s shareholders and Emtek is understood to have reached an agreement and is slated to be announced shortly.
SIRCLO nets US$36M funding led by East Ventures, Saratoga to help brands sell online in Indonesia
Traveloka, Sinar Mas Land, and unnamed investors also participated; SIRCLO plans to develop its tech infrastructure and expand its services to accelerate retail digitalisation for various businesses all across Indonesia.
Neuroglee Therapeutics nets US$10M to launch virtual neurology clinics for Alzheimer’s patients
Investors include Openspace Ventures (lead), EDBI, Eisai Co., and Biofourmis co-founders; Neuroglee will collaborate with Mayo Clinic’s HABIT programme to develop a remote care management platform and virtual speciality care clinic.
Legit Group raises US$3M seed funding to further expand cloud kitchen business
Investors are East Ventures (lead) and AC Ventures; Legit Group currently operates three F&B brands — Pastaria, Sei’Tan and Juju Chikin — from 45 distribution points; It plans to aggressively expand locations to reach a wider customer base and to create and market new delivery-centric brands.
SoftBank-backed Oyo nets investment from Microsoft
It is as part of an agreement to co-develop “next-gen” travel and hospitality products and technologies; The equity investment comes ahead of Oyo’s stock market debut – slated for later this month – at a reported valuation of between US$14B and US$16B.
Zopim, JobsCentral co-founders join Singaporean automotive platform Motorist’s seed round
Motorist aims to create an ecosystem of smart tools and services such as vehicle purchases, vehicle loans and motor insurance for car owners; The funding will allow Motorist to “supercharge its growth” in Singapore and Malaysia and venture into Thailand by the end-2021.
Singapore’s Eureka AI secures US$500K
The funding came from existing investor B&Y Venture Partners; Eureka claims to enable customers in industries including banking, insurance, transportation, and FMCG to deliver better services to their customers using mobile operator data.
More foreign investors are interested in e-commerce ventures in Thailand
According to Deputy Commerce Minister Sinit Lertkrai s, Singapore ranks as the top investor, with accumulated registered capital of US$492M, followed by Hong Kong at US$68M, then China, with an investment of US$9.8M.
What to look out for when investing in a pandemic-struck climate
Kelvin Seetoh and Jonathan Ang, who are founders of The Full-Time Investor, speak out about what investors must look out for if they want to continue to do well in the next few years.
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Image Credit: Advance.ai
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