Tag: Southeast Asia

Hanoi, Vietnam – ThinkZone Ventures, the venture capital fund focusing on tech startups, has launched its ‘ThinkZone Fund II’, which deems to be the largest venture capital fund in Vietnam, aimed at supporting the growth of Vietnamese startups.

‘ThinkZone II Fund’, which was founded by ThinkZone Ventures and other notable Vietnamese conglomerate owners that specialises in finance, retail, manufacturing, agriculture and F&B, seeks to provide a huge amount of support to accelerate the growth of startups, and to further create sustainable development for the economy.

With its US$60m fund, ThinkZone Ventures will be investing in tech startups in various verticals from Pre-Seed to Series A, offering up to US$3m per startup. It will be accompanying founders who have great vision, passion, and ambition to create products that create positive impacts for society.

Besides financial resources, the biggest advantage of ‘ThinkZone Fund II’ is the huge support from large Vietnamese conglomerates in many fields such as investment corporation IPA Investments, multi-industry investment group Phu Thai Holdings, and multi-industry corporation and primary plastic resins distributor Stavian Group.

Bui Thanh Do, ThinkZone Ventures’ general partner and CEO, said, “I and ThinkZone always want to contribute and create a launching pad for founders who have the passion and vision to create positive values for society. With Fund II, ThinkZone has more resources than ever to make that happen.”

Meanwhile, Pham Minh Huong, IPA Investments’ co-founder and VNDIRECT’s chairwoman, shared that Fund I has proven that ThinkZone has selected and developed companies with great potential, and with Fund II’s large resources, there are sure to be many more successful companies. 

“This is also the first amount of capital that IPA allocates for startup investment, and ThinkZone is the very place that we trust to invest,” said Huong.

Jakarta, Indonesia — Akulaku, a Southeast Asian digital banking and finance platform, announced a US$100m investment from Thailand full-service bank Siam Commercial Bank.

This deal follows Akulaku’s successful funding of US$125m in 2021, co-led by Silverhorn Group as an existing investor and Akulaku’s financing partner since 2018. The company’s bank subsidiary, Bank Neo Commerce (BNC), also completed a public rights issue on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for approximately US$175m in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Founded in 2016, Akulaku has grown to become a notable Buy Now Pay Later and consumer financing platform in Indonesia, disbursing over USD$2.2b of credit in 2021 to over 6 million users. Building on that success, BNC launched its mobile digital banking services in March 2021 and has seen remarkable growth in digital bank users in Indonesia with over 13 million customers today.

Southeast Asia’s digital retail market is growing exponentially with over 80% of consumers now participating in e-commerce. Akulaku’s digital credit services aim to capitalize on this growth to further accelerate the digital transformation of retail in the region, providing a new market of consumers’ access to flexible banking services.

William Li, CEO of Akulaku, commented, “We founded Akulaku to meet the daily financial needs of underserved customers in emerging markets. Our recent round of funding will allow us to continue that vision by further expanding the geographic reach of our offerings across Southeast Asia and enable us to continue introducing new innovations to serve our customers.”

Dr Arak Sutivong, president of Siam Commercial Bank, said, “This investment in Akulaku marks our continued commitment and strong belief in the long-term prospects of Indonesia as one of the fastest-growing digital economies in the region. Akulaku has a dominant market position and is well-positioned with its innovative technology and superior product offerings. We are excited about the investment in the company and look forward to leveraging our deep expertise in Thailand’s financial services sector to support its expansion. The investment in Akulaku fits within our regional thesis of serving the underserved market using digital innovations. We look forward to partnering with Akulaku as the company continues to grow.”

Jakarta, Indonesia – Financial institution, Indonesia Eximbank (LPEI), has introduced a number of export-oriented SMEs during Indonesia’s historic event, G-20 2022, which has the theme ‘Recover Together, Recover Stronger’.

The move aims to show the resilience of Indonesian SMEs amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. These SMEs have participated in ‘Coaching Program for New Exporters’ (CPNE) or new export pilot programs, which is one of the government’s mandates through the Act to LPEI to create new exporters.

Rijani Tirtoso, LPEI’s executive director, shared that they have presented 16 selected SMEs during the event, of which are the results of the Consulting Services program, namely CPNE.

