SEA

Singapore’s Funding Societies raises $294M led by Softbank to fuel expansion plans in Southeast Asia

Funding Societies has raised $144 million in an oversubscribed Series C+ equity round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Other new investors included Vietnamese tech giant VNG Corporation, Rapyd Ventures, Asia-based global investor EDBI, Indies Capital, K3 Ventures, and Ascend Vietnam Ventures.

Vietnam’s Society Pass completes acquisition of Philippines online grocery delivery service Pushkart.ph

Society Pass Incorporated (SoPa) has acquired Pushkart.ph, an online grocery delivery service in Philippines. The move kicks-off SoPa’s expansion into the Philippines market. Leveraging on SoPa’s capital, Pushkart.ph will focus on dramatically increasing on-demand grocery shopping services to more consumers and more retailers initially to Metro Manila and…

Singaporean venture capital firm Altara Ventures closes $130M inaugural fund to invest in next generation tech founders

Altara Ventures announced Thursday the successful final closing of its inaugural fund, reaching a total of $130 million, with support from institutional funds, sovereign wealth funds, financial services institutions, publicly listed corporations and prominent family offices. The firm has made seven investments to date and will continue to actively deploy…

Malaysia to announce digital bank license winners next month – report

Malaysia’s move to issue digital banking licenses comes at a time when regulators across Asia including Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines are opening up the banking industry to digital players, encouraged by higher smartphone penetration and better internet connections.

Fave appoints ex-Touch ‘n Go executive as Chief Product Officer

Fave has appointed former Touch 'n Go (TNG) executive Arvindd Selvaratnam as its Regional Chief Product Officer (CPO). Arvindd will be overseeing the company’s regional product roadmap and strategic planning, and will be leveraging various emerging opportunities for Fave in their next phase of growth. As CPO, Arvindd will also be leading product design and…

Indonesian online grocery platform Happy Fresh launches HappyFresh Supermarket

Happy Fresh has launched HappyFresh Supermarket to extend fresh and dry grocery accessibility by significantly growing its dark store presence in the Southeast Asian region. It aims to provide an easy and convenient online grocery shopping experience, with high-quality and freshly handpicked products brought right to their customers’ doorsteps with free…

Indonesian fishery platform Aruna raises $30M in follow-on Series A funding, bringing total capital raised to $65M

The round also saw participation from existing investors Prosus Ventures, AC Ventures, East Ventures (Growth Fund), Indogen Capital, SMDV and SIG Venture Capital. This brings the total Series A funding raised to $65 million.

AC Ventures’ Adrian Li says Indonesia’s the most compelling market to invest in ASEAN [Q&A]

Last month, AC Ventures had closed its Fund III with over $205 million in committed capital.