Singapore – Regional delivery platform foodpanda has recently published its latest social impact report, focusing on the initiatives for supporting communities, helping MSMEs digitise, train and upskill delivery riders across the region during the continued pandemic in 2021.

The company has dedicated US$29m to support MSMEs across the region, like wet market vendors in Thailand and Taiwan, local mom-and pop shops in Malaysia and the Philippines and hawkers in Singapore. This comprises new digital tools to help merchants expand revenue streams and connect with new customers online, as well as fee waivers and other relief initiatives. 

In addition, an additional US$6m was invested in providing riders’ welfare and benefits, such as safety training, insurance and financial support for the purchase of bicycles or motorbikes. Foodpanda also spent more than half a million US dollars to support local governments and communities in the fight against COVID-19, with the distribution of food, essentials and medical supplies to healthcare workers and people in need. 

Jakob Sebastian Angele, chief executive officer at foodpanda, said, “Since foodpanda was founded in 2012, we have been driven by our value to ‘get 1% better every day’, rolling out technical features that make millions of lives better. Technology has been an especially powerful tool to help sustain livelihoods, preserve business legacies, tackle environmental challenges, and build an inclusive platform for our community of merchants, riders, and customers to thrive.”

Foodpanda has also dedicated an additional US$91,000, invested to upskill riders in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, in language, personal growth and marketing programmes for future career readiness. In Singapore, foodpanda dedicated 19,500 hours mentoring mid-career professionals as they transition to data and software engineers through the GoSchool and #GetReadySG programmes. Foodpanda also invested US$70,000 on mental wellness, including providing subscriptions to mental wellness apps for employees and riders.

Singapore – SME digital financing platform Funding Societies has announced the launch of ‘Virtual Card Elevate’, a virtual card solution for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Singapore. Said virtual card is available on a credit line on the platform’s website and mobile app, and entitles qualified MSMEs to interest-free credit for a period of up to 55 days.

This launch comes on the back of Funding Societies’ recent US$294m Series C+ fundraise, some of which it has channelled to such new strategic products, solidifying its position as a one-stop shop for the region’s MSME banking needs.

The card is enabled by banking-as-a-service provider, MatchMove, and developed in partnership with Mastercard. It offers small businesses rapid access to credit limits, where approvals of applications are given within one business day. Business owners can easily apply for the card and credit line via Funding Societies’ website using Myinfo Business, and thereafter begin tracking and managing all expenditure within the platform’s dedicated mobile app.

Shrawan Saraogi, group head of strategy for new business at Funding Societies, said, “In an environment where traditional providers issue corporate lines to only large businesses with a strong credit track record, or offer debit cards with deposit accounts, Funding Societies’ Elevate serves an urgent and important need of micro and small businesses in Singapore who need flexible credit to pay for their expenses. When business owners do not take on personal liability on their own credit cards, their business becomes more sustainable.”

Since this financing solution launched in January, Funding Societies has approved over S$1m in credit limits to small businesses across the nation. Within two months, almost one quarter of that limit has been used by its clients for company purchases and supplier payments. Elevate serves enterprises across all verticals, including the F&B, retail, e-commerce, logistics, and technology sectors.

The card also entails Mastercard privileges such as a ‘Corporate Liability Waiver’ feature that protects MSMEs against unauthorised charges being made to their business card accounts. This is in line with Funding Societies’ expansion into financial offerings for MSMEs beyond lending, like expense management.

Indonesia – Indonesia-based SaaS business solution platform, majoo, has raised a pre-Series A funding of US$5m, which brings its total raised to US$9m. This funding round was led by AC Ventures and Quona Capital, as well as the participation of BRI Ventures and Xendit.

With its new funding, majoo will be boosting its product development including the instant online store and marketplace integration. majoo enables MSMEs to sell through multiple online channels with a single dashboard. The company said that with the new funding, It will also be enhancing market penetration and hiring in multiple positions to support its growth, product, and engineering team.

Adi Wahyu Rahadi, majoo’s founder and CEO, shared that its mission is to evolve Indonesia’s MSMEs by providing end-to-end solutions for Indonesian MSMEs to manage and grow their business to accelerate the growth of Indonesia’s digital economy.

“With the mission to empower MSMEs in Indonesia, majoo will continue to add more features to its platform to further support MSMEs to grow their business. majoo also aspires to expand its team to reach more than 100 cities in Indonesia. With the support of well-connected funds such as AC Ventures and Quona Capital, majoo believes the partnership will be a major inception point for its accelerating role in Indonesia’s MSMEs digitization,” said Rahadi.

