Y Combinator’s latest cohort has over 3x the startups from Southeast Asia

Startup enabler Y Combinator has unveiled the 54 Asian startups that have been included in its latest cohort S21. About 19 companies from the latest batch are Southeast Asian firms, up from six in the previous batch.

Photo credit: Robert Scoble

As part of the accelerator program, Y Combinator will invest US$125,000 in seed capital for a 7% stake in each startup. It will also give them access to company-building workshops, a global curriculum, and support from a community of mentors.

The selected Asian startups are headquartered in Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and India, among others. They offer solutions for industry verticals such as edtech, fintech, SaaS, healthtech, and ecommerce, among others.

Here’s a list of startups from Singapore that have made it to YC S21 program:

Deskimo

Founders: Raphael Cohen and Christian Mischler
Launch: July 2021

Deskimo enables employees to work from any of its 70 workspaces across Singapore and Hong Kong. Businesses also use the platform to allow employees to work from locations closest to their homes, eliminating the need to commute to work. Workspaces listed on the app include co-working spaces and serviced offices such as those offered by The Hive and Garage Society, Arcc Spaces, and The Executive Centre, along with alternative spaces like Furama Hotel and Changi Lounge.

Strive Education
Founders: Pulkit Agarwal and Tamir Shklaz
Launch: December 2020

Strive is an edtech platform that teaches math to students in the K12 category via online classes. In the classes, students are required to code games and visualizations that are aligned to their school syllabus, paving the way for lessons in math and coding as well. The company claims it has taught over 60 hours of classes in a week and engages over 30 weekly active students. Entrepreneur First has also previously backed the firm.

Tablevibe
Founders: Jeroen Rutten, Mathieu Sneep and Guido Caldara
Launch: July 2020

Tablevibe is a SaaS platform that helps restaurants and cloud kitchens print QR codes on food packaging so that they can capture customer feedback, build their own customer database, and push diners to order directly with them. It also shares customer data and satisfaction insights on an online dashboard. Customers scan QR-code to complete a short feedback survey in exchange for a loyalty discount, resulting in response rates of up to 25%.

Arrow
Founders: Liat Beng Neo, Sudhan Raj and Sebastian Roervig
Launch: January 2021

Arrow is a fintech firm that aims to simplify shopping online without the use of usernames and passwords. It helps keep tabs on a user’s purchases and stores encrypted data only for shopping purposes. Previously, the company has raised pre-seed funding of US$1 million from Next Billion ventures, Plug n Play Ventures, and others.