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#BuzzingDealsOfTheWeek ➤ Syfe: US$27 million Syfe is a savings and investment platform that aims to empower people to build their wealth for a better future. •⁠  Stage: Series C  •⁠  ⁠Industry: Wealth tech / Singapore •⁠  ⁠Investor: Unbound and Valar Ventures LLC ➤ DiMuto: US$5.9 million DiMuto offers a marketplace, trade management, and trade financing for agri-food, intending to create an AI-enabled sustainable agri-trade ecosystem. •⁠  Stage: Series A •⁠  ⁠Industry: Agritech / Singapore •⁠  ⁠Investor: The Yield Lab Asia Pacific, SiS Cloud Global Tech Fund 8, Gold Sceptre, Dave Chen, SEEDS Capital, SGInnovate, and PT. Great Giant Pineapple. ➤ SleekFlow: US$7 million SleekFlow offers an AI-powered omnichannel conversation suite for customer engagement.  •⁠  Stage: Series A+  •⁠  ⁠Industry: AI, Conversational commerce / Singapore •⁠  ⁠Investor: Atinum Investment ➤ Jendela360: US$2.7 million Jendela360 offers an online-to-offline property tech platform that streamlines the rental and sales process. •⁠  Stage: Series A •⁠  ⁠Industry: Prop tech / Indonesia •⁠  ⁠Investor: Undisclosed ➤ Phuc Sinh Group: US$25 million Phuc Sinh sells agricultural products from farms to end consumers, specializing in coffee and white pepper.  •⁠  Stage: Loan •⁠  ⁠Industry: Sustainable agriculture, trading / Vietnam •⁠  ⁠Investor: &Green 👉 Stay updated on the Southeast Asia startup and VC scene by hitting the "Follow" button for more news like this! 👉 To get weekly updates on what’s buzzing in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe to our newsletter #ICYMI here: https://lnkd.in/gTztaHUG #startupfunding #SEA #venturecapital #investments

#SEARampsUpEffortsToBecomeAIHub Malaysia aims to become one of the top 20 countries in the AI field. 👉The country wants to bring together researchers, developers, and decision-makers to develop and adopt AI-related technology responsibly and ethically. 👉 It will build the national AI ecosystem, including a center of excellence to facilitate AI learning and research and its own AI cloud computing system. Vietnam has emerged as a strong contender to become a global AI hub, owing to its favorable market conditions, abundant human resources, and dynamic startup ecosystem. 👉 The country is collaborating with Google, which has pledged 40,000 scholarships to equip Vietnamese professionals with essential AI skills. Moreover, Google has vowed to train 200 local startups in AI-related fields. 👉 More Vietnamese graduates are entering the semiconductor industry as the AI boom boosts demand for chip engineers. The government has a target of training at least 50,000 chip engineers and designers by 2030. Indonesia, on its part, is witnessing its financial institutions being at the forefront of adopting GenAI. 👉 Per a new report by BCG and AC Ventures, 51% of Indonesian financial institutions are focusing on deploying GenAI for everyday tasks, and an additional 27% see it as a great opportunity to invent new products and services. 👉 Meanwhile, 49% of business leaders in the country’s financial sector prioritize GenAI to enhance customer service, with 34% already seeing its tangible benefits. Last but not least, there is the region's north star Singapore. 👉 The city-state already has an elaborate National AI Roadmap—with a US$742 million investment earmarked for the AI space—and is on a fast track to becoming Southeast Asia’s AI leader. 👉 As a part of its AI strategy, Singapore is developing Sea-Lion (Southeast Asian Languages in One Network), the first open-source LLM specifically focused on Southeast Asian languages and contexts. 💡 Read more about it in our latest edition of #ICYMI: https://lnkd.in/gxb3gD8c 💡 Stay updated on the Southeast Asia startup and VC scene by hitting the "Follow" button for more news like this! 💡 To get weekly updates on what’s buzzing in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe to our newsletter #ICYMI here: https://lnkd.in/gBjcqnXz