Meanwhile, Adrian Li, AC Ventures’ founder and managing partner, said, “As majoo continues to enable the digital potential of the 63 million MSMEs in Indonesia, it has proven its ability to expand the services that it brings to its clients. We at AC Ventures (ACV) are proud to double down in supporting their journey of empowering small business owners across the country.”

Dan Bertoli, Quona Capital’s partner, commented, “It’s a privilege to co-lead this round with ACV and work with the distinctive majoo team, and we are confident that majoo’s approach of building products in-house and providing a comprehensive solution to clients has the right set up to win in this market.”

According to the company, as of date, it has processed over 100 million transactions worth US$600m for MSMEs in more than 600 cities in Indonesia across a diverse range of businesses from F&B to laundromats and convenience stores.

Singapore – Funding Societies, SME digital financing platform in SEA, which goes by Modalku in Indonesia, has raised US$144m in an oversubscribed Series C+ equity round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2; with new investors, notably Vietnamese tech giant VNG Corporation, Rapyd Ventures, Asia-based global investor EDBI, Indies Capital, K3 Ventures, and Ascend Vietnam Ventures. 

The company has also received US$150m in debt lines from institutional lenders across Europe, the United States, and Asia, some of which have been drawn down since 2021. This comes on the back of its US$45 million Series C raised between 2020 and 2021.

The company believes that the funds solidify Funding Societies’ position as a market leader in digital financing, and propels its expense management, and B2B payments services for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across Southeast Asia. 

Since 2019, Funding Societies has expanded its suite of financial services beyond lending and plans to bring its operations to more locations in Southeast Asia within the next 12 months.

In October, the company has also announced that it has raised US$18m in debt for funding led by a trio syndicate of financial institutions, including lending company Helicap Investments.

Funding Societies aims to solve MSMEs’ key pain points for growth, such as the challenge in obtaining business loans from traditional financial institutions due to a lack of a credit track record or collaterals to pledge. Funding Societies offers microloans from US$500 up to US$1.5m which can be disbursed within 24 hours. 

Co-founder and Group CEO, Kelvin Teo, shared that a common misconception is that the company competes with banks. 

“The reality is we ‘compete’ with savings, friends and families, and personal credit cards. There is a huge unsecured financing gap because it takes patience and focus, or you risk losing a lot of money. Having proven our AI-led credit capabilities in an unprecedented financial crisis, we look to serve SMEs even better with neo banking and deeper regional presence in Southeast Asia,” said Teo.

According to the company, it has disbursed, to date, over US$2b in business financing to MSMEs in the SEA region. 

The fintech is now licensed and registered in four countries across the region – Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and operating in Vietnam.

Indonesia – Indonesian software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup Lummo, previously known as BukuKas, has raised US$80m in its Series C round of funding. The funding round was led by Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital India, and was also participated by other global tech and e-commerce investors such as CapitalG, the independent growth fund of Google parent company Alphabet, NuvemShop CEO Santiago Sosa, and former Lazada CEO Max Bittner.

Lummo was launched in December 2019 as BukuKas, a bookkeeping app for MSMEs, with the objective of empowering and digitizing them. It later expanded its business by launching TOKKO, an online direct-to-consumer commerce builder.

Krishnan Menon, Lummo’s CEO and founder, commented that they are delighted to welcome their new investors to support the startup’s journey to digitise and accelerate the growth of MSMEs

“We offer entrepreneurs and brands the opportunity to sell directly to their customers, and enable them to build a strong and distinctive brand online using LummoSHOP,” said Menon.

Meanwhile, John Curtius, Tiger Global’s partner, said, “We are thrilled to be a part of Lummo’s mission to empower aspiring entrepreneurs and brands to accelerate their growth and to serve their customers by giving them the best technology and partner solutions. Digital-led economic growth, especially in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, is a key investment focus for us.” 

In addition to the funding announcement, Lummo’s flagship product, TOKKO, has been rebranded to LummoSHOP, aimed at cementing its status as a leading software solution to entrepreneurs and brands in unlocking and maximising their business potential through online commerce. 

The name Lummo is derived from ‘lumen’, and the Latin word for ‘light’. This is in line with the company’s ambition to shine the spotlight on entrepreneurs and brands, enabling them to discover all possibilities to develop their business through its D2C SaaS stack. 

