The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the disparity in access to capital for female-led startups. However, there has been a global trend of investors betting on these “wonder women”.
The funds pumped into women-led businesses reached US$46.3 billion in 2019. That’s more than twice the number a year before and more than 15 times that in 2010.
Several significant initiatives have also ridden on this tailwind.
The “She Loves Tech” competition has enabled more than US$250 million in funding for roughly 5,000 female-focused startups across 40 countries. Australian Aid and Frontiers Lab Asia has also sponsored a training programme for angel investors to explore gender lens investing opportunities.
If you are also scouting startups founded or co-founded by women in Southeast Asia, here is the list of 27 prominent startups established in the past three years.
1) Green Rebel
Co-founded by Helga Angelina Tjahjadi in 2020, Green Rebel is an Indonesian foodtech startup that creates whole-cut plant-based meats with Southeast Asian flavours in mind.
The startup promotes the use of locally derived foods and is working to establish a worldwide brand from one of the world’s most beautiful destinations. It aims to provide meat to customers without the health & environmental tax that comes with it.
Earlier this year, Green Rebel secured US$2 million in a seed round led by Teja Ventures and Unovis Asset Management, a worldwide alternative protein investor.
2) Ajaib
Founded in 2019, Indonesia-based online brokerage Ajaib allows consumers to buy and sell stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds. Ajaib Group claims it opens the door to access to safe, trusted and affordable investment instruments.
The firm was co-founded by Yada Piyajomkwan, who was listed in Forbes’s 30 Under 30 Asia (Finance & Venture Capital) in 2020.
In March 2020, the firm closed its US$90 million Series A round with a US$65 million extension led by Ribbit Capital.
3) Pluang
In 2020, Marcellina Claudia Kolonas, who has five years of experience as an investment advisor, co-founded the financial technology platform Pluang. It provides easy and affordable access to financial goods to the general population.
The Indonesia-based firm aims to enhance financial inclusion in Indonesia, where approximately two billion people are unbanked. As stated by Kolonas, users may open a savings account for as little as 50 cents.
Openspace Ventures led its recent US$20 million pre-Series B funding round with participation from Go Ventures and other returning investors. The company will use the money to create customised financial products that will cover a broader range of asset classes, including government bonds.
4) Logisly
Co-founded by CEO Roolin Njotosetiadi in 2020, Logisly is a B2B logistics digital platform that links shippers and trucks from its network of certified corporate carriers.
Its goal is to reduce Indonesia’s high logistics costs by boosting truck utilisation and giving more certainty in supply chain management, mainly through an extensive network of dependable transportation, order transparency, and automation.
Currently, the firm works with over 800 trucking companies (with over 40,000 fleets) and 300 shippers from various industries, including fast-moving consumer products, chemicals, construction, e-commerce, and more.
Last year, the Jakarta-based startup received a US$6 million Series A investment led by Monk’s Hill Ventures to assist Indonesia in streamlining its logistics.
5) Bonza
Bonza, co-founded by Elsa Chandra, a former Traveloka execs, is an Indonesian Big Data analytics startup. Within Bonza’s user interface, organisations can integrate disparate data sources into a single source and build and deploy Machine Learning models.
Bonza’s no-code approach for data analytics and AI deployment helps technical and non-technical teams to build and deploy data-driven solutions at scale.
In May 2021, Bonza raised a US$2 million funding round led by returning investor East Venture.
6) Pinhome
Established by Dayu Dara Permata in 2020, Pinhome leverages cutting-edge technology to make the property sale, buy, and rental transactions on its platform more simple, efficient, and transparent.
Its goal is to eliminate the obstacles of buyers and sellers while making real estate transactions by delivering the “greatest possible” user experience.
Since its inception, Pinhome’s headcount has grown to over 200 employees. In early 2021, it raised US$25 million in a Series A financing round from unknown investors.
Pinjome founder Dayu Dara Permata
7) Mindtera
Digital education platform Mindtera was established in 2021 by former Nielsen manager Tita A. The platform focuses on multiple intelligences and life coaching. It offers personal growth learning curriculums in critical areas of life such as family, love, and work, allowing people to navigate life in an organised manner better.
Serving both individual and corporate clients, the startup aims to address the gap between hard skills and emotional intelligence (EQ) by designing and developing curriculums and tools around its proprietary multiple-intelligence approach, including emotional, social and physical intelligence.
Last month, the firm bagged undisclosed funding led by East Ventures.
8) DishServe
Stefanie Irma co-built DishServe in 2020 as a kitchen network in Indonesia. The firm aids in the renovation of underused kitchens by standardising procedures and updating equipment.
Besides, it allows food and beverage (F&B) companies to access a network of highly trained ghost kitchens and use them as last-mile distribution locations for serving their consumers.