#BuzzingDealsOfTheWeek ➤ Kazam : US$8 million Kazam is building an IoT-enabled electric vehicle charging ecosystem (software and hardware) for charging point operators, fleet operators, and electricity grids.  •⁠  Stage: Series A •⁠  ⁠Industry: Electric Vehicles/India •⁠  ⁠Investor: Vertex Ventures SE Asia & India ➤ UnaBiz : US$25 million UnaBiz provides IoT solutions for asset tracking and smart metering. •⁠  Stage: Series C •⁠  ⁠Industry: IoT / Singapore •⁠  ⁠Investor: KDDI Open Innovation Fund 3 and KYOCERA Communication Systems ➤  Moonshot AI: US$300 million Moonshot AI is a generative startup building LLMs that can handle long text and data inputs. •⁠  Stage: Venture round (series unknown) •⁠  ⁠Industry: Artificial Intelligence / China •⁠  ⁠Investor: Tencent and Alibaba Group ➤ SILICON BOX : US$100 million Silicon Box is a semiconductor design and device integration service with a flagship foundry in Singapore. •⁠  Stage: Series B (extended) •⁠  ⁠Industry: Semiconductor manufacturing/ Singapore •⁠  ⁠Investor: Prysm Capital ➤ Aevice Health: US$7 million Aevice Health specializes in wearable devices for remote monitoring of respiratory conditions. •⁠  Stage: Seed round (extended ) •⁠  ⁠Industry: Medtech/ Singapore •⁠  ⁠Investor: Coronet Ventures, East Ventures, A&D Company, NTUitive, Farquhar Venture Capital, Silicon Solution Venture, and SEEDS Capital. ➤ Growsari : US$5 million GrowSari offers a digital retail distribution platform that connects informal SME retailers with FMCG manufacturers and wholesalers. •⁠  Stage: Venture round (series unknown) •⁠  ⁠Industry: E-commerce/ The Philippines •⁠  ⁠Investor: Kaishi Ventures 👉 Stay updated on the Southeast Asia startup and VC scene by hitting the "Follow" button for more news like this 🚀 👉 To get weekly updates on what’s buzzing in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe to our newsletter #ICYMI here: https://lnkd.in/gTztaHUG #startupfunding #SEA #venturecapital #investments

#WhyAsiaPacificStandsOut Asia Pacific is not only an emerging star market. It’s a dominant force across the globe. 👉 Asia Pacific has a humongous emerging pool of talent that already drives some of the world's biggest companies. 👉 It also boasts a mega chunk of the world's tech-savvy consumers, who make up the most enticing target for major corporations globally. 👉 Forbes' Global 2000 list of companies for 2024 featured 771 APAC-headquartered companies, which contributed US$18.5 trillion, or almost 36% of the total aggregate revenue of US$51.9 trillion, per a report by GlobalData Plc. 👉 APAC is the second-most dominant region after North America in terms of revenue, and the top region by the number of companies featured in the list. Another thing that stands out for the Asia Pacific is its resilient mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market. 👉 As per a recent S&P Global report, PE and VC-backed M&A deals activity in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) picked up in the second quarter of 2024. 👉 The M&A deal value stood at US$7.87 billion in Q2 2024—up 11% compared year-on-year and nearly quadruple the amount in the prior quarter. Zooming in on Southeast Asia, the regional startups received US$2.2 billion in startup funding across 235 deals from 447 founders in H1 2024. 👉 Despite a 31% decline in dollars raised compared to last year, Southeast Asia captured 64% of total funding that went to the emerging venture markets (Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Pakistan, and Türkiye) in the first half of the year, as per a MAGNiTT report. Clearly, Southeast Asia and the entire Asia Pacific exhibit a charm that keeps them on the investors' radar, even as the market slows down. 💡 Read more about it in our latest edition of #ICYMI: https://lnkd.in/g7-H6zuZ 💡 Stay updated on the Southeast Asia startup and VC scene by hitting the "Follow" button for more news like this! 💡 To get weekly updates on what’s buzzing in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe to our newsletter hashtag #ICYMI here: https://lnkd.in/gBjcqnXz