CPNE is a one-year mentoring and training program is also carried out by LPEI during the pandemic and has produced more than 2000 alumni. It aims to provide sustainable financial inclusion for SMEs can be accelerated, especially related to exports in accordance with one of the finance track agendas in the G-20 Indonesia presidency, namely ‘Financial Inclusion: Digital and SMEs’.

“A continuous training program for one year or we can say financial inclusion for export-oriented SMEs which aims to give birth to new exporters. Their presence at the G-20 presidency shows the resilience of SMEs to face the pandemic storm that has occurred for approximately the last two years,” said Tirtoso.

“We can find export-oriented SMEs from the CPNE program at the Rumah Joglo and Rumah Minahasa stands at JCC, Senayan. The products are also quite varied, such as fashion, handicrafts and home decorations, to accessories. Even more uniquely, a non-machine loom (ATBM) from one of the fostered partners that produce sarongs was brought directly to the JCC and attracted the attention of a number of delegates, even the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia,” said LPEI in a press statement.

Singapore – BuzzAR, the first woman-led metaverse startup in Southeast Asia, has recently raised US$3.8m in funding in a bid to create a more inclusive metaverse through family-friendly games, virtual reality (VR) and GameFi projects.

Said funding was led by venture ecosystem F50 Elevate in Texas, USA, regional venture capitals, angel investors including former Marina Bay Sands executive Ian Wilson, IP & Brand Protection expert, Peter Hlavnicka, former Google executive, among others.

BuzzAR’s ambition is to scale the metaverse business globally, after gaining accelerated growth in Southeast Asia, with A-list venues signing multi-year contracts, featuring the most exquisite venues to the global audience.

For Bell Beh, co-founder and CEO at BuzzAR, said that their startup is poised to be the first SEA metaverse startup that have fully scaled the enablers of the metaverse, including virtual reality and Avatar engine.

“In 2022, BuzzAR is launching the last 2 enablers, which are Web3 games and Social Networking (2022). The company is launching 3 GameFi projects, riding on BuzzAR’s HappyToon avatar engine, where 2 million avatars have been generated by users from 163 countries. There are investors in the pipeline to raise its first 8 figures funding to scale the vision of building an inclusive metaverse,” Beh stated.

Meanwhile, BuzzAR’s Co-Founder and CTO, Ken Lim, has published 20 games and amassed 20 million players without VC funding. Now, he joins BuzzAR with all the profitable business assets from Play Spirit Games, including The Cooking Game VR.

Indonesia – Indonesia-based crypto assets digital exchange, Tokocrypto, has launched its new crypto hub called ‘T-Hub’ in Bali, Indonesia, aimed at equipping the crypto community with the knowledge and skillsets needed to capitalise on the endless opportunities in the crypto economy.

‘T-Hub’ is a physical stomping ground for Asia’s crypto community, giving them a space to gather, ideate, create, improve, innovate, or simply live the crypto lifestyle, through the sheer utility of Toko Token (TKO), Tokocrypto’s local cryptocurrency project that offers a unique hybrid token model.

The hub spans 1000 square feet with media halls, discussions rooms, co-working spaces, and F&B outlets. The crypto community can look forward to gaining more blockchain and crypto-related information, and taking their existing knowledge to greater heights through the tools and technologies offered at the centre. Blockchain and crypto thought leaders in Asia and across the globe now also have a go-to place to congregate and champion new ideas.

T-Hub seeks to equip the crypto community with knowledge needed to capitalise on the endless opportunities in the crypto economy.

Pang Xue Kai, Tokocrypto’s CEO, shared that cryptocurrency’s market capitalization hit its US$3t mark last year, and while they celebrate crypto’s digitally connected nature, pandemic-induced lockdowns have highlighted the importance of human connections and the human touch.

“We wanted to expand crypto-related activities beyond the digital realm, and create a safe space for crypto enthusiasts all across Asia to exchange technical knowledge and expertise, and drive innovation to take crypto and its community to greater heights,” said Kai.

Meanwhile, Teguh Kurniawan Harmanda, Tokocrypto’s chief operating officer, noted that they established T-Hub to give the crypto community a space to come together and form a collective vision of joint purpose and ensure common direction. 

“We welcome everyone to make full use of the facilities at T-Hub – whether you’re a trader, DeFi farmer, general crypto investor, a creator or builder of on-chain platforms, a stakeholder of the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, or just someone who’s interested in learning more about blockchain and cryptocurrency,” said Harmanda.