Along with the rebranding to LummoSHOP, the company aims to strengthen its direct-to-consumer product offerings through technological innovations like chat commerce, catalogue integration, custom domains, multiple platform management, and personalized features for branding, amongst others.

LummoSHOP’s D2C model ensures a stronger relationship between the merchant and the customer with no third party sitting in the middle. The solution will allow merchants to access their customers’ records, purchase history, and other analytics that are crucial for building and growing an engaged customer base. 

“LummoSHOP will empower them to be strong businesses and at the same time remain customer-focused, which in turn will help manage their customer base and increase repeat business,” said Menon.

Singapore – Following Amazon’s Seller Boot Camp in 2021, the Singapore arm of the e-commerce giant has launched anew its Seller Summit 2022 with new programs and tools to help sellers in Singapore start selling online locally and expand globally.

The free virtual event, which will be held on 14 January 2022 from 9 am to 6:30 pm SGT, aims to educate Singaporean sellers on key e-commerce topics such as shipping and fulfillment, advertising, brand building, and global expansion plans. Attendees will be able to network with Amazon experts, Amazon sellers, and third-party service providers.

Moreover, the virtual event will also feature the ‘Amazon Small Business Awards 2022’, which aims to recognize brands that have expanded globally, grown tremendously, and impacted their communities. Sellers can also look forward to a revamped website with more accessible education online and one-on-one account management support, among others, to be announced at the event.

Eric Broussard, Amazon’s vice president of international seller services, noted that global selling is a significant opportunity for businesses of all sizes.

He further shared that according to the report ‘Local Sellers, Global Consumers: Capturing Singapore’s e-commerce export opportunity’, the annual value of B2C e-commerce exports in Singapore was estimated at S$1.4b in 2021, and it could reach S$3.5b in 2026 if MSMEs accelerate their pace of using e-commerce to sell overseas.

“As such, through the Singapore Seller Summit, Amazon will further empower sellers to discover innovative solutions, leverage selling, and advertising tools, and better understand growth opportunities locally and overseas to take their business to the next level. Our goal is to enable more businesses to expand and reach customers everywhere through our 20 Amazon stores worldwide,” said Broussard.

Bangkok, Thailand – International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations agency that promotes social justice and internationally recognized human and labor rights, has partnered with Google, as well as its International Training Center (ITCILO) to further expand its program for upskilling women entrepreneurs called ‘ILO’s Rebuilding Better: Fostering Business Resilience Post-COVID-19 Project’. The pilot initiative was hosted last November 2021.

The initiative aims to support women in Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and adopt more sustainable and resilient business models, and also works to strengthen women entrepreneurs’ access to vital support services.

Through the expansion of the initiative, ILO has launched three new training programs, which are now available to women entrepreneurs who are seeking new skills for their business and personal growth. It can be accessed in the Google Primer learning app as free, quick, and easy-to-understand lessons on how to manage a business, strengthen its online presence, and create a more supportive workplace which are available in both English and Thai language. 

Dragan Radic, ILO’s head of SME Unit of Enterprises Department, shared that the organization has worked for over 30 years to support SMEs to start, grow, and sustain their businesses, as well as strive to seek new and innovative methods and partnerships to deliver impactful solutions.

“The partnership with Google is a prime example of a collaboration that is enabling us to leverage our own strengths while also benefiting from our partner’s extensive online learning and technology capacity,” said Radic.

Ryan Rahardjo, Google’s head of public affairs for SEA, said, “Through this collaboration and our free Google Primer app, we hope more entrepreneurs in the region will be able to learn new skills, grow and expand their businesses both locally and internationally.”

ILO shared that at least 2,000 women entrepreneurs have been the first beneficiaries of the innovative new pilot to deliver digital training via Google Primer.

Interested learners may access the courses at the ILO Peer Learning Hub for APAC.

Manila, Philippines – Lista, Philippine-grown bookkeeping app for MSMEs has announced that they have raised an oversubscribed round from various venture capital firms, including 1982 Ventures, East Ventures, Saison Capital, and Alternate Ventures, as well as Monde Nissin Family Ventures’ Willy Arifin, and prominent angel investors. 

Through the new funding, Lista said that it will be growing its team and expanding its product offering to reach more MSMEs in the country, including freelancers, logistics operators, and riders, among others.

Lista, which was launched in September 2021, offers a free and secure way of managing finances such as tracking debts, recording transactions, and issuing invoices.

Aaron Villegas, Lista’s co-founder, shared that helping MSMEs has always been an advocacy close to his heart, seeing how his own family dealt with running a community store in the past.