Insignia Venture Partners invested an unspecified amount into DishServe’s pre-seed round in May.
Also read: Everything from soup to nuts: Meet the 27 ghost kitchen startups in Southeast Asia
9) Klar Smile
Last year, Ellen Pranata co-founded an Indonesian tech-based dental company Klar Smile.
The company embraces a B2B2C business model. It provides cosmetic dental treatment by leveraging the expertise of orthodontists and advanced technology. Dentists and patients can communicate and monitor treatment progress remotely through its Smile mobile app.
In June 2021, the company raised an undisclosed seed round led by AC Ventures.
10) Pasarnow
Indonesian e-grocer Pasarnow was co-launched by Cindy Ozzie in 2019. Its multi-channel platform attempts to streamline the country’s complex and layered fresh goods supply chain and offer quality food items to its clients.
The operational backend collects all orders and creates a demand forecasting system to assist the company’s 1,000+ farmers and suppliers in better planning and optimising harvesting and delivery schedules.
This September, East Ventures led a US$3.3 million funding in Pasarnow.
11) Durianpay
Launched in 2020 by three co-founders, including the two female leaders Antara Mathai and Natasha Ardiani, Durianpay is an Indonesia-focused payments solution startup that provides a range of payment methods and a no-code interface for businesses and developers to access.
Durianpay claims that its solution works with various payment channels and suppliers, removing the need for complicated interfaces, manual reconciliation, and high expenses.
Recently, the startup received a US$2 million funding led by Sequoia India’s Surge with participation from AC Ventures, Kenangan Fund and other angel investors.
12) VUIHOC
Co-founded by Minh Thu Do in 2019, VUIHOC is a Vietnamese online platform that provides courses for elementary, middle and high school students. Its teaching framework is developed every week and adheres to the textbook curriculum.
VUIHOC’s educators design learning materials based on a deep dive into the psychology of each age group, ensuring that every student will find matching content at their preference. The platform also provides live classes to augment teacher-student interaction.
Last month, Do Ventures, a Vietnam-based early-stage VC firm, revealed its investment in VUIHOC at an undisclosed amount.
13) Ganesh
Founded by Linh Chu in 2021, Ganesh is a runner-up in Fintech Nations Hackathon 2021 held by New York-based hackathon platform Devpost.
Ganesh provides information about fraud prevention, including how to detect, prevent, and report scams and how to get assistance from local authorities.
Its flagship product includes a scam dictionary with an updated resource about definitions of different scams, prevention methodology, and protection guide. The company also provides news and statistics which leverage access to credible sources, showing the current regional scamming situation and sending early alerts to people.
14) Vinastraw
Grown from the 14-week C-Plastics Incubator 2021 programme organised by Spring Activator and KisStartup, Vinastraw is a Vietnam-based startup that provides low-cost but high-quality straws, meeting the needs of the most demanding coffee chains.
The company, founded in 2021 by Thao Thi Huong Do, produces biodegradable straws made mainly from rice and other grains. Its product is said to be 100 per cent compostable, gluten-free and long-lasting.
15) EQUO
In 2020, Marina Tran Vu started EQUO in Vietnam, intending to deliver eco-friendly brands and manufacturers to the world.
Its products, including straws, utensils, dishware, pencils or bags, are made to replace single-use plastics. The firm targets products “100 per cent” natural, non-toxic, chemical-free and biodegradable.
EQUO is one of ten female-led businesses finalists in the She Loves Tech Global Competition 2021.
16) BravoHR
Launched by Han N. in 2019, BravoHR is a Vietnam-based SaaS platform assisting SMEs in better managing, engaging, and rewarding their employees.
It offers employees access to a white-label mobile app connected to a system that allows HR to manage their workforce at scale. Besides, it also helps the companies provide innovative and relevant employee benefits and rewards programs.
BravoHR counts brands such as McDonald’s Vietnam, Philip Morris, 7-Eleven, PNJ Watch, On Point E-Commerce, trading business Idocean, Chubb Insurance, and Talentnet HR among its clients.
In 2020, the firm raised an undisclosed seed funding round from Zone Startups Vietnam and 1005 Ventures.
17) Phenikaa MaaS
In 2021, Bich Nguyen co-founded Phenikaa MaaS to provide “Made in Vietnam” solutions helping enterprises and organisations operate their transportation effectively. With general smart solutions comprising IoT, app, map, AI, and Big Data, the firm aims to accompany governments and companies to digitise the traffic management process.
Phenikaa MaaS is the developer of the previous public transit app BusMap. After raising a US$1.5 million seed funding from Pheenika Group in July this year, Bich Nguyen and her partner Yen Thanh Le renamed the company Phenkaa MaaS.
