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 #14

FINTECH

Talino Venture Labs banks US$1.25M to grow its inclusive fintech venture studio
Talino Venture Labs, a global venture studio for inclusive fintech, has secured US$1.25 million led by Wavemaker Labs, a next-generation corporate innovation fund investing in North America and Southeast Asia.
Winston Damarillo is the CEO at Talino Venture Labs

Thai oil firm OR, 500 TukTuks launch US$50M mobility and lifestyle fund ORZON Ventures
SGHoldCo, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thai oil company OR, and early-stage investor 500 TukTuks (now 500 Global), have jointly launched a US$50-million fund to invest in startups in Thailand and Southeast Asia.
Twarath Sutabutr is the Director at OR

Funding Societies lands US$18M debt fund, on track to raise US$120MFunding Societies (also known as Modalku in Indonesia), an online lending platform for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Asia, has secured US$18 million in debt funding.
Kelvin Teo is the Co-Founder & Group CEO at Funding Societies

Vietnamese SaaS startup Bizzi secures $3m to Enhance Product
Bizzi, an AI-powered invoice processing automation solution in Vietnam, has raised US$3 million in a pre-Series A round led by Money Forward, a fintech company headquartered in Japan. 
Nghia Vu is the CEO at Bizzi

VFlowTech lands US$3M to scale low-cost, long-duration energy storage solutions beyond Singapore
An energy storage solutions provider in Singapore, today announced the raising of US$3 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Wavemaker.
Avishek Kumar is the Co-Founder and CEO at V-Flow Tech

Qapita nets US$15M Series A to facilitate liquidity solutions via a digital marketplace
Singapore-based Qapita, a fintech startup focused on employee stock ownership plans (ESOP) and cap table management, has received US$15 million in a Series A round of investment.
Ravi Ravulaparthi is the CEO and Co-founder at Qapita

Axie Infinity maker Sky Mavis raises $152m in Series B funding
Sky Mavis, the creator of the popular NFT-based game Axie Infinity, has attracted US$152 million in a Series B financing round led by US-based VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Accel Partners and Paradigm also joined this round.
Trung Nguyen is the CEO at Axie Infinity

Komunidad, a Philippines-based environmental intelligence platform, lands seed round
Komunidad, a provider of environmental intelligence services in the Philippines, has attracted US$1 million in a seed financing round.
Felix Ayque is the Founder at Komunidad

Ajaib, the ‘Robinhood of Indonesia’, adds US$153M to its kitty to become a unicorn
Ajaib, a mobile-first stock and mutual fund investment platform in Indonesia has secured US$153 million in a Series B funding round, reports Bloomberg.
Anderson Sumarli is the Co-Founder & CEO at Ajaib

Jeff Bezos’s investment firm, Tencent back B2B e-commerce startup Ula’s US$87M Series B round
Ula, a B2B e-commerce marketplace in Indonesia, has secured US$87 million in a Series B financing round co-led by Prosus Ventures, Tencent and B Capital.
Riky Tenggara is the Co-Founder at Ula

East Ventures leads US$1.1M seed funding round for Luwjistik
Singapore-based e-logistics startup Luwjistik raised a US$1.1 million (IDR15.8 billion) seed funding round led by East Ventures with the participation of Arise, a fund that is the result of a collaboration between MDI Ventures-Finch, and Global Founders Capital.
Syed Ali Ridha Madihid is the Co-Founder at Luwjistik

Neobank for freelancers Friz receives US$1M seed financing from Y Combinator, VCs, angels
Friz, a neobank for freelancers, has announced the completion of its oversubscribed seed funding round of US$1 million from a host of investors, including Indonesia’s Amand Ventures, Iterative Ventures, and Y Combinator.
Friz Ash Rhazaly is the Co-Founder & CTO at Friz

Indonesian ID and data verification startup Verihubs gets $2.8M led by Insignia Venture Partners
Verihubs, an Indonesia-based ID and data verification startup, has raised US$2.8 million in seed funding led by Insignia Venture Partners, says a TechCrunch report. 
Rick Firnando is the Co-Founder & CEO at VERIHUBS

Singapore’s Merkle Science raises $5.7m as it enters US market
Singapore-based startup Merkle Science, which provides a predictive blockchain monitoring and investigative platform, has closed its US$5.75 million Series A funding round led by Darrow Holdings.
Mriganka Pattnaik is the Co-Founder and CEO at Merkle Science

Malaysian InsurTech firm PolicyStreet secures $6million funding in a Series A round
PolicyStreet, a Malaysia-based digital insurance platform, has completed its US$6M in Series A financing round, led by Altara Ventures, Auspac (financial advisory service) and Gobi Partners.
Yen Ming Lee is the Co-founder & CEO at PolicyStreet

Forge Ventures launches $22m fund, to invest in 15 startups
Singapore-based seed-stage VC firm Forge Ventures has announced the closing of its oversubscribed debut fund at US$21.88 million targeting Southeast Asia.

What is next for the US$71M e-sports prize pool in Southeast Asia?
Southeast Asia’s gaming industry is on the rise. Between 2020 and 2025, it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.5 per cent, running counter to how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many traditional sports sectors.

Ayoconnect snags US$10M pre-Series B to democratise Open Finance in Indonesia
Ayoconnect, an Indonesia-based financial Application Programming Interface (API) platform, today announced the completion of its US$10 million pre-Series B fundraising round from investors such as Mandiri Capital Indonesia and impact VC firm Patamar Capital.
Jakob Rost is the Founder & CEO at Ayoconnect

Thai social data analytics firm Wisesight secures $7m funding
Wisesight, a social media analytics solutions startup in
Thailand, has secured more than US$7 million in a Series B financing round co-led by Thai bank Krungsri’s VC arm Krungsri Finnovate and Japanese IT solutions giant TechMatrix.
Kla Tangsuwan is the CEO at Wisesight

Thai accounting SaaS startup FlowAccount nets US$4M to scale its small biz offering
Thai accounting SaaS firm FlowAccount has raised US$4 million in a Series A round led by Sequoia Capital India, Tech In Asia reports.
Kridsada Chutinaton is the CEO & Co-founder at FlowAccount

SG proptech startup Ohmyhome to boost data-matching technology after raising $5m
Ohmyhome, a one-stop-shop property platform based in Singapore, has secured US$5 million in a fresh round of financing from local investor Swettenham Blue.
Rhonda Wong is the CEO at Ohmyhome