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Startups in Philippines could raise US$2B over the next 3 years
There’s now a clear direction of how the startup community will continue to progress, according to a report by Gobi-Core Philippines Fund; This includes the country’s new wave of technopreneurs, the preference for camels over unicorns, and the rise of the entertainment and crypto sectors.
Iris Capital Partners announces US$38M venture debt fund to back high-impact startups in Malaysia
Iris Capital Partners brings in funds that will be matched on a 1:1 basis with government-backed Penjana Kapital; The primary beneficiaries of venture debt funds are early-stage startups with validated business models and clear market growth opportunities.
Singapore’s SME services platform Sleek adds US$11M more to Series A round
EDBI and existing investors participated; Sleek automates and integrates company registration, financial and regulatory reporting, bookkeeping, and banking services; In November, Sleek raised US$14M funding co-led by Jungle Ventures and White Star Capital.
Malaysia’s Kenanga invests US$7M in CapBay’s P2P Islamic financing platform
The investment will help CapBay grow its Shariah-compliant supply chain finance arm CapBay Islamic; Last year, CapBay acquired a 49 per cent stake in Kenanga’s unit KCI to create an Islamic supply chain finance fintech unit.
Blockchain-powered trade finance network Contour adds US$4.9M to its Series A kitty
Investors are INTEC Group, Citi Ventures and Bangkok Bank; Singapore-based Contour applies enterprise blockchain tech to unite buyers, suppliers and banks on a decentralised digital trade finance platform.
Animoca Brands invests in Fantico, a startup creating its own metaverse
Fantico is a digital collectible platform catering to celebrated movies, artists, musicians, and sports for the Indian market; VistaVerse consists of virtual land, blockchain games, curated and user-generated experiences, and an NFT marketplace.
Sea to help Indonesian govt. bank BNI enter digibank space
Slamet Edy Purnomo, OJK’s deputy commissioner for banking supervision III, said that Sea Group will contribute “a small portion” to BNI’s acquisition of the bank; Aside from this tie-up, Sea Group had acquired another bank called Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi and turned it into SeaBank.
Grab, Gojek, others get low scores on the fair work index in IDN: report
A Fairwork Foundation report said these ride-hailing firms have failed to deliver on the promise of offering fair pay to their gig workers; This comes despite the government’s attempt to ensure fair competition by setting up a minimum per-kilometer fare according to operational region.
Shopee partners taxi operator Blue Bird to launch taxi service in Indonesia
Before this partnership, Shopee and Blue Bird had worked together on several fronts: The taxi firm allows its users to use ShopeePay to conduct transactions in its MyBluebird app; Also, Shopee’s users could use Blue Bird’s logistics service as one of the delivery methods on the app.
UK-based investor Granite Oak plans SEA-focused fund in H2 2022
The VC firm, which manages US$250M of capital, is an investor in Vietnam’s F88, Kumu, Sunday and Lomotif; The SEA-focused fund will have a corpus in the double-digit million USD range.
Line is lining up an NFT service for next year
It will launch NFT service next year via its new organisation LineNext to provide the marketplace for companies and individuals to trade NFTs globally, excluding Japan; Line is separately operating its NFT market beta version through Line Bitmax wallet that is fit for the Japanese market.
Japanese IT firm NEC Corporation launches US$150M VC fund
The fund will focus on investing in areas like 5G and 6G communication, digital government, digital finance, smart cities, healthcare and life sciences, and carbon neutrality; It will invest in firms across Asia, Israel, the US, and Europe.
What Choco Up wants you to know about running a revenue-based financing platform in Asia
Choco Up combines the use of technology and human touch in supporting the startup ecosystem; Find out how they do it.
Why the Australian Fashion Council is helping startups enter the metaverse
From Burberry and Dolce & Gabbana to Nike, major fashion brands in recent months have been embracing NFTs; Now, small Australian businesses will be given support to explore virtual fashion, thanks to a new FashTech Lab programme from the Australian Fashion Council.
A look back at 2021: The year after 2020’s e-commerce boom
People continue to shop online but now expect slicker digital experiences, frictionless checkout, and speedy delivery. These new habits have taken root, and consumers are more demanding than ever.
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