Singapore-based smart mobility startup Ministry of Movement has closed a US$10.1 million series A funding round led by The University of Tokyo Edge Capital 4 Limited Partnership to grow and expand overseas. New investors SMRT Momentum Ventures, ComfortDelGro Ventures, Singapore Economic Development Board’s New Ventures, EDBI, and LKJ Capital Japan also participated in the round, alongside existing investors iGlobe Platinum…
ONLINE marketplace operator Carousell has agreed to merge with 701Search, the classifieds firm owned by Norwegian telco Telenor Group, in a deal that values that Singapore-based startup at over US$850 million. Following the part-cash, part-equity deal, Telenor will be Carousell’s new single-largest minority shareholder, with a 32 per cent stake in the combined company. 701Search's three online marketplaces - Mudah…
Singapore-based healthtech startup Lucence has raised US$20 million in a series A round led by global healthcare provider IHH Healthcare. SGInnovate also participated in the round, along with existing investors such as Temasek Holdings subsidiary Heliconia Capital, Lim Kaling, and Koh Boon Hwee. Lucence uses liquid biopsy, a blood-based technology that’s less invasive than tissue biopsies, to help clinicians analyze…
India's mega fintech Paytm is close to bagging $2 billion of new financing from well-known investors, enough to fend off an influx of new rivals, according to people familiar with the matter. Jack Ma's Ant Financial, Japan's SoftBank Group Corp and Rob Citrone's Discovery Capital Management are in Paytm's latest financing round, boosting the cash horde of the Indian mega…
Singapore has overtaken the U.S. to become the most competitive nation in the world, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF). In its 2019 Global Competitiveness Report, the WEF measured the strength of 103 key indicators, such as inflation, digital skills and trade tariffs, across 141 countries. The key indicators in the report were organized into 12 pillars, which included…
South-east Asia’s (SEA) internet economy is now worth US$100 billion, and will triple to US$300 billion by 2025, an annual report on the region’s digital economy has found. Of this, US$12 billion was from Singapore – slightly over 10 per cent of the regional total. Jointly published by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, the report – released on Thursday…
Udaan, the fastest Indian startup to achieve unicorn status, has raised $585 million in its latest round of funding, valuing the online business-to-business marketplace at $2.5-3 billion. The Series D round saw investments from Tencent, Altimeter Capital, Footpath Ventures, Hillhouse, GGV Capital and Citi Ventures, the firm said on Wednesday. Existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and DST Global also invested…
Singapore-based co-living startup Cove has raised over US$2 million in a seed round led by Venturra, Yuj Ventures, Investigate, and Picus Capital. Local venture capital firms Aetius Capital and Found Ventures also participated in the round alongside some strategic angel investors. Cove was founded by Guillaume Castagne, formerly vice president of marketing for Lazada, along with Sophie Jokelson and Luca…
US venture firm 500 Startups and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) have entered a two-way partnership to nurture the growth of startups in Singapore and San Francisco, ESG announced in a press release on Tuesday. 500 Startups is the latest partner to join ESG's Global Innovation Alliance (GIA), a network of Singapore and overseas partners in major innovation hubs abroad. GIA is…
Singapore-based chemical separation technology startup SEPPURE has announced raising $2.55 million in its seed funding round backed by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm and accelerator 500 Startups. The funding round was led by US-based multi-stage venture fund SOSV and participated by Singapore government-owned innovation platform SGInnovate, Entrepreneur First, Belmond Capital, Koh Boon Hwee (Chairman of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Board…