Hi, everyone! It’s Sara here with KrASIA’s Startup Wire newsletter.
As we hear more about super apps being developed by tech giants and metaverse hype around the world, we are delighted to continually support tech startups as they grow, starting at the seed phase.
We received positive responses after kicking off our Startup Wire newsletter two weeks ago. Many startups have been sending in information about their funding rounds. We will try to have these added to the newsletters as much as possible. We made more than 30 introductions between startups and VCs in the past two weeks as a follow-on of our Alibaba Cloud Accelerator activities. Going forward, we hope to continue to stand side by side with you, accompanying your startup with every step of growth.
If you have an interesting story or lead, want to know more about startups in our network, or just want to say hello, you can drop us a message at [email protected]. If you are a startup and want us to feature your fundraising news in this newsletter, please fill out this form.
The Post Up
Startups Currently Raising Funds
Target: USD 5 million, pre-Series A
Zendyll comprises agency, productions, records, studios, and publishing divisions, and represents a collective of top producers, songwriters, and artists with over 30 million Spotify streams to provide integrated approaches to music, from studio to stage. With recent projects such as AR performances and team challenge series involving its artists, it is looking to expand its creative and digital capabilities across the region.
Target: USD 5 million, Series A
This bootstrapped startup uses AI to detect fraud, predict payment defaults, and provide real-time credit scores. Banks, insurance companies, financial service providers, and government agencies make up its pool of clients in Southeast Asia. KewMann is raising its first funding round to bolster its products and expansion plans.
Target: USD 2.2 million, stage undisclosed
Based in New Zealand, Pictor develops, manufactures, and distributes immunodiagnostic products. The PictArray COVID-19 test can detect whether a person has antibodies from a previous infection or is vaccinated, giving individuals knowledge about whether their antibodies have declined to a level where revaccination is required. Pictor has advanced commercialization plans for New Zealand, the United States, and India.
Target: USD 300,000, seed
Bintang Kecil helps parents of 89 million Indonesian children aged 3 to 13 by providing non-academic classes, which are delivered by experienced teachers from leading schools. The startup also provides various interactive activities such as 780 Indonesian children’s songs, 600 fairy tales, karaoke, coloring, video content production for children to create, express, and achieve new goals.
Target: USD 250,000, seed
The Indonesian-based startup is a one-stop platform for university applicants. It offers scholarship information, education consultation, as well as interest and aptitude testing tools. The startup also provides an event management system where universities can promote their programs or events to a large number of prospective students.
Nothing But Net
Recent Startup Wins
- Aespada was recently mentioned on CNA, highlighting its recent addition of minibuses that can be booked by construction companies in Singapore to transport their workers.
- A number of startups were named as award winners during the recent Singapore FinTech Festival. These include ShuttleOne, GoalsMapper, StashAway, and ReMark. Descartes, Wattify, and Banco were named the top three firms for the Global FinTech Hackcelerator.
- Hong Kong-based investment platform Angelhub announced its first exit with a US 93 million Series B raise by its portfolio company The Sandbox.
- NZ startup Tectonus, which specializes in earthquake protection technology for buildings, recently won first prize at the Asian Entrepreneurship Award 2021.
Pick & Roll
Interesting Drops From the Week
- Microsoft has got itself onto the BNPL craze by announcing its Edge browser will have its own BNPL feature. The initial reception has been mixed at best. [via Microsoft]
- Impossible Foods recently announced their arrival into Australia and New Zealand. With a heavy reliance on primary industries, it will be interesting to see the response within New Zealand.
- Rockstar Games had to release an apology after its disastrous release of its Grand Theft Auto Trilogy remaster. With other games such as Cyberpunk 2077, eFootball, and Battlefield 2042 having similarly terrible launches, the AAA gaming industry has a lot of work to do to repair its image. [via Rockstar Games]
- One aspect of the NFT boom that is commonly overlooked is taxation. Many may be surprised once tax season comes around. [via Forbes]