Startups

India's Iron Pillar is raising cash as it sees big global opportunities for startups built in India. (Source photos by Iron Pillar website and Kosaku Mimura)
DealStreetAsia

Tech-focused Indian investor Iron Pillar in talks to raise $400m

Venture capital firm looking to boost investment in nation's startup ecosystem

4 July 2022
 GoTo executives appear at the company's inaugural annual shareholders' meeting on June 28 after listing in April. (Photo courtesy of GoTo Group)
Technology

GoTo seeks path to profit as a key player takes a step back

Move comes as founding CEOs at regional rivals Sea, Grab tighten grip

1 July 2022
Indonesian ride-hailing service Gojek's venture arm Go-Ventures is on track to close its $200 million second fund by the third quarter. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
DealStreetAsia

Indonesia's Go-Ventures aims at closing second $200m fund in Q3

Gojek's venture arm hopes to lure sovereign wealth funds, tech companies

1 July 2022
Indian edtech company Toppr has laid off 300 workers. (Screenshot from Toppr Youtube)
DealStreetAsia

Indian edtech Byju's lays off staff at another subsidiary

Toppr axes 300 employees even as parent eyes $1bn U.S. acquisition

30 June 2022
"Coding-for-kids" startup WhiteHat Jr is owned by Indian education technology company Byju's. (Source photos from WhiteHat Jr website and Kosaku Mimura)
DealStreetAsia

Indian edtech startup WhiteHat Jr, owned by Byju's, fires 300

Online market Udaan also lays off 180 employees as startup sector woes continue

29 June 2022
Extensive feedback from real haptics technology allows users to remotely handle delicate items, like potato chips, without damaging them.
Startups

New chip for robots conveys 'sense of touch' to human operators

Japanese startup partners with Tata to bring system to industries worldwide

29 June 2022
Vietnam's Loship delivers everything from coffee to medicine. (Source photo from Loship website)
DealStreetAsia

Vietnam delivery startup Loship said to be seeking debt financing

Move marks shift from previous equity funding plans at 'uncertain time'

28 June 2022
Abel Zhao, right, and Kenneth Lee, left, founded FreeD together in 2015. (Source images courtesy FreeD Group)
Startups

Hong Kong chatbot developer FreeD raises $15m from Daiwa-led group

Startup to use infusion for Southeast Asian expansion

28 June 2022
Bangladesh is one of the most fragmented retail markets in Asia, relying on neighborhood shops across the country that ShopUp wants to get online. (Photo courtesy of ShopUp)
DealStreetAsia

Bangladesh tech startup ShopUp nets $65m in new funding

Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures leads latest round for mom-and-pop platform

27 June 2022
Indian food delivery company Zomato is buying a local instant grocery startup as competition heats up. 
Business deals

India's Zomato to buy SoftBank-backed delivery startup for $570m

Purchase of Blinkit comes as mainstay food delivery revenues flatten

25 June 2022
Pine Labs' platform enables it to offer a wide range of payment acceptance and merchant commerce solutions. (Screenshot from Pine Labs website)
DealStreetAsia

India's Pine Labs to buy fintech startup Setu for up to $75m

Merchant commerce platform to expand offerings beyond payments

24 June 2022
Malaysian startup RPG Commerce has more than 10 in-house international brands, including apparel brand Thousand Miles. (Source images from RPG Commerce Instagram and website)
DealStreetAsia

Malaysian direct-to-consumer startup RPG Commerce raises $29m

Company will use funds to expand talent pool, brand lineup

23 June 2022
Startup SariSuki, through its Supah app, is promising deliveries within 15 minutes from time of order as it seeks to take advantage of a surge in online shopping. (Source photos courtesy of SariSuki and by Cliff Venzon)
Startups

Philippine startup takes on Grab with 15-minute grocery delivery

Gokongwei-backed SariSuki braves Manila's traffic jams with new service

22 June 2022
Fried fillets made from Avant's lab-grown fish. The company is looking to expand its business.
22 June 2022
Indian social commerce startup CityMall laid off around 191 employees last week, while education tech company Unacademy has asked 150 more staff to leave after firing 800 in April. (Source images from City Mall Facebook page and Unacademy Facebook page)
DealStreetAsia

Indian startups CityMall, Unacademy slash hundreds of jobs

Tech companies face mounting pressure to cut costs amid volatile markets

21 June 2022
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hopes his "new capitalism" initiatives will spur a "second founding period," following Japan's post-World War II period of business startups.
Asia Insight

Japan startups see Kishida's 'new capitalism' as road without map

Plan to increase the sector 10-fold spurs both hope and skepticism

21 June 2022
Indonesia's Haus! specializes in the made-to-order affordable cold drink, popular among millennials and the younger generation.(Source images from Haus! Facebook page)
DealStreetAsia

Indonesian beverage chain Haus raises Series B1 funding

Startup to expand user base of newly launched app with fresh money

20 June 2022
Goldman Sachs' private investment arm, venture capital company GGV Capital, led the funding round by MegaRobo Technologies.
DealStreetAsia

Goldman backs China's MegaRobo in $300m funding round

Beijing-based robotics company to strengthen R&D for automation

16 June 2022
Sequoia has amassed $2.85 billion to invest in India and Southeast Asia. (Source images from Reuters/AP/Sequoia website)
Startups

Sequoia raises $2.85bn for India, Southeast Asia investment

Venture capital firm touts growth potential of regional startups

14 June 2022
Sources say that Shopee has stopped hiring as the company continues to lose money.
DealStreetAsia

Sea's e-commerce arm Shopee to cut staff across Southeast Asia

Startup faces headwinds as rising inflation weakens consumption

14 June 2022
Funding Societies CEO and co-founder Kelvin Teo says he would be happy to see a well-regulated fintech sector in Southeast Asia. (File photo by Shinya Sawai)
Technology

Singapore fintech learns from debt blowup of China, Greensill

After crowdfunding scams and meltdowns, Softbank-backed startup welcomes regulation

13 June 2022
India's online beauty products retailer Purplle claims to have 7 million monthly active users, more than 1000 brands and 60,000 products on its platform. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
DealStreetAsia

India beauty products retailer Purplle reaches unicorn heights

Goldman backed startup raises $33m aiming to grow e-commerce platform

10 June 2022
Over the years, iPrice expanded the business from its website to offer a full-suite, white-label marketplace solution for super-apps, including pay-later services. (Photo courtesy of iPrice Group)
DealStreetAsia

Malaysia's e-commerce startup iPrice Group lays off 20% of staff

Company claims to become 'hyperfocused on core product'

9 June 2022
Grab will license data it collects from partner drivers and users to tech companies, logistics services and telcos. (Source photos by Ken Kobayashi and Grab)
Startups

Singapore's Grab takes on Google in digital mapping

Diversifying Southeast Asian super app group markets its 'hyperlocal' data

8 June 2022
There were 12.4 million cryptocurrency investors in Indonesia as of February 2022, according to the Indonesian Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency.
DealStreetAsia

Indonesian crypto trading platform Pintu raises $113m

Startup to roll out additional tokens and supported blockchains

8 June 2022