Rising startups on Tech In Asia: marketing tech gets interesting

Which are the startups that are on the path to becoming the next big thing? In this regular post, we give you an overview of the companies that have raised money in the past week, as well as those we think investors should look at.

1. Near (Singapore)

Near was founded in 2012 and uses machine learning to combine digital-world data (what people do online) with anonymized real-world data (what people do in real life). This integrated data gives businesses a more insightful view into people in a specific physical location, allowing for more effective marketing campaigns, and making Near Southeast Asia’s most valuable marketing tech startup. More info.

2. CXA (Singapore)

CXA Group is a healthtech startup backed by Facebook co-founder, Eduardo Severin. They are looking to raise at least US$50 million at a valuation of US$250 million following long-term contracts with insurers and other customers. The company is aiming to achieve profitability by 2020 and enter unicorn status within the next three years. More info.

3. Insider (Singapore)

Insider is an “integrated growth marketing platform” that delivers a broad feature set targeting four key marketing metrics: acquisition, activation, retention, and revenue. Their clients include ecommerce unicorn Tokopedia, digital loyalty platform Shopback, and Singapore Airlines. The company claims to be profitable and says its annual recurring revenue has grown 2.6x in the last year. More info.

4. Culture Amp (Australia)

Culture Amp is an employee analytics firm founded in 2011 that helps improve a company’s employee engagement, retention, and performance through behavioral science and data analytics. They have recently secured US$82 million in a series E round led by new investor Sequoia Capital China, bringing its total funding to over US$158 million. The round also sees the company’s valuation reach US$700 million. More info.

5. Oneberry Technologies (Singapore)

Oneberry Technologies is a security and surveillance solutions provider that has just raised US$21.7 million in a series A funding round led by local private equity firm, CMIA Capital Partners, and Malaysia-based Bintang Capital Partners. The company plans to use the new investment to expand its service to other Southeast Asian markets, step up their research and development initiatives, and increase funding in its cybersecurity and robotics development. More info.

6. CapBridge (Singapore)

CapBridge Group is a private capital raising platform for investing in global growth companies. They announced a US$4 million investment from South Korea’s Hanwha Investment and Securities for a stake in the company. The partnership aims to further promote the growth of the private markets ecosystem in South Korea and Southeast Asia. More info.

7. Rever (Vietnam)

Rever is a proptech startup that was created to make real estate services more efficient and transparent in a market with nearly 7,000 agencies and more than 100,000 agents. They recently secured US$2.3 million from GEC-KIP Technology and Innovation Fund, which they will use to expand across the country. This includes opening 30 additional “experience centers” within the next 18 months. More info.

8. Eden Farms (Indonesia)

Eden Farms is a startup focused on developing a sustainable food distribution network in the country. They currently operate in six major cities in Indonesia, including Jakarta, Tangerang, South Tangerang, Bekasi, Depok, and Bogor. They just raised US$1.7 million in a seed round led by Global Founders Capital. Y Combinator, Everhaus, Soma Capital, S7 Venture, and several angel investors also participated in the round. More info.

9. Ecomobi (Vietnam)

Ecomobi is a startup that builds partnerships with publishers and facilitates commerce through social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Zalo, and Instagram. It uses AI, machine learning, and chatbots to help brands connect with key opinion leaders and sell their products through reviews, promoted content, and product experience. VinaCapital Ventures, a US$100 million venture capital fund, led an investment round for the social ecommerce platform. The terms of the funding were not disclosed. More info.

10. KoinWorks (Indonesia)

KoinWorks is a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform that connects lenders — mostly individual investors — with small business owners in need of financing. Borrowers can take up loans of between 10 million and 2 billion rupiah (approximately US$700 to US$140,000). Since the company’s founding in 2016, KoinWorks claims to have disbursed almost 2 trillion rupiah (around US$140 million) in loans. More info.

11. Kredivo (Indonesia)

Kredivo is a fintech firm that serves as a “digital credit card” and point-of-sale system. It provides customers with instant credit financing for ecommerce, offline purchases, and personal loans. The company recently closed a credit line of up to US$20 million with US-based venture debt firm Partners for Growth V (PFG). More info.

12. Funding Societies (Singapore)

Funding Societies is a peer-to-peer lending platform that provides financing to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). So far, the platform has helped fund more than S$800 million in loans. They recently announced new additions to its senior management as they scale operations. This includes Matt Lambia as chief technology officer, Jared Goldberg as chief data officer, and Deeraj Chowdhry as chief executive officer. More info.

13. WhatCard.sg (Singapore)

WhatCard.sg is a search engine that helps users figure out the best credit card for them in terms of rewards when they are transacting with a merchant. This is done through querying a database of merchants that the co-founders maintain, which captures important information such as the Merchant Category Code (“MCC”). They have grown from just 2,000 unique visitors in June to 10,000 unique users on community and 27,000 community pages views in August. More info.

Want to catch up on previous lists? You can do so here.