Hi everyone. Taro here.
Our entire team was recently busy with organizing an event, and I wasn’t paying as much attention to the news for a few days. It was stunning to read about the recent TerraUSD crypto stablecoin depegging and the plummet in value of its sibling Luna token.
With the general markets seeing red, we should expect to see some headlines like this from the crypto space in the coming weeks as the bearish sentiments envelops investors, HODLers, and casual followers everywhere. This fall has caused concern among many, and we can only hope that teams behind other coins can stave off similar disasters.
Open Run
This week, we’re looking at startups that were announced as part of Accelerating Asia’s recent cohort.
Location: The Philippines
Fitscovery’s platform lets fitness trainers and vendors create a customized website within 30 minutes. The website can be set up to provide features such as events, video programs, and membership subscriptions.
Location: Pakistan
The Pakistan-based startup developed a marketplace for warehouses. Users can connect with warehouse owners to book space for storing their inventory.
Location: Bangladesh
Markopolo.ai is a marketing SaaS platform that automates ad campaign creation and management on social and search ad platforms. It was the winner of She Loves Tech Bangladesh.
Location: Bangladesh
MedEasy provides video consultations with doctors and medicine home delivery via its online pharmacy and digital health platform. It aims to make these services much more accessible for chronic patients in Bangladesh.
Location: United Kingdom, Hong Kong
Nu-Credits is a trade finance platform for businesses. It connects global lenders and is powered by blockchain and open data technology.
Location: China
relay.club connects Asian brands with social media influencers. It claims to have a database of more than 170 million YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok accounts that it uses to recommend the best-fit profile to its client base.
Location: United States
This online luxury fashion marketplace for fashion boutiques and designers provides a channel to sell overstock inventory with dynamic pricing.
Location: Indonesia
Tokban is a B2B platform for construction materials, MROs (maintenance, repair, and operations), and home renovations. It helps stores and contractors access a range of materials. It is currently raising a new funding round that is already oversubscribed.
Location: India
60PlusIndia provides a platform for people to address some of the needs of their aged family members. It facilitates encrypted and secured medical and personal record maintenance.
Nothing But Net
Recent Startup Wins
- Music tech startup Musiio was acquired by Soundcloud in a recent deal. Congratulations to Hazel Savage and the team, who we featured last year.
- SoftBank Ventures Asia led a USD 5.8 million funding round for Seadronix, which develops autonomous maritime navigation solutions. “Seadronix has set an exemplary model in the autonomous navigation market with commercialized AI products and accumulated maritime data. We highly expect Seadronix to lead the global maritime industry by presenting the international standards for autonomous navigation ships,” said Daniel Kang, senior partner of SoftBank Ventures Asia.
- IoT startup Unabiz has successfully acquired French firm Sigfox after a tense court process to have its bid confirmed. As co-founder Philippe Chiu told KrASIAlast year, the company wants to “diversify our network technology by adding more types of cellular technology.”
- Tezos APAC is partnering with the National University of Singapore School of Computing to set up the Center for Nurturing Computing Excellence and provide new opportunities to learn about blockchain, cloud computing, and data science.
- Indonesian insurtech startup Qoala announced a USD 65 million Series B round led by Eurazeo.
- Singaporean insurtech startup CoverGo closed a USD 15 million Series A funding round led by SemperVirens.
- YouTrip is launching YouBiz, a new corporate card solution, in partnership with Mastercard.
Pick & Roll
Interesting Drops From the Week
- Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) has released a new podcast titled Growth Islands that will feature tech founders from across Southeast Asia. Hosted by Asia Partners’ managing partner and co-founder Nick Nash alongside EDB’s Rovik Robert, season one will feature the founders of Ripple, Doctor Anywhere, and Carsome.
- Chelsea Nguyen from Vietnam-based investment firm ThinkZone gave interesting insights on the startup and investment outlook in the country.
- If you have ever wondered what startup founders are paying themselves, this article gives a peek into the range of salaries in the US. [via Sammy Abdullah]
- Elon Musk has been in the news non-stop for months, but is there more behind the headlines than his ardent fans are seeing? [via Concoda]
If you are a startup that is raising funds, or have an interesting story or lead for us to feature in this newsletter, please fill out thisform.