Catherine Shu
Senior Reporter
The Latest from Catherine Shu
Gravel gets funding from NEA to support Indonesia’s booming construction industry
Indonesia’s construction industry is growing quickly, driven by residential and industrial building, alongside infrastructure development plans by the government. Sourcing skilled labor is still a t
Backed by East Ventures, Fr8Labs aims to digitize Asia’s logistics industry
In Western markets, freight forwarders are well into digitizing their operations, but the same doesn’t hold true in Southeast Asia, say the founders of Fr8Labs. The reasons for that include the lack
FEBE Ventures launches $75M second fund
FEBE Ventures’ name stands for “For Entrepreneurs By Entrepreneurs,” and true to form, it is continuing to support seed-stage startups with the launch of its second fund. Targeting $75 million,
Wind.app makes DeFi accessible to the average consumer
Hussain Elius is best known as the co-founder of Pathao, one of Bangladesh’s top ridesharing apps. For his latest startup, however, Elius is exploring the world of DeFi with Wind.app, a self-custodi
Inflow connects small fashion brands with manufacturers in Vietnam
Textiles and garments contribute 16% of Vietnam’s total GPD, but it’s challenging for small garment brands to take advantage of the country’s manufacturing prowess. Inflow is stepping into the g
Pakistan-based BusCaro is providing safer transportation options, especially for women
When Maha Shahzad was 19, she was forced to drop out of junior college in Southern California because of a six-hour daily commute. When she moved to Pakistan for work, half of her salary was spent on
Singapore-based Climate Alpha analyzes the impact of climate change on real estate
Founded by an expert on geography and globalization, Climate Alpha’s AI-based platform helps real estate owners and investors analyze the impact of climate change on their portfolios. The Singapore-
Avarni gets backing to help large enterprises hit their net-zero goals
For a lot of companies, Scope 3 emissions make up the bulk of their carbon footprint, but are time-consuming and expensive for them to track. As more regulation mandating Scope 3 reporting is passed,
Composable CDP startup Hightouch acquires HeadsUp
Customer data-syncing startup Hightouch announced today it has acquired HeadsUp. As part of the deal, HeadsUp co-founder Earl Lee will join Hightouch, working on Customer 360, a product that uses AI a
Refilled wants to save 100 million plastic bottles from the landfill
The Australian government recently set new packaging regulations after an official review found just 18% of plastic packaging is recycled, falling far short of a 70% target by 2025. Refilled, a Sydney
etaily is a ‘one-stop solution’ for consumer brands that want to enter Southeast Asia
E-commerce in Southeast Asia grew rapidly during the pandemic, and that momentum is continuing. A McKinsey report found that between now and 2026, the market is expected to triple at a compound growth
Blackbird invests in Carepatron’s ‘radically accessible’ healthcare management platform
When TechCrunch covered Carepatron’s pre-seed last year, the startup was focused on serving solo practitioners and small health practices. Now the healthcare management system has scaled along with
Dashtoon uses AI to turn storytellers into comics artists
Dashtoon wants to make anyone with a story to tell into a comic-artist, even if they can’t draw. It provides aspiring comics creator with a suite of generative AI tools, and a publishing platform th
Southeast Asia funding at its lowest level in six years
Every year, Temasek teams up with Bain & Company on the e-Conomy SEA report. It covers Southeast Asia’s digital economy and is published by Google. This year’s report, published today, undersc
Korea Investment Partners is the latest Korean VC firm to launch a Southeast Asia fund
More South Korean investors are putting money into Southeast Korea startups, creating an “investment corridor” between the two regions. The latest one is KIPSEA. Short for Korea Investment Partner
Singapore-based fintech YouTrip picks up $50M led by Lightspeed
YouTrip, a Singapore-based fintech that offers multicurrency wallet for consumers and business accounts with corporate cards for SMEs, has its eyes on growth throughout Southeast Asia after landing a
Blackbird backs Heidi Health’s AI platform for overworked doctors
Many doctors are overwhelmed by paperwork, leaving them stretched thin, with less time to see patients. Based in Melbourne with plans to expand around the world, Heidi Health wants to ease the burden
Triple-A gets funding from Peak XV to help more businesses use crypto
Created by the founder of Thunes, global digital currency payments institution Triple-A wants to close the gap between traditional finance and blockchain-based payments with its white-label solutions
Temasek’s Xora backs Cosmos Innovation’s next-generation solar cell technology
Perovskite silicon tandem solar cell technology is a mouthful, but it’s basically perovskite crystals layered on top of silicon cells. The combination captures energy from the sun more efficiently t
Tofu automates content creation for massive omnichannel B2B marketing campaigns
Creating the many types of content needed for large-scale B2B campaigns often results in marketers juggling dozens of tools. This makes it difficult to ensure cohesive messaging across their emails, l