Hi, everyone. Taro here.
Last week, several VC investors spoke with a range of startups as part of the Open Office Hours at the AsiaForward Startup Day. I was lucky enough to moderate the session with Sequoia India. Johan Surani, Sequoia India’s vice president, connected with Vase Creation, Ship60, Trabble, and Neufast. It was great to hear Johan’s helpful feedback and encouragement for startups that are on their journey. We hope everyone enjoyed their session and picked up valuable advice.
Open Run
Startups to watch in Asia. This week, we’re looking at startups that operate beyond this world.
Location: Singapore
The Singaporean startup develops low-powered thrusters to enable satellites to orbit Earth at a relatively close distance. A nanosatellite using Aliena’s thruster system was recently launched into space as part of a SpaceX mission in January.
Location: Japan
The Japan-based startup is developing a propulsion system for spacecraft using water as the propellant. Pale Blue aims to create an environmentally friendly, cost-efficient method of propulsion using this technology.
Location: Japan
Headquartered in Japan, the startup develops technology to remove debris and satellites that require end-of-life disposal. It launched the End-of-Life Services by Astroscale Demonstration (ELSA-d) mission in March 2021 to begin removing space debris and demonstrate the ability to dock its satellite with defunct human-made devices in orbit for inspection.
Location: Singapore
Developing a hydrogen-based propulsion system that is non-explosive and more cost-efficient than traditional fuel-based systems. Its HRF-1 solid fuel composition is proprietary, and the startup was recently named as one of the firms in the upcoming Techstars cohort.
The Post Up
Startups Currently Raising Funds
Country: Japan
Target: USD 25 million, Series B
Fairy Devices provides an end-to-end solution to enterprises for industrial digital transformation, from unique wearable devices called LINKLET and THINKLET to cloud services and AI. Its devices enable wearers to share what they see in first-person view with off-site personnel, paired with voice communications.
Nothing But Net
Recent Startup Wins
- Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund / HSBC JUMPSTARTER 2022 announced ten finalists:
- Scratchbac, a proximity-based app that connects people who need a favor with others who are able to fulfill their need, raised SGD 500,000 (USD 370,000) in a pre-seed round led by Mistletoe Singapore.
- Know Your Customer, an anti-money laundering (AML) and KYC platform, formed a partnership with Tricor Group to upgrade the consultancy’s client onboarding and AML processes.
- Singaporean e-sports startup Ampverse raised a USD 12 million Series A round led by Falcon Capital.
- New Zealand-based Plaztuff, which produces polymer sheets as an alternative to steel, will distribute its products in Singapore via Marunda Utama Engineering.
Pick & Roll
Interesting Drops From the Week
- Ronin Network, a popular Ethereum sidechain developed by Sky Mavis, the company behind the play-to-earn game Axie Infinity, lost USD 615 million in a hack. Ronin Network confirmed that its validators were compromised and the hacker transferred ETH and USDC in two transactions. [via Coindesk]
- Brian Cu, CEO and co-founder of SariSuki, a group-buying platform in the Philippines, spoke with KrASIA about being a serial entrepreneur.
- Quest Ventures has unveiled a new accelerator focused on social impact.
- Sony announced a new subscription plan for Playstation users launching in June that will give subscribers access to 700 games. This is a move to counter the growing popularity of XBox’s GamePass offering. [via Sony]
- Haidilao, a popular hot pot chain throughout Asia, has seen its value plummet 75% from its peak and will close a number of locations.
If you are a startup that is raising funds, or have an interesting story or lead for us to feature in this newsletter, please fill out this form.