News
Capital A e-wallet unit BigPay launches first fully digital personal loan product
BigPay announced Thursday the launch of its fully digital loans as part of the wider suite of financial services offerings. This makes BigPay the first product to have a full digital personal lending product as part of its offering in Malaysia.
Singapore FoodTech firm Umami Meats secures $2.4M pre-seed funding to advance cultivated seafood
Umami Meats has secured pre-seed funding of $2.4 million.The pre-seed funding round was co-led by Better Bite Ventures and Genedant. Further participants in the round include CULT Food Science, Impact Venture, Katapult Ocean, Plug and Play Ventures, Prithvi Ventures, The Yield Lab Asia Pacific, and Venture for America.
Australia’s New Forests announces first close of SE Asia-focused fund at $120M
New Forests announced Thursday the first close of its Tropical Asia Forest Fund 2 (TAFF2) with $120 million of capital commitments. Investors in the first close include Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Australian Government, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SuMi TRUST), Temasek and TotalEnergies. New Forests will continue to…
Australian FinTech firm Zeller doubles valuation to over $1B with $100M raise
Zeller has raised $100 million in Series B round at a valuation worth of $1 billion.The Series B, which saw Zeller more than double its valuation, was led by US-based Headline, with additional funds contributed by Australian industry superannuation fund Hostplus. Previous investors, including Square Peg, Addition, and Spark Capital, also returned to…
Saigon Asset Management invests in Vietnamese FinTech firm Anfin
Anfin Company Limited announced Thursday the signing of an investment and strategic partnership agreement with Saigon Asset Management (SAM), which will see SAM becoming an equity investor into Anfin as well as a strategic partner. Following this agreement, both firms will collaborate to leverage SAM’s diverse portfolio of investment funds to expand assets…
Singapore’s Funding Societies unveils virtual card Elevate, addressing 80 percent MSME corporate credit card gap
Funding Societies has launched Elevate, a virtual card solution for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Singapore. The card is available on a credit line on the FinTech platform’s website and mobile app, and entitles qualified MSMEs to interest free credit for a period of up to 55 days.
Sea Ltd’s Shopee exits France months after entering Europe – report
France was one of the most significant new markets for Sea, which has been embarking on an aggressive international push last year to drive growth beyond Southeast Asia.
ScaleUp Malaysia announces investments in 11 emerging startups
Growth stage accelerator ScaleUp Malaysia, in partnership with Quest Ventures, Indelible Ventures, and Mranti signalled the culmination of its third cohort with the unveiling of its selection of top startups. The companies selected by Quest Ventures for co-investment were GuruInnovtif, Open Academy, MadCash, SpareXHub, VireServe, and WaSushi. Indelible…
Australia’s Language Confidence raises $1.5M in seed funding from Wavemaker Partners and Investible
Language Confidence has raised $1.5 million seed round to automate the teaching and testing of spoken English. The capital raise was led by Wavemaker Partners with participation from Investible. The funding will enable the company to expand its product offering and grow it’s already global customer base.
Korean digital content distribution firm RIDI gets $100B funding led by Singapore’s GIC
RIDI Corporation has signed definitive agreements to receive an investment of KRW 120 billion ($100 million) led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC. Korea Development Bank, NVESTOR, and Atinum Investment also participated in this investment. As a result, RIDI has been recognized as the first unicorn startup in Korea’s content platform industry with an…
