Economic statistics cannot keep up with the rate at which people are losing jobs all over the world as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tech industry has been no different, as we have seen mass layoffs, especially in companies whose operations have been severely curtailed by lockdown measures, such as ride-hailing applications.
However, it is not entirely gloomy for all. In addition to the inevitable e-commerce success stories of the pandemic, many tech startups in Asia have continued to receive venture capital over the past few months.
Here are some of the most significant investments made in South and Southeast Asia-based tech startups since April.
Food delivery and e-commerce
๐ฎ๐ณ Indian food delivery startup Swiggy bagged $43 million to expand business; ๐ฎ๐ณ Indian grocery startup BigBasket raised $60 million to scale up business in the country; ๐ป๐ณ Vietnamese e-commerce enabler OnPoint raised $8 million to invest in strategic technology, recruit talent, and provide better services; ๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesian B2B e-marketplace GudangAda raised $25.4 million to expand business; ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based omnichannel retailer IUIGA Technologies bagged $7 million to fuel Southeast Asia expansion; ๐ต๐ญ Philippine home services e-commerce platform GoodWork raised $1.6 million to expand operations across Southeast Asia
Payments
๐ฎ๐ณ Indian digital payments startup Seru raised $15 million to expand business; ๐น๐ญ Thai digital payments startup Digio banked $4 million to accelerate product development
Lending
๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesian P2P lending firm Investree raised $23.5 million to accelerate business in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines; ๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesian P2P lending company KoinWorks secured $20 million to support lenders and borrowers during the pandemic; ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based SME lending platform Validus secured $14 million to develop the firmโs technology stack
Insurance
๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based insurance-tech startup Igloo raised $8.2 million to broaden its business into Australia and five Southeast Asian markets; ๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesian insurance tech startup Qoala raised $13.5 million to invest in tech, human resources, and branding; ๐ฒ๐พ Malaysian insurtech startup PolicyStreet banked $1.8 million in series A funding
Other fintech
๐ต๐ญ Philippine financial services firm Voyager Innovations secured up to $120 million to expand services; Hong Kong-based fintech startup Oriente raised $50 million to expand its presence in Southeast Asia; ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based fintech firm Helicap secured $10 million to upgrade its credit-scoring technology and pursue opportunities in Singaporeโs private debt sector; ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based foreign-exchange platform Spark Systems raised $16.5 million to enhance in-house tech capabilities and deepen expertise; ๐ฎ๐ณ Indian financial management startup Khatabook raised $60 million for expansion in the country; ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based financial services platform GoBear raised $17 million to speed up development
Education
๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based data-driven corporate learning app Tigerhall raised $2 million for its scale-up program; ๐ฎ๐ณ Indian edtech platform Classplus bagged $9 million in series A funding
Health
๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based healthcare company Doctor Anywhere secured $27 million to boost market leadership; ๐ฒ๐พ Malaysian digital health app Naluri banked $1.1 million to build up its business; ๐ป๐ณ Vietnamese healthtech startup BuyMed raised $2.5 million; ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based cancer antibody developer Hummingbird Bioscience raised $25 million to support clinical development; ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based healthtech startup Holmusk raised $21.5 million in series A funding; ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based cancer diagnostics company Endofonotics raised $8.5 million to drive commercialisation of its cancer detection system
Agritech
๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesian agritech startup TaniHub Group raised $17 million to expand its services to up to 100,000 farmers by 2021; ๐ฎ๐ณ Indian agritech startup DeHaat raised $12 million to reach more farmers in the country; ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based plant-based meat and seafood alternative manufacturer Growthwell raised $8 million to accelerate product development; ๐ฎ๐ณ Indian agritech startup Intello Labs raised $5.9 million to accelerate growth in international markets
Logistics
๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesian online freight marketplace Kargo secured $31 million in funding to expand operations; ๐ฎ๐ณ Indian logistics startup FarEye raised $25 million to expand abroad; ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based logistics startup Moovaz raised $7 million to tap into Asian markets; ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based logistics startup Ninja Van secured $279 million to scale up operations in six Southeast Asian countries; ๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesian fast-moving consumer goods platform GudangAda secured $25.4 million in series A funding; ๐ฎ๐ณ Indian logistics aggregator Shiprocket raised $13 million to expand overseas
AI
๐ฎ๐ณ Indian AI chatbot startup Yellow Messenger raised $20 million to expand business; ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based AI-based data protection and privacy solutions company Dathena raised $12 million in series A funding
Content
๐ต๐ญ Philippine live streaming app Kumu raised nearly $5 million to expand business; ๐ฎ๐ณ Indian news and local language content platform Dailyhunt raised $23.5 million
Accommodation
๐ฎ๐ณ Indian broker-avoiding startup NoBroker raised $30 million to expand business; ๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesian accommodation startup Bobox secured $11.5 million to accelerate product improvement and expansion
Travel/transport
๐ฎ๐ณ Indian business travel SaaS company ITILITE raised $13 million; ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based e-scooter startup Beam raised $26 million to expand into South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand
Other
๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based cleantech startup SensorFlow raised $8.3 million in funding to develop its smart building management solution; ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore-based quantum computer software solutions startup Entropica Labs raised $1.8 million in seed funding; ๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesian data management startup Delman raised $1.6 million in seed funding