Starting up? Here’s why you need contingency funds planning
		You may have often been advised by your financial planners to invest a certain portion of your capital in emergency funds that enable you to meet unexpected monetary emergencies.
Emergency funds (also known as contingency funds) are that portion of your money that is useful at any given time when you are faced with sudden financial emergencies like medical expenses, travel plans, or temporary…	
Vietnam healthcare marketplace Thuocsi.vn raises $9M in Series A funding round led by Smilegate Investment
		BuyMed, the operator of Thuocsi.vn, the largest online pharma distribution marketplace in Vietnam, announced on Friday a $9 million Series A financing round led by Korean venture capital fund Smilegate Investment.
The financing round also saw participation from B Capital Group and existing investors Cocoon Capital, Genesia Ventures, Sequoia Capital India’s Surge, and Nextrans, Thuocsi.vn said…	
Facebook, Bain & Co Report: Southeast Asia’s digital consumer population to reach 380M by 2026
		Southeast Asia’s digital retail share grew 85 percent year-on-year, outpacing China (5 percent), Brazil (14 percent) and India (10 percent), according to social media giant Facebook and consultant firm Bain & Company’s recently published annual SYNC Southeast Asia report.
According to Bain & Company, there will be 350 million digital consumers in Southeast Asia at the end of 2021…	
How Mighty Networks pulled in 10,000 highly engaged customers
		Serial entrepreneur Gina Bianchini, CEO of Mighty Networks, shares a variety of marketing gems as she recounts the journey from zero to 10,000 customers.
In recent years, the ‘passion economy’ has gained substantial ground. Across platforms, indie content creators are building their own niche communities and serving up multimedia that resonates with highly focused audiences--all while…	
Indonesia’s Ayoconnect raises $10M in Pre-Series B funding round
		Indonesia’s financial Application Programming Interface (API) platform Ayoconnect has closed its $10 million Pre-Series B funding round from strategic investors.
New investors in Ayoconnect include Mandiri Capital Indonesia (the corporate venture arm of the country's largest financial institution, Bank Mandiri) and Patamar Capital (Southeast Asia’s impact venture capital that invests in…	
Malaysia’s Carsome raises $200M in financing round, valuation hits $1.3B
		Southeast Asian used car trading platform Carsome Group announced on Wednesday the close of its $170 million Series D2 round of funding, bringing the company’s valuation to $1.3 billion and cementing its position as Malaysia’s largest tech unicorn.
This is complemented by new credit facilities of $30 million, bringing total funds raised to $200 million, Carsome said in a statement.
The…	
Alibaba’s Lazada rebrands logistics arm, introduces multi-channel logistics services
		Southeast Asia’s e-commerce platform Lazada announced on Wednesday the rebranding of its logistics arm to Lazada Logistics, which was previously known as Lazada eLogistics (LEL) and Lazada Express (LEX) separately.
LEL managed the fulfillment and logistics with third-party logistics (3PL) providers, while LEX handled the parcel delivery to customers.
“This rebranding reflects the…	
Malaysia-based SPAC Kairous Acquisition files for a $50 million IPO on NASDAQ
		Kairous Acquisition Corp Ltd, an Asia-focused blank check company led by the founder of Malaysia-based Kairous Capital, has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $50 million in an initial public offering (IPO).
The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) which plans to raise $50 million, is offering 5 million units at $10 each. Each unit consists of one…	
Meaningful cloud transformation requires measuring value, costs, and consumption, says Apptio’s Sunny Gupta [Q&A]
		Emerging technologies are driving cloud adoption, and there is no question about the growth of the industry. For 2021, Gartner forecasts the market to reach $332.3 billion, up from $270 billion in 2020--or a 23.1 percent year-on-year growth. For 2022, cloud will be a $397.5 billion industry, a 19.6 percent growth. The study cites that pandemic as being a driver for increased cloud adoption, as “…	
Singapore’s Omnilytics to acquire Malaysia’s Supahands in $20M deal
		Omnilytics, a fashion analytics and insights software in Singapore, announced on Wednesday its intention to acquire and partner with data labeling platform, Supahands, in a deal valued at $20 million.
Omnilytics will be embarking on an ongoing strategic acquisition drive to bolster its core functions and technological capabilities to supercharge its long-term growth, the company said in a…	

