TechNode Global Staff

Lokal, India's hyperlocal content, community, and classified platform, announced Tuesday it has raised INR 120 Crore ($14.6 million) in Series B funding. The funding came from new investors Global Brain and Sony Innovation Fund, with participation from India Quotient and other existing investors.

Robocash Group sees FinTech development has a positive effect on people's overall happiness, due to strong correlation of 0.74 between happiness and fintech indices.

Japanese micromobility company Luup, Inc. has raised a total of approximately 4.5 billion yen ($33.55 million), bringing its total capital raised to date to approximately 9.1 billion yen ($67.85 million).

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group and the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets, has established a presence in Malaysia to support the country's efforts to foster greater sustainable, resilient, and inclusive economic growth.

Cosmose AI (Cosmose), a Singapore-based platform that predicts and influences how people shop offline, has on Monday announced the strategic investment from NEAR Foundation, a Web3 technologies firm based in Switzerland, valuing the company at $500 million.

Singapore’s emerging tech startup pipeline appears to be maturing to reach a ‘steady state’ with approximately 60 startups incorporated annually, but early-stage startups looking to fundraise this year may face especially challenging conditions, according to the Singapore Early-Stage Emerging Tech Startups 2022 landscape report.

AngelHack, an United States-based firm that primarily organizes and hosts hackathons for other companies, has on Monday announced the launch of hacksingapore, the nation’s annual flagship hackathon supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), which will begin this May.

Banpu NEXT, a subsidiary of Banpu, a Thailand-based smart energy solutions provider, has announced a strategic investment in Oyika, a Singapore start-up that offers battery swap solutions and battery-as-a-service (BaaS).

Vietnam-based Selex Smart Electric Vehicles JSC (Selex Motors) is currently in a $3 million convertible note investment round with ADB Ventures - Asian Development Banks's venture arm, Schneider Electric Energy Access Asia, Touchstone Partners, and Sopoong Ventures.

China headquartered private equity firm SKS Capital has announced its strategic investment in Grace, South Korea's largest aggregator of international health and beauty brands. SKS Capital is the lead investor in Grace Series B funding with $5 million.