Tokocrypto said that ‘T-Hub’, which opened last 21 January 2022, is part of the vast and ever-growing Tokoverse built by the platform to further spread financial freedom in Indonesia and across Asia. Beyond T-Hub, the Tokoverse boasts an accelerator programme, TokoLaunchpad, Indonesia’s NFT marketplace, TokoMall, and mobile application for crypto education, Kriptoversity, amongst others.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Southeast Asia’s used car e-commerce platform, Carsome, has appointed Andrew Mawikere, former president of technology company Warung Pintar, to be its new CEO for the Indonesia team.

Bringing more than 14 years of experience, Mawikere is a seasoned business executive with previous careers in Indonesia, the United States, and Singapore, as well as an experienced entrepreneur where previously he and other founders started their own company, a marketplace for B2B e-procurement called Mbiz. 

Aside from his role at Warung Pintar, Mawikere has led Bizzy Digital, a business-to-business (B2B) platform for integrated supply chain logistics and distribution. He has also previously held a leadership role at Astra International in the corporate strategy and business development department. Moreover, Mawikere has financial experience from his tenure in investment banking and multinational finance company JP Morgan and global investment company Temasek. 

In his new role, Mawikere will be a major force in ensuring Carsome Indonesia’s position as a market and industry leader in the country. He will also be responsible for driving strategic initiatives, and developing Carsome’s fast-growing business in Indonesia.

Commenting on his new appointment, Mawikere said that he feels grateful and happy to be a part of Carsome’s journey in digitising the process of buying and selling cars that are still conventional in Indonesia.

Mawikere said that he carries the vision to make Carsome Indonesia a user and stakeholder centred organisation with an emphasis on developing, investing, and empowering its employees. He is determined to make Carsome a leader in Indonesia by combining effective business and branding strategies supported by the power of technology and data.

“I am optimistic that Carsome is on track with a strong position, especially with the recent acquisition of Southeast Asia’s leading automotive listing and content platform, iCar Asia Limited. Relying on our core values, namely trust and transparency, we can create a more integrated automotive ecosystem that will benefit consumers and provide added value to the industry,” added Mawikere.

Meanwhile, Eric Cheng, Carsome’s co-founder and group CEO, shared that the appointment of Mawikere was a form of the company’s commitment to continue to grow in key markets such as Indonesia. 

“Joining Andrew will increase the strength of the team in Indonesia. With his combined financial and technological experience, we look forward to the breakthroughs Andrew will bring to enhance business growth and help Carsome’s mission of setting new standards for buying and selling cars,” said Cheng.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Pizza brand Domino’s in Malaysia has appointed advertising agency FCB Malaysia to be its new agency of record for creative duties. This appointment comes as a result of several chemistry sessions and a subsequent creative proposal made by FCB during the fourth quarter of 2021.

Following the move, FCB Malaysia has developed a new campaign for the pizza brand’s new ‘Mega Cheese Pizza’. It was created on the idea of ‘Can’t Get Cheesier Than This’, as the new pizza is loaded with up to half a kilogram of cheese.

Linda Hassan, the group chief marketing officer of Domino’s Pizza Malaysia, Singapore, and Cambodia, shared that the work FCB has done in taking challenger brands to the next level in Malaysia is well documented, so they were already confident of their capabilities. 

“What sealed the decision was the unmistakable entrepreneurial energy that they brought to the table. Their passion for our business was apparent from the get-go and very quickly, we knew that they were the sort of agency that would completely invest themselves in making our ambitions their own,” said Hassan.

Meanwhile, Shaun Tay, FCB Malaysia’s co-owner and CEO, commented, “We’ve seen how innovative Domino’s marketing team has been in leveraging the identity of a global powerhouse to promote a proposition that embraces local marketing flavour. As a best-of-both-worlds agency ourselves, opportunities like this are what we live for!”

Shi-Ping Ong, FCB Malaysia’s co-owner and chief creative officer, explains that going into the campaign, they knew exactly what their game plan was – to claim cheesy superiority for the Domino’s Mega Cheese Pizza. 

