Ascend Money co-founder Tanyapong Thamavaranukupt
Aspire lands US$158M Series B to scale its ‘all-in-one finance OS’ for SMEs across SEA
Investors include undisclosed global growth equity firm, DST Global, CE Innovation Fund, B Capital and Fasanara Capital; Aspire serves a new generation of internet businesses with a mobile-first digital account across Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.
Ascend Money becomes Thailand’s first fintech unicorn following US$150M funding
Investors are Bow Wave Capital Management, Charoen Pokphand Group and Ant Group; Ascend Money operates the digital payment and financial service platform TrueMoney; It has already made inroads into Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam.
Investible targets new US$72M early-stage climate tech fund
While the fund will predominantly focus on Australian businesses, it will also invest up to 30% internationally; It will invest in companies that assist in reducing emissions across six sectors– energy, transport, industry, buildings and cities, food and agriculture, and forests and land use.
New Singapore VC fund to invest US$75M into crypto, blockchain firms
Variable Capital Company will focus on pre-series A and series A companies working on blockchain-based or DLT infrastructure, DeFi solutions, and regulatory tech tools; The fund was formed by SBI Group, Sygnum, and Azimut Group.
Vertex Ventures eyes raising US$400M in new SEA, India fund
Vertex aims to kickstart the process of raising its fifth fund for SEA and India by Q2 2022; The VC firm is looking to invest with its fifth fund in 2023, after wrapping up its fourth fund by the end of 2022; While India, Singapore and Indonesia have been the focus for the VC firm, it is now also hunting for investments in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.
PolicyStreet aims to advance embedded insurance in SEA with its US$6M Series A financing
Lead investors are Altara Ventures, Auspac and Gobi Partners; The insurtech startup aims to expand into new markets in SEA; The company is working with AirAsia Money and Carro in Malaysia in the auto insurance segment.
Enterprise SaaS startup Quincus raises Series B at US$100M+ valuation
Investors are by US-based UP.Partners (lead) and GGV Capital; Quincus is an enterprise SaaS platform that helps solve logistics problems for logistics providers, e-commerce, airlines, freight, and household brands worldwide.
Merkle Science nets US$5.75M Series A to help detect, investigate, prevent illegal crypto activities
Investors include Darrow Holdings, Kraken Ventures, Uncorrelated Ventures, and Fenbushi Capital; The Merkle Science platform takes a behaviour-based approach to transaction risk management for more proactive and effective crime monitoring and investigations.
Lippo Group invests US$3.3M in fintech startup Moolahgo’s pre-series A round
Singaporean Moolahgo’s eWallet app allows users to send money and make payments to 40 countries and has a network of over 1,000 banks and agents; Moolahgo will use the fresh funds to drive the startup’s expansion into the retail digital payments segment, which will be spearheaded by eWallet.
YC-backed Verihubs bags US$2.8M to provide ID and data verification solutions to banks, fintechs
Investors include Insignia Ventures (lead), Central Capital Ventura, Amand Ventures, and angels; Verihubs assists Indonesian digital enterprises in authenticating their clients’ identities, verifying their histories, and gaining access to their financial data.
Wavemaker joins US$2.6M financing round of B’desh OTA startup Go Zayaan
Other backers are 1982 Ventures, Iterative, Airbnb China CEO Kum Hong Siew, ex-Airbnb APAC managing director JJ Chai, and five former Priceline executives; Go Zayaan works with local airlines, inter-city bus firms, hotels and tour operators to bring more travel services online.
Indonesia’s D2C beauty and wellness startup Base bags pre-Series A
Investors are Skystar Capital, East Ventures, Antler, iSeed SEA, Pegasus Tech Ventures, and XA Network; Base offers organic, vegan, and halal staple skincare products — from cleansers to sunscreen — primarily targeting the Gen-Z and millennial consumers.
Indonesian investment app Makmur scores seed funding
Investors include Beenext, Kinesys Group, Trihill Capital, and angels; Makmur enables Indonesians to plan their financial goals (emergency fund, retirement fund, and children’s education fund) on a single app.
How cloud kitchen startup COOKHOUSE, started amidst COVID-19, managed to win 35 F&B clients in Malaysia within a year
Started in 2020 at the peak of the pandemic crisis, the company quickly grew to four locations, with another two in the pipeline.
Forge Ventures closes US$22M debut fund targeting seed-stage startups in Indonesia, Singapore
Forge Ventures has already invested in three firms and aims to invest in a total of 15 over the next three years in SEA; The average cheque size is US$750K.
Ex-Grab Indonesia exec lands funding for his soon-to-be-launched personal finance app PINA
Investors are 1982 Ventures, iSeed Asia, PT Prasetia Dwidharma, and Oberyn Capital; PINA provides automated money management and investment solutions, besides personalised expert advice to its users, on a single app.
Touchstone Partners launches ‘no-frills’ incubation programme in Vietnam
Touchstone will invest between US$50K and US$100K in convertible notes with “straightforward and founders-friendly” terms for startups; Construction B2B marketplace Debion and no-code automation SaaS Autotable are the first two startups receiving fundings from the programme.
Ease Healthcare nets US$1.3M
Investors are Insignia Ventures and high-profile members from XA Network; Ease is women-focused healthcare services startup; It will use the funds to launch its own line of products focused on preventing or improving women’s health conditions, including vaginal infections, PMS, and urinary tract issues.
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Image Credit: Ascend Money
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