In this weekly startup news roundup, we bring you the latest developments in the startup world.
Roojai acquires DirectAsia
Thai insurtech company Roojai acquired motor DirectAsia Group from US-based small business insurer Hiscox for an undisclosed sum.
The transaction is subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed by 2023-end.
Following the acquisition, DirectAsia Thailand will be rebranded into Roojai Thailand, while DirectAsia Singapore will retain its brand.
With this acquisition, Roojai looks to substantially increase its market share with a combined portfolio of over 400,000 vehicles insured in three countries and 300,000 individuals protected with its accident and health insurance products.
Automera secures US$16M Series A
Singapore-based biotechnology startup Automera bagged US$16 million in a Series A round of investment co-led by early-stage life science accelerator and investment firm Accelerator Life Science Partners (ALSP) and Temasek-backed venture builder ClavystBio.
EDBI, Xora Innovation, and other undisclosed investors also participated.
Automera was established by Associate Professor Michael Lazarou, Loong Wang, and Taiyang Zhang at Talo Labs in collaboration with ALSP.
It is an early-stage company focused on developing a novel therapeutic approach via autophagy-based targeted protein degradation. The biotech startup aims to leverage its understanding of autophagy, drug development capabilities, access to quantum chemistry, and generative Al-enabled insights to enhance its drug development programmes. Automera’s autophagy-targeting chimaera small molecules (AUTAC) platform has broad potential across cancer and other disease areas, with oncology being the initial lead programme.
Bright Money rakes in US$62M
Bright Money, a fintech company helping users get out of debt using AI and credit products, closed a US$62 million financing round.
The capital comprises a US$50 million debt funding from Encina Lender Finance, which provides lending solutions to consumer and commercial speciality finance companies across the US and Canada.
The remaining US$12 million equity was led by Alpha Wave Global, Hummingbird Ventures, and PeakXV Partners (earlier known as Sequoia Capital India & SEA).
Bright Money was founded in 2019 by a team from McKinsey’s Banking Practice (Petko Plachkov and Avi Patchava) and InMobi Data Scientists (Avi Patchava, Varun Modi, Avinash Ramakath, Jay Merwade, and Amit Bendale).
Kiddocare raises funding
Kiddocare, an on-demand caregiving platform in Malaysia, concluded an undisclosed pre-Series A financing round led by Artem Ventures.
Gobi Partners, MSW Ventures Asia Fund X, and ScaleUp Malaysia also joined. Gobi invested via the Khazanah Nasional Bhd-backed Gobi Dana Impak Fund.
The capital will be used by Kiddocare for growth and innovation. It will leverage these resources to expand its platform, reach a wider audience demographic, and create fresh opportunities for women.
Founded in 2019 by Nadira Yusoff and Muhaini Mahmud, Kiddocare is an online platform connecting parents with verified childcare providers based on their preferences for time and location. These caregivers undergo rigorous screening and training before being onboarded.
500 Global backs NexMind
NexMind, an AI-powered multilingual digital marketing platform, received undisclosed seed funding from 500 Global.
The Malaysian startup will use the funding to expand its product offerings and accelerate customer acquisition worldwide.
Founded in 2019 by Francis Lui (CEO), Bernie Law (CPO), and Pattrine Hong (CFO), NexMind empowers professionals across industries with advanced SEO tools to create search-optimised content in 17 languages, with no technical SEO expertise required. Its SEO content generation tools simplify and streamline how brands create multilingual content that ranks on search engines like Google and Bing and e-commerce marketplaces like Amazon, Lazada, and Shopee.
Funding Societies nets US$27M
Southeast Asian SME digital finance platform Funding Societies (known as Modalku in Indonesia) scored US$27 million in debt funding led by AlteriQ Global.
Aument Capital Partners (ACP) and Orange Bloom also invested.
The funds will be channelled via the fintech startup’s tailored financing solutions to support the underserved SME segments in its five markets.
Licensed and registered in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia and operating in Vietnam, Funding Societies provides business financing to small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, it offers payments and collections intending to solve SMEs’ cashflow management challenges.
Funding Societies says it has achieved over US$3.2 billion in business financing, processing over 5 million transactions and serving about 100,000 SMEs across the region.
pitchIN launches pitchIN Academy
Malaysian equity crowdfunding platform pitchIN launched pitchIN Academy to offer practical and easy-to-understand educational programmes, activities and content on alternative financing and investment.
pitchIN Academy aims to enhance the communication, education and public awareness outreach of innovative financing and investment in Malaysia. It will offer programmes catering to the general public, entrepreneurs and investors.
The academy is headed by Hanif Tamin, who previously served at SME Corp.
Gobi partners with Petronas
Leading VC firm Gobi Partners and Petronas Ventures’s investment arm Twin Towers Ventures (TTV) announced the collaboration to invest in the ecosystem of sustainable innovation within Southeast Asia and the Greater Bay Area in China.
The effort includes cross-sharing of deal flow and potential co-investments into promising opportunities in the region, exchange of insights and sustainable innovation best practices, and exploring potential co-development and commercialisation of Petronas’s in-house innovations.
“This MoU marks not only a new beginning but also a new urgency for our organisations. The forthcoming wave of environmentally conscious innovation needs to be transformational on a large scale that benefits all before time runs out,” Gobi Co-Founder and Chairperson Thomas G Tsao said.
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Copyright: bignai
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