Rising startups on Tech in Asia: ecommerce, payments, and biotech

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 that we think investors should look at.

1. Sendo (Vietnam)

Consumer-to-consumer online marketplace Sendo has secured US$61 million in a series C round – its largest raise to date. The company plans to use the fresh funds to expand its integrated platform offering for both sellers and consumers and invest in AI and machine learning to enhance customer experience, said Sendo CEO and co-founder Hai Linh Tran.Prior to the series C round, Sendo received US$51 million in a series B funding round led by Japanese financial services giant SBI Group in August 2018. More info.

2. Coda Payments (Singapore)

Payments service provider Coda Payments announced that it’s bagged an investment of more than US$20 million in a deal led by private equity asset manager Apis Partners through its Apis Growth Fund II. Founded in 2011, Coda helps publishers such as Tencent, Garena, and Netflix monetize games and other digital content. Through Codapay, Coda allows these companies to accept more than 100 payment methods on their websites, including direct carrier billing, bank or ATM transfer, cash payments at convenience stores, online vouchers, and e-wallets. More info.

3. Lucence (Singapore)

Healthtech startup Lucence has raised US$20 million in a series A round led by global healthcare provider IHH Healthcare. Lucence uses liquid biopsy, a blood-based technology that’s less invasive than tissue biopsies, to help clinicians analyze a tumor and make treatment decisions. Lucence said the new funds will enable the company to reach more patients across Asia and North America. It also plans to embark on new prospective clinical studies to evaluate its technology for early detection of multiple cancers. More info.

4. Quilt.ai (Singapore)

Quilt.ai, an AI-powered human insights platform, has raised US$9 million in a series A round led by investment managing firm Nadathur Group. It plans to use the new funds to develop capacity for over 200 languages, build training models on more than 100 billion images, and improve its video recognition and classification engines, according to a statement. Founded early last year, Quilt operates a platform that indexes and clusters human conversations and expressions across social, news, blog, and institutional sources, as well as search engine trails to help enterprises understand patterns in human behavior at scale. More info.

5. CloudMile (Taiwan)

AI and cloud services provider CloudMile has raised US$6 million in a pre-series B round led by CDIB Capital Management, Black Marble Capital Management, and Taiwan Cooperative Venture Capital. Leveraging machine learning and big data analysis, CloudMile helps enterprises with business forecasts and industrial upgrades to drive growth. The startup also offers cloud management application consultation services and solutions. It plans to use the new capital to fund its overseas expansion efforts and improve its research and development capacity for its AI products. More info.

6. BigGo (Taiwan)

BigGo, a product search engine and price comparison platform based in Taiwan, has raised US$5 million in a series A round to enter new markets. Founded in 2016, BigGo’s business includes price comparison, cashback, and price history tracking services that support international ecommerce platforms. It also offers an internet browser extension called BigGo Helper which automatically displays available discount codes, much like US-based Honey. The startup said it plans to use the new funds to further develop its product and continue expanding internationally in markets such as Thailand, Japan, and EU countries, according to a statement. More info.

7. Istox (Singapore)

Istox, a capital markets platform, has secured US$5 million in funding from Japanese financial services company Tokai Tokyo through Singapore subsidiary Tokai Tokyo Global Investments. The deal would connect Istox to institutional investors and issuers across Japan through Tokai’s network, according to a statement. The company is now working on graduating from the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s fintech regulatory sandbox and enter full operation in Q1 2020, according to the statement.
More info.

8. Hydroleap (Singapore)

Wastewater treatment startup Hydroleap has secured S$2.6 million (US$1.9 million) in a funding round led by Wavemaker Partners. Hydroleap’s cost-effective water treatment system makes use of electrocoagulation, which involves running electricity through metal plates and creating in-situ coagulants to effectively remove suspended solids and heavy metals. The startup will use the new funds to continue expanding to new verticals in mining, palm oil, and semiconductor industries. More info.

9. Volt14 Solutions (Hong Kong)

Nanotech startup Volt14 Solutions raised S$1.3 million (US$955,000) in seed funding to speed up the development and deployment of its high capacity battery material. Volt14 plans to use the proceeds from the raise to further refine their material for consistent mass production and support the manufacturing trials with battery cell producers it currently has in the pipeline. The company develops battery materials that can be used to replace graphite, which is currently used in lithium-ion batteries. More info.

10. GuardRails (Singapore)

GuardRails, a SaaS-based software security provider, announced a S$1 million (US$733,084) seed financing round led by Cocoon Capital, a Singapore-based early-stage venture capital firm. GuardRails helps developers find, fix, and prevent security vulnerabilities in real-time at a low cost and has close to 800 software teams on its platform. With the funds from the seed investment, GuardRails is scaling their team of software engineers, security experts as well as sales and customer success representatives. GuardRails is also adding support for even more programming languages, development platforms, and security testing technologies.

11. Onelife Nutriscience (India)

Onelife has raised a pre-series A funding of INR 50 (US$697,413) million from a group of high net worth individuals (HNIs) in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries. Onelife has over 100 products in the nutrition, wellness and beauty space with presence in more than 15 cities across West and North India, and will leverage the infused funds for geographical expansion, online & offline expansion, marketing and team building.

12. TrophyRoom (Singapore)

Football game TrophyRoom closes a fundraiser of EUR 500,000 (approx US$550,990) from existing investors and takes aim at a global launch next year. This is the third round of seed investments, with previous rounds focused on building a minimum viable product. The company describes the TrophyRoom game as “taking the best parts of fantasy sports, shaving off some of the complexities and adding a wonderfully stressful card game similar to Hearthstone on top.” The product is currently in a pre-launch stage and TrophyRoom is recruiting heavily to their offices in Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City.

13. And Nothing Else (India)

Clean-label food brand And Nothing Else (ANE) has received an undisclosed amount of funding from a round led by Matrix Partners India. ANE is a 100% clean-label food brand that intends to re-build the world’s trust in its food. The round also saw participation from Sauce.vc (a consumer focused, early stage VC fund) and a clutch of marquis angel investors like Shashwat Sharma (CMO, Airtel), Jaydeep Burman (Founder, Rebel Foods) and Ankush Gera (Founder, Junglee Games). The funds will be used to expand the team and build the company’s own manufacturing capabilities.

14. 2D Materials Pte Ltd (Singapore)

2D Materials just signed a contract with CBMM, the world’s leading company for niobium products and technology, securing funding of an undisclosed amount to accelerate the development of new applications for the company’s high-performance graphene. The material is recognized for its capabilities as an energy conductor, thermal properties, strength, and lightness, among other features that position it as one of the most promising materials for the next decade. The investment enables CBMM to become a minority shareholder of 2DM, and will be used to bring the technology to a commercial scale.

15. Hauz (Malaysia)

16. Lokein (Malaysia)

17. Krenovator (Malaysia)

18. Prepay (Malaysia)

19. Reemedy (Malaysia)