More than a dozen Southeast Asian startups secured fresh capital last week, of which at least three bagged eight-digit funding, data compiled by DealStreetAsia – DATA VANTAGE shows.
Confirming a story that DealStreetAsia broke earlier this month, Singapore-based fintech firm Honest Bank secured $19.7 million from a group of investors led by Insignia Ventures, regulatory filings show. Other investors include London-based venture firm Digital Horizon, New York-based Capital Partners and San Francisco-based XYZ Venture Capital.
Founded by Will Ongkowidjaja, the founding partner of Indonesia-focused VC firm Alpha JWC Ventures, and former Goldman Sachs executive Peter Panas, Honest Bank is currently looking to acquire a licence to launch credit card services.
Top shareholders in Honest Bank
Another startup raking in big dollars was Singapore-based telemedicine firm Doctor Anywhere, which bagged $58.7 million as part of its Series C round from Asia Partners, Novo Holdings and existing investors. The company’s share price roughly doubled in the round, with its valuation surging to approximately $279 million.
Following its $27 million Series B round fundraise that was completed in March last year, the company has entered four new markets in Southeast Asia – Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
Indonesia’s social commerce firm Evermos is close to concluding its Series B round after raising $19.5 million. The financing was led by Singapore-based UOB Venture Management through its Asia Impact Investment Fund II. Existing investors such as Jungle Ventures and Shunwei Capital also joined the round.
In a recent interaction with DealStreetAsia, Evermos CEO Arip Tirta had said the company, which is focused on retailing Sharia-compliant products, is targeting underserved non-tech-savvy consumers in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
Valuations up on growth-stage funding
Startup funding in Southeast Asia had a gold rush moment in the first half of this year. The first semester saw companies raise at least $11.6 billion, eclipsing the entire capital secured in the whole of 2020, our latest quarterly report shows.
A closer look into our data reveals that there were more startups closing Series B and C funding rounds in the second quarter relative to the previous four quarters. Big-ticket deals pushed the median deal value to $42.5 million for Series B and $80 million for Series C rounds in Q2.
The median value of seed and Series A rounds also increased to $1.6 million and $7.8 million, respectively, in Q2 from $1 million and $6.7 million in Q1.
Indonesian startups dominated e-commerce in the second quarter. Led by Bukalapak’s $400 million fundraise, the region’s e-commerce players received $1.17 billion in Q2 from a total of 35 deals.
Although online marketplaces continue to fetch the largest funding, we note the emergence of e-commerce brand acquirers such as Una Brands, which has raised $40 million in funding, and Rainforest Life ($36 million).
Following in the footsteps of roll-up companies such as New York-headquartered Thrasio, these startups acquire smaller brands that sell their products via e-commerce platforms and propel them to the next growth stage and sell them at a higher value.
Financial updates and other news
Technology company Voyager Innovations, which operates payment app PayMaya in the Philippines, more than tripled its revenues in 2020 to $95.1 million, its latest ACRA filing shows. The company’s total assets grew 17% year-on-year to $214.3 million, while its liabilities increased by 62.6%. The company has raised approximately $560 million in equity funding so far.
Data intelligence firm Near saw its losses before interest and taxes expand slightly to $6.8 million in 2020 from $5.4 million in the previous year as the company pursued growth. Within the same period, the company’s total revenue jumped 45.9% to $18.9 million.
Singapore-based cross-border payment firm Thunes saw its revenue jump to $15 million from $9 million in the previous year. The company’s assets more than doubled within the same period to $142.5 million as liabilities grew 92.1% year-on-year to $92.7 million. Based on its latest funding round in March, the company is valued at over $350 million.
Vietnam-based food-tech startup Kamereo has raised $4.6 million in fresh funding co-led by Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand’s CPF Group, Quest Ventures, and Genesia Ventures, the company’s latest filing shows, confirming DealStreetAsia’s report last year that it was targeting to raise $4.5 million in Series A funding.
Indonesian startup eFishery welcomed a new investor last week as it issued new shares worth $260,000 to ADD Ventures Capital International. The investment follows a series of secondary transactions that we reported earlier this month, when a co-investment vehicle of Wavemaker Partners and World Bank’s International Finance Corporation acquired shares from, among others, Maloekoe Ventures.