#BuzzingDealsOfTheWeek ➤ First Circle: US$8.6 million First Circle offers SME financing and smart banking solutions for businesses. •⁠  Stage: Series B •⁠  ⁠Industry: Fintech / The Philippines •⁠  ⁠Investor: IFC Venture Capital Group ➤ Reforged Labs (YC W22): US$3.9 million Reforged Labs helps businesses create high-quality video ads for marketing campaigns. It uses proprietary GenAI and computer vision models to automate video ad generation. •⁠  Stage: Seed  •⁠  ⁠Industry: Gen AI / Singapore, San Francisco •⁠  ⁠Investor: DCM Ventures, Goodwater, Y Combinator, Asymmetry Ventures, and Epakon Capital ➤ Kargo Technologies: US$8.8 million Kargo is a B2B trucking platform, which connects senders and recipients through an online platform and provides more efficient and eco-friendly end-to-end shipping solutions. •⁠  Stage: Series A •⁠  ⁠Industry: Logistics/ Indonesia •⁠  ⁠Investor: AC Ventures, Teleport, Intudo, Tenaya Capital, January Capital, Peak XV Partners, and Cypress Capital Management Ltd. ➤ Aprisium: US$7 million   Aprisium provides contaminant detection and monitoring solutions to detect a wide range of contaminants, including heavy metals, inorganic compounds, and organic chemicals. •⁠  Stage: Series A •⁠  ⁠Industry: Environment tech, Cleantech/ Singapore •⁠  ⁠Investor: Deep-Tech Venture Partners (DTVP) and Cocoon Capital 👉 Stay updated on the Southeast Asia startup and VC scene by hitting the "Follow" button for more news like this 🗞 👉 To get weekly updates on what’s buzzing in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe to our newsletter #ICYMI here: https://lnkd.in/gTztaHUG #startupfunding #SEA #venturecapital #investments #hyphenpartners

#TheBrightSpotsInAsianFintechMarket The ever-green global fintech startup market tumbled this year. 👉 The total fintech funding across the world slid from US$62.3 billion across 2,287 deals in H2’23 to US$51.9 billion across 2,255 deals in H1’24, as per the latest KPMG Pulse of Fintech edition. 👉 Asia Pacific was no different where fintech funding dropped to US$3.7 billion in the first six months of 2024 from US$4.6 billion in H2 2023. However, there was one difference. 👉 The overall deals rose in Asia Pacific in H1 2024, even when globally the number of deals declined. 👉 The deal volume went up from 406 in H2’23 to 438 in H1’24 in Asia Pacific. This signifies fintech investors writing more checks in the region, albeit smaller, much smaller. Aside from the higher deal count, there are other cues that highlight the resilience of the region and paint a bit better picture for the second half of the year. 👉 Fintech companies all over the world are going through an evolutionary phase, as they focus on AI-led value propositions. Asia Pacific financial companies are not far behind when it comes to innovation, with Singapore being the top-notch fintech hub. 👉 Particularly during H1’24, the AI focus came predominantly from regional traditional financial institutions looking to leverage AI to drive operational improvements and efficiencies, notes KPMG. 👉 Zooming in, China may become a big driver for fintech funding to rebound in Asia Pacific going forward. 👉 China has identified five priority areas—technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, and digital finance, as per the KPMG report. 👉 Chinese central government is already working to encourage financial institutions to support startups in these spaces—which could lead to additional investments over time, the report adds. 👉 At the same time, regional fintech investors are emphasizing greatly on sustainable business models, which means wise fintech companies are now going all out to bring themselves back on the path to profitability. 👉 That’s a good news for the sector in the grander scheme of things. 💡 Read more about it in our latest edition of #ICYMI: https://lnkd.in/gQD4PhU5 💡 Stay updated on the Southeast Asia startup and VC scene by hitting the "Follow" button for more news like this 🚀 💡 To get weekly updates on what’s buzzing in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe to our newsletter #ICYMI here: https://lnkd.in/gBjcqnXz #startupfunding #southeastasia #whatisnew #techtrends

New Unicorns of 2024 🦄 - 78 innovative companies that have achieved a valuation of over $1 billion this year! 🔹 The United States leads the pack with an impressive 40 unicorns, highlighting the dynamic and thriving startup ecosystem. Some of the notable names include Freenome, Polyhedra Network, and Figure. 🔹 The United Kingdom contributes significantly with 6 new unicorns. Among them are Preqin and Quantinuum, showcasing the UK's robust tech landscape. 🔹 Singapore's SILICON BOX as the nation's sole representative after it raised US$200 million (S$266 million) in a Series B round early this year. These companies are revolutionizing their respective industries and driving global innovation forward. Credits: Dealroom.co #hyphenpartners #unicorns #tech