Catherine Shu
Senior Reporter
The Latest from Catherine Shu
Indonesian ID and data verification startup Verihubs gets $2.8M led by Insignia Venture Partners
For many financial institutions in Southeast Asia, verifying new customers takes a week or two, said the founders of Verihubs. The startup cuts that time down to as little as five seconds, using AI-ba
Signal, the encrypted messaging app, is currently down for many users (Update: it’s back)
Update 2: Signal is now back up for “99% of users,” according to its Twitter account. Update: In a tweet, Signal said the disruption is due to a hosting outage. Hold tight, folks! Signal i
Oraan raises $3M to increase financial inclusion among Pakistani women
After working as an investment banker in Canada for a decade, Halima Iqbal moved back to Pakistan in 2017 and quickly realized how difficult it is for women to access financial services. “I had a re
Aspire raises $158M Series B to build a full-stack “financial operating system” for Southeast Asian businesses
Aspire, the Singapore-based neobank that wants to become an “end-to-end financial operating system” for Southeast Asian businesses, is moving closer to its aspirations with a $158 million Series B
Insight Partners leads $34M round in Singapore-based fintech Spenmo
Spenmo originated as an expense management platform before realizing that expenses “are just a tiny sliver” of a company’s payables, founder and CEO Mohandass Kalaichelvan told TechCrunch. Finan
Indonesian halal-focused social commerce startup Evermos lands $30M Series B
Evermos is an Indonesian social commerce startup with two goals: to let people earn extra income by opening online stores without spending capital and to help small brands grow into household names. T
Gogoro will go public on Nasdaq after $2.35B SPAC deal
Gogoro is going public. The company, which is best known for its electric Smartscooters and swappable battery infrastructure, announced today it will list on Nasdaq through a merger with Poema Global,
Online events platform Delegate Connect gets $10M AUD led by AirTree
Delegate Connect is the latest virtual/hybrid events platform to land funding. The Melbourne-based startup announced today it has raised $10 million AUD (about $7.3 million USD) in seed funding led by
Chaldal, Bangladesh’s largest grocery delivery platform, raises $10M Series C
Founded in 2013, Bangladesh’s Chaldal was one of the first grocery delivery startups in the world to use the “dark” store model, picking up orders from its own warehouses instead of retail s
Indonesian fintech Xendit is now a unicorn, with $150M in fresh funding led by Tiger Global
There’s a new entrant in Southeast Asia’s growing list of unicorns. Jakarta-based Xendit, best known for its digital payment infrastructure but also focused on other financial products, announced
Indonesia-based Rey Assurance launches its holistic approach to insurance with $1M in funding
Health insurance is the kind of thing people usually only think about only when they need it. Otherwise, their policies are just paperwork in their files or cards in their wallet. Indonesian insurtech
Southeast Asia-focused Jungle Ventures announces $225M first close for its fourth fund
Southeast Asia’s funding boom is set to continue, with Jungle Ventures announcing today the $225 million first close of its fourth fund. Fund IV started raising in mid-May and is targeting a total o
Digital therapeutics startup Neuroglee raises $10M to help people with neurodegenerative conditions
Neuroglee Therapeutics, a startup developing digital therapeutics for people with neurodegenerative diseases, has raised a $10 million Series A led by Openspace Ventures and EDBI. The funding will be
Headout raises $12M, plans to hire 150+ people as domestic travel rebounds
The travel industry was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, and startup Headout was no exception. A marketplace that let tourists make same-day bookings for tours, events and activities, the app
Indonesia-focused Intudo Ventures closes $115M third fund
Intudo Ventures, the “Indonesia-only” investment firm, announced today it has closed its third fund, totaling $115 million. Called Intudo Ventures Fund III, it was raised in less than three months
E-commerce aggregator Rainforest raises $20M just months after its last funding
Four months after its last funding announcement, Singapore-based e-commerce aggregator Rainforest has closed a $20 million pre-Series A round led by Monk’s Hill Ventures. Other participants included
Financial comparison super app Jeff raises $1.5M seed extension
Financial services, especially those for people who don’t have access to traditional bank accounts or lines of credit, are proliferating in Southeast Asia. Jeff App wants to give consumers a “supe
Portcast gets $3.2M to create more transparent and sustainable supply chains
For many manufacturers and freight forwarders, managing logistics is still a very manual process: tracking shipments with a call or online lookup, and entering that data into an Excel spreadsheet. Por
Singapore-based caregiving startup Homage raises $30M Series C
Homage, the caregiving-focused startup, has raised a $30 million Series C led by Sheares Healthcare Group, which is wholly owned by investment firm Temasek. Other participants included new investors D
Bangkok-based insurtech Sunday banks $45M Series B from investors like Tencent
Sunday, an insurtech startup based in Bangkok, announced it has raised a $45 million Series B. Investors include Tencent, SCB 10X, Vertex Growth, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, Granite Oa