Every fortnight we compile a list of important news updates and events covering South East Asia FINTECH, MFGTECH, CLNTECH, and AGRTECH sectors.

For a downloadable copy of Southeast Asia Issue #01

FINTECH

European MNC Schneider Electric and EDB set up new venture in Singapore
NaviX Solutions will help companies manage and use assets such as generators, medium-voltage switch gears and generators, without them having to fork out capital for the tools. The new company will lead to job creation in the areas of customer service, technical support, finance, human resources and logistics, among others.
Simon Claringbold is the Solutions Chief Executive at NaviX
Choo Heng Tong is EDB’s Executive Vice-president of new ventures and innovation

Ex-VinaCapital Ventures exec’s US$50M fund Touchstone Partners hits first close
Touchstone Partners, an early-stage VC firm investing in Vietnamese startups, has announced the first close of its debut fund. As per a press announcement, Touchstone has received commitments “well in excess of half of the target US$50 million”. Notable investors include Pavilion Capital, Vulcan Capital and several other institutional investors and family offices.
Khanh Tran is the Managing Partner at Touchstone

Temasek and BlackRock form US$600m decarbonisation investment partnership
Named Decarbonization Partners, the initiative will launch a series of late-stage venture capital (VC) and early-growth private equity (PE) investment funds that will focus on advancing decarbonisation solutions that will “accelerate global efforts to achieve a net zero economy by 2050”. It intends to deploy private capital with a focus on early-stage growth companies which target next-generational renewable and mobility technologies – as well as companies in building and manufacturing sectors to drive decarbonisation, resource efficiencies, and material and process innovation.
Dilhan Pillay is the Chief Executive at Temasek International
Larry Fink is the Chairman & Chief Executive at BlackRock

SEED Ventures’s new fund can pay interest-free loan of up to US$38K to startups ‘within 5 days’
Singapore-based VC fund management company SEED Ventures has announced the launch of a new sector-agnostic venture debt fund. Christened ‘Venture Debt Fund 1’ (VDF1), it plans to provide an interest-free loan of US$15,000-US$37,500 to 30 seed-stage ASEAN startups each by the end of 2021. Although SEED Ventures won’t be taking any interest from startups, the shareholders will be incentivised with small amounts of equity.
Ian Gan is the CEO at SEED Ventures

Carousell launches auto unit to encompass its automobile classifieds platforms
Singapore’s Carousell announced the launch of Carousell Auto Group, which would encompass its automobile classifieds platforms across the region. Under the group’s umbrella are the operations of Mudah Auto in Malaysia, Cho Tot Xe in Vietnam, and Carousell Auto in the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore, as well as transactional platforms OneShift and Revo Financial.
Siu Rui Quek is the Co-founder & CEO at Carousell

Singapore-based career platform Glints gets $22.5M in Series C funding
Glints, the Singapore-based career platform, announced today it has raised $22.5 million in Series C funding led by Japanese human resources management firm PERSOL Holdings. The new capital will be used on Glints’ expansion in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Taiwan and hiring for its product and engineering teams.
Oswald Yeo is the CEO & Co-founder at Glints

Singapore-based fintech firm Atome Financial acquires Indonesian financing startup
Atome Financial, the parent company of “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) firm Atome based in Singapore, said it has completed its acquisition of financing startup Mega Finadana Finance in Indonesia. This will allow Atome to expand its business in Indonesia through consumer financing.
WawanSalum is the CEO at Atome Financial Indonesia

Neobanking startup StashFin to expand its service across South Asia
The company plans to further expand its current market in South Asia and strengthen its platform for local language users. With this, StashFin ventures into the potential $1 trillion neobanking opportunities. Previously, it had built a model that focused on B2C use cases, which attracted millions of applicants.
Tushar Aggarwal is the Founder & CEO at StashFin

Singapore Based Venture Capital Firm M Capital closes maiden fund at $31 million to back early-stage technology startups
The venture firm aims to invest in 40 sprouting startups, primarily seed and pre-Series A, focusing on the technology-enabled business-business (B2B) and business-to-business-to-customer (B2B2C) with an average initial check size of around $500,000. However, the company didn’t specify if this would be the first or final close of the fund.
Mayank Parekh is the Founder at M Venture Partners (MVP)

CLNTECH

Dat Bike bags US$2.6M pre-Series A to bring more electric motorbikes to Vietnam
The funds will bankroll expansion plans after what the company claims is a 35 per cent MoM growth in demand for its bikes. Launched in 2018 after founder Son Nguyen left a cushy job in Silicon Valley, Dat Bike provides electric motorbikes that are on par with their gasoline counterparts. The company claims its flagship Weaver model (which retails at US$1,700) can rival gas bikes in power and range and is powered with a 5000W motor that helps the bike accelerate from 0 to 50kmph within three seconds.
Son Nguyen is the Founder & CEO at Dat Bike

Impact-tech investor ADB Ventures in talks to raise US$100M debt fund
The debt fund will target tech startups that are slightly further along the commercialisation lifecycle. The ADB VenturesEquity Fund is backed by Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Government of the Republic of Korea, Climate Investment Fund’s Clean Technology Fund, and the Nordic Development Fund.
Daniel Hersson is the Senior Fund Manager at ADB Ventures

MFGTECH

Otsaw Digital launches home delivery robots in Singapore
Named Camello, the robots are currently undergoing a one-year trial with their services offered to 700 households. According to the report, users can book delivery slots for groceries including milk and eggs, and they will be notified through an app when the robot is near a pick-up point, such as the lobby of an apartment building.
Ling Ting Ming is the Founder & CEO at Otsaw

Singapore’s e-commerce giant Shopee makes its way to the Indonesian food delivery market with ShopeeFood
The Indonesian food delivery market is primarily dominated by Grab’s GrabFood and Gojek’s GoFood, however, this year Singapore’s e-commerce giant Shopee has a made a quiet entry into this segment with its food delivery platform ShopeeFood.
Chris Feng is the CEO at Shopee Singapore