“I spent almost a year just talking to various MSMEs in the province and trying different ideas to help them grow. And that’s when I realized that the first thing to do to really help them grow is through digitization and replacing pen and paper with easy-to-use tech,” said Villegas.

Meanwhile, Khriz Lim, the co-founder of Lista, stated, “Through this app, we want to revolutionize the way MSMEs operate and provide them with a reliable digital partner for small businesses in the country.”

Manila, Philippines – SM Supermalls, one of the largest shopping mall chains in the country, has launched its latest initiative for MSMEs which entails providing ‘The SM StartUp Package’ that will give support for 100 local small business owners to set up physical shops across its select prime mall locations across the country.

Through ‘The SM StartUp Package’, SMB owners will be offered with affordable rental rates and use of kiosks or carts free of charge, marketing assistance to give the brand free exposure in SM online assets and ad spaces inside malls as well as financial assistance with retail bank BDO; and mentorship from SM experts on operations and marketing.

This package will be available to the first 100 digital-based MSME owners who currently don’t have a shop inside SM or any other physical store in general.

The program, which was first announced last 15 October, coincides with the birthday of SM’s founder, the late Henry Sy, who started SM or ShoeMart as a small shoe business store in 1958. SM said that such small beginnings of the late Filipino businessman has been deeply ingrained in their DNA, understanding the potential of each Filipino to be a successful business owner.

The Start Up Markets, as they will be called, will be situated in prime mall locations within 13 regional and premier malls in major cities: SM North Edsa, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, SM Southmall, SM Pampanga, SM Clark, SM Grand Central, SM Sta. Rosa, SM City Cebu, SM Iloilo, SM Bacolod, SM CDO Downtown Premier, and SM Lanang Premier.

Steven Tan, the president of SM Supermalls, commented, “We created The SM StartUp Package because we saw how Filipinos persevered in the past year. Very much true to the spirit of Henry Sy, who always said he worked harder during bad times, many MSMEs did not let the pandemic stop them from providing good service and products — even from their own homes.” 

He added, “We want to give them a chance to further grow their businesses and brands, and enable them to start their own SM shops which they can one day grow into business empires, just like our founder once did.”

Interested MSMEs may visit the SM Supermalls website and SM’s social media pages to find out how to sign up for the package.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Understanding that health and digitalization are the foundation of the society and economy, Grab, together with telco EMTEK and e-commerce Bukalapak, has recently launched an accelerator program called, ‘City of the Future’, aimed at targeting 10,000 MSMEs in small cities throughout Indonesia and help them on vaccination, adoption of digital platforms, and empowerment through training and mentoring for business development.

‘City of the Future’ will start in Kupang and East Nusa Tenggara, and will continue gradually in Solo, Gowa, and Malang, as well as Pekanbaru until the end of December 2021. MSMEs who will be joining this program can reach millions of Grab and Bukalapak consumers in the country. They will also be getting new income opportunities by having digital stores so as to maintain the stability of their business even during the pandemic. 

Through the program, Grab, Emtek, and Bukalapak will combine their expertise to train and assist MSMEs in order to improve their ability to be ready in joining the digital economy. Around 100 selected MSMEs in Kupang and Solo will also receive special training on business management mentored by Grab and Bukalapak, free assistance for one month from the design, packaging to marketing through social media and influencers, and free advertising on Grab and Bukalapak platforms. Moreover, five selected MSMEs will be receiving publication on the Emtek Group media network.

Neneng Goenadi, the country managing director of Grab Indonesia, commented, “We believe big futures also exist in small towns. We hope that the program can open the door to a wider market for MSMEs in small cities without having to move locations, and in the end, will have a comprehensive impact on the regional economy.”

Meanwhile, Sutanto Hartono, EMTEK’s managing director, said that the digital ecosystem collaboration owned by EMTEK and Grab will provide more complete access to MSMEs on our platform, from logistics to financial inclusion, through the Mitra Bukalapak and GrabKios platforms, for example.

“The EMTEK media network will play a role in increasing awareness for both customers and MSME players on the maximum use of digital platforms,” said Hartono.

Rachmat Kaimuddin, Bukalapak’s president director, noted that this joint collaboration continues their commitment to support the development of MSMEs in Indonesia through digitalization. 

“The Future City Program, which prioritizes tier 2 and 3 cities throughout Indonesia, is in line with our mission to create a fair economy for all with the main focus on empowering MSMEs and serving underserved segments.”