Here’s what you might’ve missed in Southeast Asian tech

Zilingo’s co-founders – CEO Ankiti Bose (L) and CTO Dhruv Kapoor (R). Photo credit: Zilingo.

Series B is often said to be the hardest funding round to raise – especially in Southeast Asia. Two Singaporean startups bucked the trend last week, securing over US$22 million in series B investment between them. Elsewhere, Tokopedia was forced to put certain features of its mobile wallet on hold due to regulatory issues, while Thailand welcomed Chinese internet giant JD and Honestbee’s Goodship logistics service.

Singapore

Zilingo closes US$17 million series B round. The Singapore-based online fashion marketplace secured funding from returnee Sequoia Capital and new backer Burda Principal Investments, which both co-led the round. Other participants included Venturra Capital, Wavemaker Partners, and Tim Draper. Zilingo will use the funding primarily to expand its Indonesia business and to enhance its offline brand presence. (Tech in Asia)

Red Dot Payment also gets a series B boost. The online payments company raised US$5.2 million from existing investors including GMO, Telkom’s MDI Ventures, and Skype co-founder Toivo Annus. Singapore-based Dorr Group also joined the round. (Tech in Asia)

CashShield team members, including co-founder Junxian Lee (R). Photo credit: CashShield.

CashShield announces US$5.5 million GGV Capital-led round. Razer, Temasek affiliate Heliconia Capital Management, and iPod designer and Nest Labs co-founder Tony Fadell also invested in the cyber security startup’s series A capital raise. (Tech in Asia)

Mobile payments race heats up as Nets and Razer CEOs trade barbs. Nets made its pitch for creating Singapore’s next-generation mobile payments system early last week. Nets CEO Jeffrey Goh was mildly skeptical about the proposal put forward by Razer earlier this month, in which it claimed its own system could be rolled out within 18 months. In response, Razer CEO Tan Min-Liang said his company would be open to collaborating with Nets though he would have preferred “[Goh] didn’t take a swipe at me.” (Tech in Asia)

Insignia Venture Partners founder Yinglan Tan.

New VC firm founded by ex-Sequoia partner closes debut fund. Insignia Venture Partners – founded by former Sequoia partner Tan Yinglan – raised US$25 million for its Southeast Asia-focused fund, according to filings with the US Securities & Exchange Commission. (Tech in Asia)

Indonesia

EV Hive gets US$3.5 million investment. The co-working space operator – which is affiliated with regional VC firm East Ventures – got the funding in a “pre-series A” round led by Tan’s Insignia, in its first publicly announced investment. (Tech in Asia)

EV Hive shared workspace in South Tangerang, Jakarta. Photo credit: East Ventures.

Tokopedia temporarily suspends mobile wallet features. The ecommerce company froze some of its TokoCash ewallet functions while it waits to be granted relevant licenses by Indonesia’s central bank. TokoCash users can still spend the credit they have in their wallet, but won’t be able to top up until the situation is resolved. (Tech in Asia)

Thailand

Photo credit: Honestbee.

JD enters Thailand. The Chinese company was previously rumored to have been in talks with Thailand’s Central Group over a US$500 million ecommerce and financial services-focused joint venture. The hook-up was confirmed last week, with Central Group offering its stores and malls as a way for the joint venture to source goods. JD’s new Thailand marketplace will act as a storefront for many of Central Group’s retail offerings. (Tech in Asia)

Honestbee takes its last-mile logistics service to Bangkok. Singapore’s Honestbee – known for online food, groceries, and laundry delivery – officially launched its logistics service Goodship in the Thai capital. Honestbee said that Goodship, which it has trialled in Bangkok for several months, has already surpassed its food and groceries services in volume. (Tech in Asia)

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from Tech in Asia https://www.techinasia.com/southeast-asia-tech-news-2017-09-18
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