Bangladeshi startup Data Bird has raised funding while IFC has extended financing to a Vietnamese wind power firm.
Bangladeshi startup Data Bird raises $3m bridge round
Bangladesh’s Data Bird, the company behind online travel platform ShareTrip and communications app Ridmik Keyboard, has raised a $3-million bridge round from global internet and software investor Skycatcher.
The proceeds will be used for its fintech and digital advertising efforts, aiming to turn its Ridmik brand into a super app.
DataBird is an Internet group with products across online travel, news, keyboard, eReader, and lifestyle mobile applications.
The company claims that its services reach more than half of all smartphone Internet users today in Bangladesh. ShareTrip is the largest online travel agent in the country with a +50% market share of online travel. Meanwhile, Ridmik Keyboard claims to be Bangladesh’s most used app.
In 2018 it had received a $4 million investment from the global internet and software investor in a seed round.
IFC provides $57m financing for wind power projects in Vietnam
International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a $57-million financing to Thuan Binh Wind Power JSC (TBW), a subsidiary of Vietnamese listed Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation, to develop two onshore wind power plants.
The IFC loan also includes financing under its innovative syndications platform that allows institutional partners to commit funds for a set of future loans of the lender.
The Vietnam-based power plants, Phu Lac 2 in Binh Thuan province and Loi Hai 2 in Ninh Thuan province, have a combined capacity of 54.2 MW and will generate about 170 million MWh of clean energy per year once they start operating later this year.
“The wind power sector in Vietnam is still in its nascent stage but has very large-scale potential. IFC’s engagement will demonstrate viability to investors and help mobilise the much-needed funding to help realise Vietnam’s cleaner, renewable energy potential,” said Kyle Kelhofer, IFC’s country manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.