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Indian car-sharing marketplace Zoomcar expands into SEA
The crux: India’s leading car-sharing marketplace Zoomcar said today it will be launching its operations in Vietnam shortly. The Bangalore-headquartered company has appointed Kiet Pham as head of Vietnam operations to help scale its business.
Who is Pham?: Pham previously held senior management positions in companies such as Gojek, OYO, and Nielsen. He brings over a decade of experience, and his expertise in startup management will prove vital in establishing Zoomcar as the first-to-market car-sharing platform in Vietnam.
More about Zoomcar: Launched in 2013, Zoomcar has approximately 10,000 cars on its platform and a presence across Asia and the MENA region. It allows individuals to rent from a diverse pool of cars by the hour or by the day. The firm employs over 300 people and operates in over 50 cities.
In 2020, Zoomcar launched Zoomcar Mobility Services, the company’s enterprise SaaS-based mobility solutions offering white-label subscription services and IoT-based driver behaviour monitoring solutions.
Also Read: Zoomcar raises US$24M Series B to offer self-drive rent-a-car service in India
Funding updates: Zoomcar has raised more than US$290 million in funding throughout several rounds so far to drive its global expansion, including across Southeast Asia. It recently announced the completion of a US$92 million private placement led by New York City-based SternAegis Ventures, with participation from leading international family offices and institutional investors.
Sunway University joins hand with Carsome to set up data innovation lab
The crux: Sunway University, through its innovation arm Sunway iLabs, and Southeast Asia’s largest integrated car e-commerce platform Carsome, have forged a strategic partnership to set up a data innovation lab in Sunway University in Selangor, Malaysia.
Objectives: To be launched by the end of January 2022, the Data Innovation Lab aims to revolutionise Southeast Asia’s used car industry through data and power the future of mobility by creating value in multiple areas, including customer empowerment, sustainability, and cybersecurity. The lab involves a multi-disciplinary research consortium consisting of the Sunway University Business School, School of Engineering and Technology, School of Mathematical Sciences and the stakeholders of Carsome.
Sunway University is the first to collaborate with Carsome on data innovation which will see various initiatives take place, including collaborations involving student coursework, student hackathons and contract research and consultancy.
About Carsome: With operations across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, Carsome aims to digitise the region’s used car industry by reshaping and elevating the car buying and selling experience. The company provides end-to-end solutions to consumers and used car dealers, from car inspection to ownership transfer to financing, promising a trusted, convenient, and efficient service. Carsome currently has more than 2,000 employees across all its offices.
Also Read: How Malaysia’s first unicorn Carsome practised compassion to grow in the face of adversity
About Sunway University: One of Malaysia’s leading private universities governed by the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation. The not-for-profit institution is dedicated to quality education, supports enterprise, and undertakes research focused on key global problems.
Indian startup Premagic bags US$270K pre-seed funding
The crux: Kerala-based photography workflow management startup Premagic has bagged INR 2 crore (US$270,000) in a pre-Seed funding round.
Investors: Sujayath Ali, co-founder of ShopUp and Voonik; Sony Joy, VP of Truecaller; Mohammed Hisamuddin, co-founder and CEO of Entri.app; and Sharique Samsudheen, founder and CEO of Marketfeed, among others.
More about Premagic: Founded in 2018 by Anup Mohan, Anenth Vishnu, and Mevin Chirayath, Premagic was started as a B2B SaaS product targeting event photography. It helps photographers streamline their workflow and improve the efficacy of client interactions by making curation digital. In addition, Premagic also enables photographers to broadcast their brand to a large audience.
The firm claims thousands of photographers from India and other geographies like New Zealand and France use the Premagic platform.
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Image Credit: Sunway iLabs
The post In brief: Zoomcar drives into Vietnam; Sunway iLabs, Carsome to set up data innovation lab appeared first on e27.