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

For a downloadable copy of Southeast Asia Issue #03

FINTECH

Tonik raises US$17M in an iGlobe-led round to scale its neobank services in Philippines
Filipino neobank Tonik has raised US$17 million in a pre-Series B funding round, led by Singaporean VC firm iGlobe Partners. This round comes fresh off Tonik’s public launch in March 2021. The firm has since claimed to have secured US$20 million in retail deposits within just a month.
Greg Krasnov is the Founder & CEO at Tonik
Soo Boon Koh is the Founder & Managing Partner at iGlobe Partners

Aspire’s business accounts reach $1B in annualized transaction volume one year after launching
Singapore-based Aspire, which wants to become the financial services “one-stop shop” for SMEs, announced that its business accounts have reached $1 billion in annualized transaction volume one year after launching. The company also unveiled Bill Pay, its latest feature that lets businesses manage and pay invoices by emailing them to Aspire’s AI-based digital assistant
Andrea Baronchelli is the Co-Founder & CEO at Aspire

Atato raises US$1M to help financial institutions build blockchain-based digital assets solutions
Thailand-based digital assets company, atato, said today it has raised US$1 million in a seed financing round led by Zipmex Asia, SOSV, and other undisclosed angel investors. Started in 2017, with a footprint in both Singapore and Thailand, atato helps financial institutions and digital assets service providers in Southeast Asia build blockchain-powered digital assets solutions.
Akalarp Yimwilai is the CEO at Zipmex Thailand
Guillaume le Saint is the CEO at atato

Telkomsel injects US$300M more into Gojek to further grow Indonesia’s digital lifestyle sector
Indonesia’s super app Gojek has secured additional funding of US$300 million from Telkomsel, a digital telco company owned by Telkom. This investment builds on the existing collaboration between the two tech giants and will open up new synergies as they scale up digital services and deliver new, innovative solutions.
Setyanto Hantoro is the CEO at Telkomsel
Andre Soelistyo is the Co-CEO at Gojek Group

Malaysian B2B e-wholesaler Lapasar lands US$1.8M funding
Lapasar, an online B2B wholesale procurement startup in Malaysia, has announced that it has raised RM7.5 million (US$1.8 million) in a funding round led by startup accelerator-cum-investment firm NEXEA and shopper360 limited.
Thinesh Kumar is the CEO at Lapasar
Ben Lim is the managing partner at NEXEA

Former Carousell, OVO execs launch e-commerce brand aggregator Rainforest with US$36M seed funding
Rainforest, an e-commerce brand aggregator, has officially announced its launch with a seed financing round of US$36 million. The funding round consisted of US$6.5 million in equity financing, led by Nordstar, with participation from Insignia Venture Partners, and a US$30 million debt facility from an undisclosed US-based debt fund.
JJ Chai is the CEO & Co-founder at Rainforest

Bonza raises US$2M to help non-tech teams at enterprises to deploy data-driven solutions
Bonza, an Indonesian Big Data analytics startup, has secured US$2 million in a funding round led by early-stage VC firm East Ventures. Elev8.vc, a B2B-focused VC fund based in Singapore, also participated. Bonza’s no-code approach for data analytics and AI deployment helps technical and non-technical teams to build and deploy data-driven solutions at scale.
Philip Thomas is the Co-Founder at Bonza
Aditya Mathur is the Managing Director at Elev8.vc

Ex-CEO of Rocket Internet Asia launches new e-commerce venture Una Brands with a US$40M seed round
Una Brands, a Singapore-based startup providing a “fast and fair way” for e-commerce business owners (vendors) to sell their companies, has raised US$40 million in a seed round of equity and debt financing. Investors include 500 Startups, Kingsway Capital, 468 Capital, Presight Capital and Global Founders Capital.
Kiren Tanna is the Founder at Una Brands

FPT acquires majority stake in Beenext-backed SaaS platform Base.vn
FPT, a leading technology corporation in Vietnam, has acquired majority stake in local SaaS company Base.vn. As per a press note, this cooperation will enable the two sides to promote the comprehensive digital transformation ecosystem for 800,000 enterprises.
Nguyen Van Khoa is CEO at FPT
Hung Pham is the Founder & CEO at Base

SCI Ecommerce raises US$38M led by Asia Partners, plans US IPO in end-2021
SCI Ecommerce, a cross-border e-commerce enabler based in Singapore, has completed a fundraising of more than SGD50 million (US$38 million) in a round led by Asia Partners. The e-commerce enabler plans to set up local teams in Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines, and hire at least 100 people across SEA and China.
Liu Jiannan is the CEO at SCI Ecommerce
Nicholas A. Nash is the Co-founder at Asia Partners

MFGTECH

Sesto Robotics expands into Europe, targeting Germany, Austria, Switzerland
Singapore’s autonomous mobile robot company SESTO Robotics has expanded to Europe. It has partnered with the Germany-based automation specialist Baumüller, to bring its flagship AMR SESTO Magnus (Magnus) to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. SESTO claims it is the first Singapore-based robotics company to offer autonomous mobile robot solutions focused on smart manufacturing in Europe.
Ang Chor-Chen is the CEO at SESTO Robotics

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.