Have a look at the news articles we published this week

In addition to fundraising developments, this week also witnessed some acquisitions, big partnerships, and fund launches.

Take a look at the major happenings reported from across the region this week.

Comma3 Ventures makes first close of US$45M Web3 fund

Comma3 Ventures made the first close of its Web3 fund at US$20 million. The target size is US$45 million.

Diverse institutional investors, family offices, well-known executives and high-net-worth individuals in Taiwan and Singapore invested in the fund.

Comma3 Ventures is composed of three GPs: Nicole Liu, Ivan Li, and Denny Yang. Through their projects, the GPs have previously invested in various projects, such as Zilliqa, Polygon, Klaytn, Thetan Arena, Highstreet, Tranchess and Cetus.

AnyMind Group agrees to acquire DDI

Singapore-based commerce enabler AnyMind Group agreed to acquire all shares of smaller rival PT Digital Distribusi Indonesia (DDI).

The terms of the deal remain undisclosed.

This is AnyMind’s first acquisition in Indonesia.

With this, DDI will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of AnyMind Group.

This is the first acquisition agreement by AnyMind since its listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market on March 29, 2023.

Through this acquisition and by combining the capabilities of both companies, AnyMind Group looks to form the basis to accelerate expansion into the e-commerce space in Asia.

Flash Coffee extends Series B round to US$50M

Singapore-based tech-enabled coffee chain Flash Coffee announced the completion of its Series B financing round led by White Star Capital. With this, the total amount raised from this round touched US$50 million.

Existing investors, including White Star Capital, Delivery Hero, Geschwister Oetker, and Conny & Co, participated in the financing round – several of them further increased their stake in the company.

The new funds will be channelled towards accelerating the company’s mission to achieve group-level profitability. This includes sustainably growing its footprint across the Asia Pacific region, serving customers in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong and South Korea, doubling down on technology and product innovation and further developing the sales performance of existing stores.

SCG acquires Indonesia’s Seekmi

Thai company Siam Cement Group (SCG) announced that it acquired Indonesian home service marketplace Seekmi for an undisclosed sum.

Following the acquisition, Seekmi will continue to use its brand while Founder and CEO Clarissa Leung will have the role of Advisor.

With the acquisition, SCG’s subsidiary Q-Chang can immediately gain a foothold in the service industry in the market with nearly 300 million people and one of the fastest-growing middle-class populations in the world.

SCG has been eyeing to expand its Q-Chang business into Indonesia in recent years after experiencing rapid adoption of its platform in Thailand.

Ruangguru acquires Vietnamese edutech firm Mclass

Indonesia-based edutech startup Ruangguru announced that it had completed an acquisition of Mclass, a live teaching edutech platform in Vietnam, for an undisclosed sum.

In a press statement, Ruangguru said the acquisition is a strategic move to expand its reach and capability in the market, following its launch in Vietnam through its subsidiary Kien Guru.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mclass to the Ruangguru family. Together with Kien Guru, we believe that Mclass’s reputation and understanding of online learning can further strengthen our offerings and business in Vietnam and Southeast Asia (SEA),” said Belva Devara, Co-Founder and CEO of Ruangguru.

Stripe, WhatsApp introduce in-chat payments feature for businesses

Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, partnered with WhatsApp to allow Singapore businesses to accept payments directly in WhatsApp chats.

The new feature is built on Stripe Connect and Stripe Checkout, and enables Singapore customers and businesses to buy and sell directly in WhatsApp without having to go to a website, open another app, or pay in person.

The option to enable payments on WhatsApp in Singapore is available to local businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform, which will include a Stripe account. The feature is currently available to a small number of Singapore-based businesses and will be available to many more in the coming months.

Supported payment methods include credit and debit cards, and PayNow, a real-time payment system popular in Singapore.

East Ventures, Trihill invest in Uena

UENA, a hyperlocal online F&B startup based in Indonesia, raised an undisclosed amount in funding co-led by existing investor East Ventures and new investor Trihill Capital.

This new round, closed in Q1 2023, strengthens Uena’s balance sheet following the seed funding raised in September 2022.

The new capital will be used to continue expanding the locations and services to reach more users and customers.

“The majority of our orders come from repeat customers and their orders continue to increase from month to month. Even though we have only been operating for less than one year, the mature stores are already break-even and getting a healthy payback period. The new fund adds our confidence to continue capturing the great opportunity ahead,” said Alvin Arief, Co-Founder and CEO.

SMBC, Incubate Fund launch new US$200M fund

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC Group) co-founded the corporate venture capital fund “SMBC Asia Rising Fund” with Incubate Fund in Singapore. The fund managed is US$200 million, and its purpose is to accelerate business development and partnerships through investments in high-potential Asian startups.

Through this CVC, SMBC Group will enhance its business and provide clients with new solutions by uncovering/applying new technologies via partnerships with investee firms and developing new business models/products.

It will also enhance the value of its investee financial institutions in Asia by collaborating with startups looking to invest in areas such as lending tech, payment, supply chain finance, Banking-as-a-Service, and digital assets.

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