Upstage raises US$27M in Series A funding round
The company: Seoul-based artificial intelligence startup Upstage announced that it has raised US$27 million in Series A funding round led by SoftBank Ventures Asia and Company K Partners. The funding round also included the participation of other investors such as TBT Partners, Premier Partners, Stonebridge Ventures, and Primer Sazze Fund.
The plan: The startup plans to use the funds to recruit “a large number” of AI specialists and developers to accelerate the development of its ‘AI Pack’.
The company: Headquartered in Seoul, Upstage enables companies to easily adopt AI solutions that standardise and automate their key tasks. The is developing the ‘AI Pack’, an integrated AI solution.
Mobile Premier League raises new funding, values at US$2.3B
The story: Mobile Premier League (MPL), Bangalore-headquartered e-sports and skill gaming platform, announced that it has raised a Series E round of financing led by Legatum Capital at a pre-money valuation of US$2.3 billion. Existing investors including Sequoia, SIG, RTP Global, Go-Ventures, Moore Strategic Ventures, Play Ventures, Base Partners, Telstra Ventures, and Founders Circle Capital also participated in the round.
The plan: MPL will use the funding to support its global expansion plan, invest in its homegrown technology, and drive continued growth in the Indian market.
The company: Headquartered in Bengaluru, MPL also has offices in Jakarta, Pune, New Delhi, Singapore, and New York. It has over 85 million users across India, Indonesia and the US. It was founded in 2018 by Sai Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra. The gaming platform currently employs over 800 personnel.
Also Read: Crowdfunding for startups: Where to begin and how to go about it
1Export raises US$800K in seed funding round led by Foxmont Capital Partners
The story: 1Export, a tech-enabled exporting company based in the Philippines, has raised a US$800,000 seed funding round led by Foxmont Capital Partners. The funding round also included participation of a consortium from the Manila Angel Investors Network and Kerubin Capital, IdeaSpace Foundation, Singapore based Iterative and other private investors.
The plan: With the new investments, 1Export aims to develop and improve its order handling capabilities, marketing services, financing, and other third-party integrations within its platform.
The company: 1Export was founded in 2016 to help MSMEs in the Philippines grow their business and expand in different countries using digital tools and platforms. In June 2021, the company said it generated around US$500,000 in export sales, accounting for 0.2 per cent of the total Philippine exports. It currently lists 450 supplier partners on its platform and distributes an overall volume of 4,000 tonnes of products, which are a mix of food and non-food products. 1Export plans to expand to 60 countries by the end of 2022.
BuzzAR raises US$630K in funding from Choco Up
The story: Singapore-based deep tech startup BuzzAR announced that it has raised US$630,000 in funding from Choco Up, a revenue-based financing and growth platform.
The plan: This funding round will enable BuzzAR to further develop localised marketing campaigns across APAC, the US and China as the firm ramps up B2B partnerships in response to rising demand.
The company: Founded in 2018, BuzzAR is a technology firm offering AR and AI solutions to Fortune 500 companies in Singapore and China. It is part of the Singapore Tourism Accelerator 2020/2021. BuzzAR’s vision is to augment places and faces, connecting the next billion users by 2025. Through its AR Billboard, BuzzAR has offered gamified wayfinding to its Fortune 500 enterprise clients.
Also Read: 500 Startups is now 500 Global, closes US$140M global flagship fund
Asumsi raises US$700K from East Ventures
The company: Indonesia-based multiplatform media company Asumsi announced a US$700,000 funding round from existing investor East Ventures.
The plan: The investment aims to further expand Asumsi’s media operation and escalate the engineering team to create a more interactive platform. The company is targeting to launch a live-streaming platform by mid-2022.
The company: Asumsi is a multi-platform digital media company that covers current affairs, politics, and social issues and targets the Indonesian youth segment. The company said that it reaches more than 10 millions audience per month through various social media channels.
It also said that its revenue has grown 10 times (year-on-year) since its last funding round in September 2020, which was also led by East Ventures.
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