“This is why we decided to build our idea around the cheesiest things that would give people the goosebumps, and then use various media – from thematic and product films to radio and even print – to bring the campaign to life. By doing so, we are able to deliver a sensory overload of cheesiness not only conceptually, but also visually and auditorily,” said Ong.

The campaign is now available across TV, digital, radio, OOH, and in-store, as well as social media.

Malaysia – Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet), the payments network and central infrastructure for financial markets, has launched a three-month programme, aimed at supporting and advancing high potential fintech’s capabilities to further accelerate e-payments adoption in the country. 

Called the ‘FinTech ePayment Accelerator Programme’, the initiative is in line with PayNet’s mission to be a trusted enabler of inclusive and collaborative financial ecosystems. Moreover, this is in collaboration with the Fintech Association of Malaysia (FAOM), which features briefing sessions, and PayNet’s products will be held for interested fintech.

The new programme focuses on the ideas and solutions that can address fintech problems, including the adoption of e-payments, which addresses the conversion of the unbanked and underbanked population towards e-payments utilisation, as well as the improvement to existing products, which should determine specific target groups and how can fintech platforms innovate enhancements for their existing retail products to be more appealing and effective for customer use.

And lastly, the introduction of new business solutions, which should tackle the new and innovative use cases should be introduced to ensure it offers an inclusive financial ecosystem and address the e-payment needs of new markets.

According to PayNet, applicants for the programme will be shortlisted based on the ideas and solutions submitted, and these shortlisted applicants will advance to a pitching session in June 2022, where they will present to a panel of judges on why their ideas should progress to a proof-of-concept (‘POC’). Successful fintech platforms will be awarded a grant of up to RM500,000 to support the execution of the POC and will have the opportunity to work with PayNet’s extensive ecosystem of banks, e-wallets, and third party acquirers.

Peter Schiesser, PayNet’s group CEO, shared that the programme is timely and relevant as part of their efforts to develop a future-ready digital payments infrastructure and help Malaysia transition towards a digital economy. 

“I urge potential fintech [platforms] to seize this opportunity to showcase their solutions and partake in expanding the country’s digital ecosystem and advancing financial inclusion,” said Schiesser.

The applications for the ‘FinTech ePayment Accelerator Programme 2022’ is open until 30 April 2022 and can be submitted online at PayNet’s website. Submissions should consist of a pitch deck or a video presentation addressing the problem statement and include an introduction of the team.

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.

Manila, Philippines – Live-streaming platform kumu in the Philippines has partnered with Komiket, the Filipino comics and art market, aimed at empowering the Philippine comics community globally. 

Komiket serves as an entry point for first-time comics creators, artists, and readers. It provides accessible markets for creators to showcase their work, discover and nurture new talent, and bridge Filipino comics to the rest of the world through the Philippine International Comics Festival (PICOF).

Through the partnership with kumu, Komiket will be able to bring the Filipino comics community together. Its artists can easily share their work with the entire kumunity, and enthusiasts can meet and interact with some of their favourite comic artists, as well as conversations on comics—from lighthearted ones to more important discussions—will have a space of their own. Beyond that, Komiket will be able to connect with young individuals with aspirations to become comic artists and provide them with the tools and guidance that they need to make their dreams a reality.

Moreover, kumu and Komiket will also be funding ₱500,000 worth of awards and publishing deals to comics creators in the Komiket community. All creators included in various genres published by Komiket in 2022 will be eligible, with the top prize being ₱150,000 in cash and a publishing deal with Komiket for both the Komiket Awards and the Kumu Kumunity’s Choice winners.

The partnership kicked off last 13 February 2022 on the @komiket kumu account with legendary comic artist Whilce Portacio announcing the launch of the Stone Omnibus, an epic revival of one of the 90’s top-selling indie comics. This entire series, which spans eight issues, will be bound together in an ultimate collector’s edition. 

Rexy Dorado, kumu’s co-founder and president, shared that local comics, or komiks in Filipino, have historically been one of the cradles of Filipino storytelling and imagination.

“In line with our goals to create the best platform for Filipino creators, we are excited to partner with Komiket, one of the leading organizations in the industry, to make Kumu the best place for fans and creators of Pinoy komiks,” said Dorado.

Kumu said that this is just the beginning of a promising partnership between two organisations rooted in community and culture. It aims to uplift Filipino creators, readers, and budding artists. 

Future streams will be announced on the @komiket channel in the kumu app.