Singapore’s Mighty Jaxx bags $3m funding led by KB Investment

Singapore-based platform for designer toys and collectibles Mighty Jaxx International has raised a funding of S$4.5 million ($3 million) led by South Korea’s KB Investment to conclude its pre-Series A funding round closed at a total amount of S$7 million. The new tranche of funding was also joined by existing investor SGInnovate, as well as LA based VC Greycroft Partners,…

Singapore Partial Lockdown to Cost Economy S$10 Billion

Singapore’s partial lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus could cost the economy about S$10 billion ($7 billion) in lost output, Maybank Kim Eng Research Pte. estimates. That equates to about 2% of gross domestic product, according to Chua Hak Bin, a senior economist at Maybank in Singapore. Singapore has banned social gatherings and shut workplaces, except for essential…

Singapore announces SGD 30 million investment in agri-food Industry

Singapore, Apr 8 (PTI) Singapore on Wednesday announced a 30-million Singapore dollar investment in the agri-food industry to speed up the production of commonly consumed food items like eggs, vegetables and fish during the coronavirus crisis. Called the 30x30 Express grant, it aims to strengthen Singapore''s food security, as part of its goal of meeting 30 per cent of the…

Asian startups face cash crunch as coronavirus saps funding

Saving cash has become the new mantra for startups in Asia as capital quickly dries up in the region. Funds raised by Asia-focused venture capital firms fell to a seven-year low of $2.2 billion in the first quarter, according to U.K. data provider Preqin. Investors are now urging startups to save enough money to support their business for at least…

TNB Aura to invest $2m in each startup hit by Covid-19 crisis

TNB Aura, a Singapore-based venture capital firm focused on Southeast Asian investments, launched a new fund to invest US$2 million in each startup affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The company said the Special Situations Fund can be considered as a “sub-fund” for its TNB Aura Fund II, which it’s targeting to close soon at US$100 million. “With the current market…

Singapore B2B e-learning platform raises funds in Agaeti-led round

ProSpark, a Singapore-based e-learning platform for businesses, announced that it has closed a pre-seed funding round led by early-stage venture capital firm Agaeti Ventures. Angel investor Adi Adisaputro and Prasetia Dwidharma, a telecom infrastructure developer and early-stage investment firm, also participated in the round. The amount of funding was not disclosed. Founded in 2018, ProSpark provides a business-to-business learning management…

Industry races to meet demand for ventilators

Manufacturers are on a mission to produce desperately needed medical ventilators for the coronavirus pandemic, even if it means converting assembly lines now making auto parts. Along with a shortage of masks and gloves, the spread of COVID-19 to almost every corner of the globe has highlighted a great need for specialised machines that help keep severely afflicted patients alive.…

Singapore VC firm Expara to invest in startups combating Covid-19

As the number of Covid-19 cases continues to increase globally, Singapore-based Expara Ventures has launched a new accelerator program to support startups developing solutions to the new challenges brought by the outbreak. The early-stage VC firm and startup enabler said it is now accepting applications for its Expara VirTech Global Accelerator. The three-month online program is set to back 30…

How startups can survive the COVID-19 economic Crisis

To: All angel investors and their portfolio CEOs Being trained as a scientist, and having lived through several investment cycles, I’ve been asked to share my perspective on the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on startups. I firmly believe that the human and societal impact of COVID-19 will be extreme, even though we are at the early stage of…

Lippo Group makes strategic investment in Singapore payments startup MoolahGo

Lippo Group, a multinational conglomerate based out of Indonesia, has made a strategic investment in Singapore fintech startup MoolahGo for an undisclosed sum as part of its pre-series A raise. Prior to this financing round, MoolahGo announced in March last year that it had received seed funding from Eric Barbier, the founder and former CEO of payments firm Thunes (previously…