Catherine Shu
Senior Reporter
The Latest from Catherine Shu
Deskimo, the on-demand desk booking app, raises $3M and expands to Jakarta
Singapore-based Deskimo, the on-demand app that lets people find co-working spaces and pay by the minute, announced today it has raised a $3 million seed round. It is also soft launching in Jakarta, b
Education startup MindX raises $3.3M to prepare Vietnamese students for tech careers
Vietnam’s digital economy is one of the fastest growing in the world, but the country is facing a growing shortage of IT workers. Many kids want to study coding, but school curriculums are limited,
Homebase raises $30M to help more people in Southeast Asia become property owners
Homebase, a Ho Chi Minh City-based proptech startup that helps people buy homes, announced today it has raised $30 million in equity and debt (the ratio was undisclosed). The company’s business mode
Plentina, a ‘buy now, pay later’ startup focused on emerging markets, raises another $2.2M
Philippines-based Plentina, a buy now, pay later startup focused on emerging markets, announced today it has raised $2.2 million. This brings the fintech’s total funding since it was founded in 2019
Singapore-based TreeDots gets $11M Series A to cut food waste in Asia
Every year, tons of food ends up in landfills because of cosmetic issues (they won’t look nice in stores) or inefficiencies in the supply chain. Singapore-based TreeDots, which says it is the first
Lusha, a crowdsourced data platform for B2B sales, gets $205M Series B at $1.5B valuation
For many sales and marketing teams, finding leads is a time-consuming and tedious process. Lusha, a sales intelligence platform for B2B sales, is helping with a crowdsourced database that helps compan
Indonesian venture capital firm Alpha JWC closes $433M third fund
Alpha JWC, the Jakarta-based venture capital firm, announced today it has closed its third fund at $433 million. The company says this makes it Southeast Asia’s largest VC fund for early-stage start
Taiwan-based FunNow, an instant booking app, raises $15M Series B
FunNow is a booking app for spontaneous people. For example, you can reserve a manicure or restaurant seat and head right over. As people start to spend more time outside their homes, FunNow is preppi
E-commerce aggregator Una Brands raises $15M Series A five months after its launch
Una Brands, the e-commerce aggregator focused on Asia-Pacific brands, announced today it has raised $15 million for its Series A. The full-equity round was co-led by White Star Capital and Alpha JWC,
Singapore-based cashback platform ShopBack acquires BNPL service Hoolah
ShopBack, the Rakuten-backed e-commerce loyalty platform, announced today it will acquire buy now, pay later startup Hoolah. Both companies are based in Singapore and operate in Southeast Asian market
New Zealand-based customer due diligence platform First AML gets $21M Series B
More of the world’s economy is moving online, and that is underscored by the long list of recent fundings and acquisitions in the digital ID authentication and anti-money laundering (AML) space, inc
Wavemaker Impact launches to help entrepreneurs build climate tech startups
Wavemaker Partners doesn’t just want to invest in climate tech and sustainability startups. It also wants to help build them. Today, the Singapore-based firm announced the launch of Wavemaker Impact
Open banking startup Finverse wants to build the Asia-Pacific region’s Plaid
Based in Hong Kong, Finverse’s ambitious goal is to enable open banking throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The startup recently came out of stealth mode with $1.8 million in seed funding and is now
Malaysia-based Poladrone raises $4.29M seed round to protect crops
Rhinoceros beetles are one of the greatest threats to oil palm crops, attacking plants while they are young and potentially lowering a farm’s yield for years. They also affect workers’ health, sin
Hong Kong-based fintech XanPool raises $27M for its decentralized payment network
XanPool, a payment infrastructure provider that facilitates faster crypto and fiat settlements, announced today it has raised a $27 million Series A led by Valar Ventures. The round included participa
Doyobi, a Singapore-based edtech startup focused on teachers, gets $2.8M seed
The edtech boom has focused primarily on students, but teachers are learners, too. Doyobi, a Singapore-based professional development platform, wants to give educators new, more engaging ways of teach
Supply chain-focused insurtech startup BondAval lands $7M from Octopus Ventures
For independent retailers, inventory financing is often a complicated and lengthy process that ties up their working capital. BondAval, an insurtech startup with offices in London and Austin, Texas, i
Singapore-based Geniebook’s personalized learning platform raises $16.6M Series A
Founded in 2017, Geniebook is a Singapore-based learning platform that uses a combination of machine learning and human teachers to personalize each student’s education. The company announced today
Maritime recruitment platform Seafair gets $5.7M led by General Catalyst
The people who work on shipping vessels are vital to world trade, but they still experience a lot of arcane hiring processes. Many lack transparency about important things like pay or even the working
Dispute resolution platform Immediation raises $3.6M AUD to expand in the US
The pandemic forced the legal profession to cobble together remote work strategies, often through a combination of video conferencing and emails. Founded in Melbourne, Immediation provides a tailor-ma