SEA

The development came after Singapore unveiled new rules for blank-cheque vehicles.

Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem saw $1.2 billion in exit value thus far this year, compared to $2 billion seen throughout the whole of 2020, according to Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India managing partner Ben Mathias.

The company plans to use the net proceeds from the offerings for business expansion and other general corporate purposes, including potential strategic investments and acquisitions.

Intudo Ventures Fund III will seek out opportunities in agriculture, B2B & enterprise, education, finance & insurance, healthcare, logistics, and new retail & entertainment, constructing a concentrated portfolio of 12-14 Indonesian homegrown companies.

More and more venture capital (VC) firms and angel investors are wising up to the opportunity in investing in the region’s female founders. Despite the largely virtual deal-making environment over the past year due to COVID, women-led startups have secured multimillion-dollar rounds across a multitude of sectors.

The announcement follows its parent company, Pickupp Ltd’s recent $15 million Series A and Series A+ financing.

The oversubscribed round makes it one of the largest financing rounds raised by an on-demand care platform in Southeast Asia and the Oceania region and brings Homage’s total funding to exceed $45 million.

Growth is expected to be fastest in emerging markets such as Myanmar, Vietnam and the Philippines, with the total regional online food delivery Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) to more than triple from $9 billion in 2020 to $28 billion in 2025.

KKR is making its investment in KiotViet from its Asian private equity fund.

From early next year, businesses in Malaysia can enjoy "fast, transparent and cost-effective" international payments in multiple currencies, empowering them to operate and grow globally.