Hobby lifestyle e-commerce platform Mercular raises $3M Series A led by Kairous Capital

Mercular, the hobby lifestyle vertical shopping platform based from Thailand, has raised its Series A investment amounting to approximately $3 million. The funding round was led by Kairous Capital with participation from Cyber Agent, 500 Startups (through its 500 Tuk Tuks fund) and the Government Savings Bank through SMEs Private Equity Trust #1 (N-Vest Venture) and SMEs Private Equity Trust #3…

ORIGIN: With fast cashbacks, community impact, and livestreaming, here’s how e-commerce is reshaping the way we buy and sell

E-commerce is a several-decade-old industry, but its impact is growing in significance with increased digitalization. The global retail e-commerce industry is worth $4.28 trillion according to Statista. "As millions of people stayed home in early 2020 to contain the spread of the virus, digital channels have become the most popular alternative to crowded stores and in-person shopping. In June…

Indonesia e-commerce unicorn Bukalapak receives backing from state-owned banks in a $234M venture round  

Indonesia e-commerce unicorn Bukalapak has received a strategic investment from Mandiri Capital, the venture capital arm of state-owned Indonesian Bank Mandiri. The company also announced that it has received a strategic investment from BRI Ventures, the venture capital arm of yet another state-owned bank, Bank Rakyat Indonesia. The $234 million venture round that was concluded last week was led…

Buyandship promotes confidence in cross-border e-commerce through a better shopping experience [ORIGIN Innovation Awards Q&A]

Editor’s note: This interview is part of a Q&A series with winners of the ORIGIN Innovation Awards 2020. Buyandship is a winner in the category Startup Awards–Fleet Management & Logistics. The global cross-border e-commerce market size is expected to reach $4.82 trillion by 2026, according to Facts & Factors. In an interview with TechNode Global, Wilson Chan, Chief Executive…

E-commerce marketing startup Epsilo raises $2M from a funding round led by Sequoia’s Surge 4

End-to-end e-commerce marketing company Epsilo recently completed a $2 million funding round. Almost all of this new capital injection was provided by Surge, Sequoia India’s scale-up program established to help startups in India and Southeast Asia. Epsilo was chosen as one of the 17 startups picked by Sequoia’s Surge as part of the fourth iteration of the program, which kicked off on November…

The economics of pricing, trade, and e-commerce amid the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has thoroughly disrupted the global economy that adapting has become an urgency nobody has the luxury to ignore. Exporters, in particular, have had to quickly come up with strategies to continue moving their products and sustain operations. These strategies include the adjustments in the prices, which may have been influenced by movements in the economy. The World Bank…

Origin Indonesia | Driving e-commerce growth in Southeast Asia with digital advertising

Left to right: Felix Luo, SEA director at MagicWe Technologies; Sherly Luo, vice president at OPPO Advertising Indonesia; and Alan Hellawell, partner at Alpha JWC Ventures, speak at Origin Indonesia 2019 on digital advertising. (Image credit: TechNode) A Research and Markets report states that the Southeast Asia digital advertising market is expected to grow by 13.93% and reach $15.35 billion by…

Origin Indonesia | Driving the e-commerce growth in Southeast Asia with digital ads

Digital advertising has come a long way and has changed rapidly in the past few decades. In this digital era, it’s more challenging to win over customers as the average attention span of an ad viewer has become shorter than ever. Brands are increasingly investing in innovative advertising ideas and content-led marketing campaigns. With 98% of China’s internet users accessing the world wide web on…