Rising startups on Tech In Asia: groceries, cross-border fintech, co-working spaces

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. Grofers (India)

Grofers, an online grocery store, raised US$200 million from SoftBank Vision Fund, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, and KTB. It expects to become “India’s largest online grocer this quarter”. More info.

2. YouTrip (Singapore)

Multi-currency travel wallet YouTrip raised US$25.5 million in a pre-series A round to launch new features and expand across Southeast Asia. This funding round is one of the largest early-stage investments in the region. More info.

3 JustCo (Singapore)

Co-working operator Justco has moved beyond offering co-working spaces to managing spaces for landlords and building partnerships with other companies. More info.

4. Circles.Life (Singapore)

Circles.Life, a fully digital telco and consumer company, is one of the fastest-growing telcos in Singapore. It currently commands a 5% market share. More info.

5. ShopBack (Singapore)

ShopBack, an affiliate marketing startup with a popular cashback app, aims to be Southeast Asia’s pre-shopping destination. It is now the number three publisher in terms of volume and retention in Southeast Asia. More info.

6. Sorabito (Japan)

Sorabito provides IT solutions for machine rental companies and also runs an online marketplace for heavy machinery. It raised US$8.2 million from Sumitomo Corporation and Itochu Construction Machinery with the aim of developing a range of new services and improving its platform. More info.

7. Cialfo (Singapore)

Cialfo, a college application management platform, raised US$3 million in a series A round led by Luxembourg-based DLF Ventures with participation from Seeds Capital, YK Capital, and angel investors. It aims to expand globally and raise a series B round by late 2020. More info.

8. Advotics (Indonesia)

Advotics, a SaaS supply chain startup, raised US$2.7 million in a seed funding round led by East Ventures. The startup plans to introduce deeper tech into its products. More info.

9. GenieBook (Singapore)

Edtech platform GenieBook raised around US$1.1 million in a pre-series A round led by Apricot Capital. The startup, which provides a personalized learning platform, will speed up AI technology development and expand its data science and curriculum team. More info.

10. Merkle Science (Singapore)

Merkle Science, which develops blockchain monitoring technology, raised around US$803,000 in seed funding. The funds will be used to further develop its technology and grow its sales team across Asia. More info.

11. Terra (Singapore)

Blockchain payments startup Terra raised an undisclosed amount of funding from LuneX Ventures. It will be launching its product in Southeast Asia this year. More info.

12. BandLab Technologies (Singapore)

Social music creation platform BandLab Technologies is acquiring music magazines NME and Uncut from UK publisher TI Media. More info.

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