The startup was also the winner of “SK Startup Fellowship 2021” batch II held by South Korea’s SK Group.
18) Fonos
Co-founded by Xuan Nguyen in 2020, Fonos is a Vietnamese digital audio content startup. The platform creates short 10-15 minute book summaries, guided meditation, stories, news, and offline reading.
Fonos gained prominence in the local audiobook space with standardised in-house audio recordings made by professional narrators.
Recently, the platform raised US$1.1 million over two rounds of seed funding led by Singapore-based AngelCentral Syndicate.
19) Docosan
Docosan is a healthtech startup based in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2020, co-founder Natalia Moreno Hendrickson built this platform to help patients compare healthcare providers across various specialities, make appointments online, and manage their health records.
Its users can sort providers by area and speciality and check price information with verified client reviews. The platform recently added online payment features and insurance integrations.
In April this year, Appworks led Docosan’s US$1 million seed round to expand into new markets.
20) Float Foods
In 2020, Vinita Choolani set up Singaporean foodtech startup Float Foods. The platform is known for its innovative plant-based egg substitute OnlyEg, which includes two legume-based egg yolk and egg white alternatives.
The company develops its product with proprietary technology created by Float Foods’ in-house research and development team.
The firm raised US$1.7 million in seed funding co-led by Singapore-headquartered venture capital firms Insignia Ventures Partners and DSG Consumer Partners in June this year. The firm plans to optimise OnlyEg with nutritional improvements and a longer shelf life track for commercialisation in Singapore by 2022.
Float Foods founder Vinita Choolani
21) Shoplinks
Former CEO of cashback app Snapcart, Teresa Condicion, started Shoplinks to provide digital platforms to offline Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) stores, allowing brands to deliver and customise discounts to customers.
Shoplinks enables one-to-one, offline marketing through its secure data sharing, data matching, POS integrations, and AI-enabled engagement for CPG and retail. Its platform optimises consumer value while minimising marketing and promotional spending.
The Singapore-based firm counts Gillette, Gillette Venus, Oral-B, Pantene among its prominent clients.
22) Mohjo
Founded in January 2021 by Juhi Dang, Mohjo targets to deliver 100 per cent clean foods and drinks made from plants and chemical-free components through its facilities.
The Singapore-based foodtech brand recently launched its first line of products — almond milk and almond milk-based beverages.
Last month, the firm raised an undisclosed seed round led by East Ventures with participation from iSeed Southeast Asia, K3 Ventures, and other angel investors.
23) Dedoco
Co-launched in 2020 by Daphne Ng and her partner Dr Ernie Teo, Dedoco is a Singapore-based decentralised digital document and signing platform.
The firm offers document authentication by ensuring real-time verification choices while maintaining transaction integrity with a blockchain audit trail. Its clients include government agencies, banks, professional services (HR, accountancy, and corporate services), and real estate firms.
Last July, the company netted US$2.45 million seed investment led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia.
24) MadEats
The all-female led cloud kitchen startup MadEats is a Philippines-based innovative online restaurant group that serves the delivery sector.
Mikee Villareal, alongside her partners Keisha Lao and Andrea Cruz, built the platform in 2020 with three food brands: Yang Gang offering Korean fried chicken, Chow Time providing Chinese takeout, and Fried Nice serving Southeast Asian rice bowls.
The firm develops its culinary concepts, organises orders using backend technology, and fulfils orders with its fleet of riders.
Early last month, Y Combinator injected US$125,000 funding in MadEats.
25) Epost
Epost is a Malaysian e-commerce logistics company providing cross-border delivery and e-commerce fulfilment services to brands and retailers. Co-founder Mandy Chan started the platform in 2019 to offer cloud-based integrated order, inventory, and warehouse management systems to ease logistics burdens for companies.
With 13 e-commerce fulfilment facilities strategically positioned around Southeast Asia, its services are now accessible in Malaysia, China, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brunei.
Last July, the firm attracted US$1.4 million from Warisan Quantum Management, a Malaysia-based private equity management firm.
26) Aye Solutions
Aye Solutions is a Kuala Lumpur-based technology startup offering an autonomous retail solution at an affordable cost, covering software to hardware.
Yee Yun Lim set up the AI platform in 2020, helping retailers collect data to dictate the future product array and business model. This year, the company opened the first unmanned retail store in Malaysia.
27) Ira Concept
Headquartered in Thailand, Ira Concept is a subscription-based, app-enabled line of organic and biodegradable feminine hygiene products that can be delivered to a customer’s door every month for an affordable price.
Varangtip Satchatippavarn started Ira in 2020 with plastic-free, chemical-free, and guilt-free products. The firm was awarded 3rd place in the “She Loves Tech” competition in 2020.
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Image credit: 123rf, Pinhome, Float Foods
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