Hyphen Partners

#BuzzingDealsOfTheWeek ➤ First Circle: US$8.6 million First Circle offers SME financing and smart banking solutions for businesses. •⁠  Stage: Series B •⁠  ⁠Industry: Fintech / The Philippines •⁠  ⁠Investor: IFC Venture Capital Group ➤ Reforged Labs (YC W22): US$3.9 million Reforged Labs helps businesses create high-quality video ads for marketing campaigns. It uses proprietary GenAI and computer vision models to automate video ad generation. •⁠  Stage: Seed  •⁠  ⁠Industry: Gen AI / Singapore, San Francisco •⁠  ⁠Investor: DCM Ventures, Goodwater, Y Combinator, Asymmetry Ventures, and Epakon Capital ➤ Kargo Technologies: US$8.8 million Kargo is a B2B trucking platform, which connects senders and recipients through an online platform and provides more efficient and eco-friendly end-to-end shipping solutions. •⁠  Stage: Series A •⁠  ⁠Industry: Logistics/ Indonesia •⁠  ⁠Investor: AC Ventures, Teleport, Intudo, Tenaya Capital, January Capital, Peak XV Partners, and Cypress Capital Management Ltd. ➤ Aprisium: US$7 million   Aprisium provides contaminant detection and monitoring solutions to detect a wide range of contaminants, including heavy metals, inorganic compounds, and organic chemicals. •⁠  Stage: Series A •⁠  ⁠Industry: Environment tech, Cleantech/ Singapore •⁠  ⁠Investor: Deep-Tech Venture Partners (DTVP) and Cocoon Capital 👉 Stay updated on the Southeast Asia startup and VC scene by hitting the "Follow" button for more news like this 🗞 👉 To get weekly updates on what’s buzzing in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe to our newsletter #ICYMI here: https://lnkd.in/gTztaHUG #startupfunding #SEA #venturecapital #investments #hyphenpartners

#TheBrightSpotsInAsianFintechMarket The ever-green global fintech startup market tumbled this year. 👉 The total fintech funding across the world slid from US$62.3 billion across 2,287 deals in H2’23 to US$51.9 billion across 2,255 deals in H1’24, as per the latest KPMG Pulse of Fintech edition. 👉 Asia Pacific was no different where fintech funding dropped to US$3.7 billion in the first six months of 2024 from US$4.6 billion in H2 2023. However, there was one difference. 👉 The overall deals rose in Asia Pacific in H1 2024, even when globally the number of deals declined. 👉 The deal volume went up from 406 in H2’23 to 438 in H1’24 in Asia Pacific. This signifies fintech investors writing more checks in the region, albeit smaller, much smaller. Aside from the higher deal count, there are other cues that highlight the resilience of the region and paint a bit better picture for the second half of the year. 👉 Fintech companies all over the world are going through an evolutionary phase, as they focus on AI-led value propositions. Asia Pacific financial companies are not far behind when it comes to innovation, with Singapore being the top-notch fintech hub. 👉 Particularly during H1’24, the AI focus came predominantly from regional traditional financial institutions looking to leverage AI to drive operational improvements and efficiencies, notes KPMG. 👉 Zooming in, China may become a big driver for fintech funding to rebound in Asia Pacific going forward. 👉 China has identified five priority areas—technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, and digital finance, as per the KPMG report. 👉 Chinese central government is already working to encourage financial institutions to support startups in these spaces—which could lead to additional investments over time, the report adds. 👉 At the same time, regional fintech investors are emphasizing greatly on sustainable business models, which means wise fintech companies are now going all out to bring themselves back on the path to profitability. 👉 That’s a good news for the sector in the grander scheme of things. 💡 Read more about it in our latest edition of #ICYMI: https://lnkd.in/gQD4PhU5 💡 Stay updated on the Southeast Asia startup and VC scene by hitting the "Follow" button for more news like this 🚀 💡 To get weekly updates on what’s buzzing in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe to our newsletter #ICYMI here: https://lnkd.in/gBjcqnXz #startupfunding #southeastasia #whatisnew #techtrends

New Unicorns of 2024 🦄 - 78 innovative companies that have achieved a valuation of over $1 billion this year! 🔹 The United States leads the pack with an impressive 40 unicorns, highlighting the dynamic and thriving startup ecosystem. Some of the notable names include Freenome, Polyhedra Network, and Figure. 🔹 The United Kingdom contributes significantly with 6 new unicorns. Among them are Preqin and Quantinuum, showcasing the UK's robust tech landscape. 🔹 Singapore's SILICON BOX as the nation's sole representative after it raised US$200 million (S$266 million) in a Series B round early this year. These companies are revolutionizing their respective industries and driving global innovation forward. Credits: Dealroom.co #hyphenpartners #unicorns #tech

#BuzzingDealsOfTheWeek ➤ Baichuan AI : US$687.6 million Baichuan AI builds large language models including the ones with multimodal capabilities.  •⁠  Stage: Series A (extended round) •⁠  ⁠Industry: Artificial Intelligence / China •⁠  ⁠Investor: Alibaba Group, Tencent, Xiaomi Technology, China International Capital Corp, and Shenzhen Capital Group Co., Ltd ➤  Beep: US$3.3 million Beep builds common networks in fragmented ecosystems, empowered by IOT, to drive data interoperability and better user experiences.  •⁠  Stage: Pre-Series A  •⁠  ⁠Industry: Internet of Things / Singapore •⁠  ⁠Investor: Granite Asia (formerly GGV Capital), Farquhar Venture Capital, and SUTD Venture, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. ➤ Bitlayer: US$11 million Bitlayer is the first Bitcoin Layer 2 based on the BitVM paradigm which offers Bitcoin-equivalent security and Turing completeness. •⁠  Stage: Series A •⁠  ⁠Industry: Crypto / Singapore •⁠  ⁠Investor: Franklin Templeton, ABCDE, Framework Ventures, Stake Capital Group, WAGMI Ventures, Flow Traders, GSR Ventures, FalconX, Metalpha, 280 Capital, Presto Labs, and Caladan. ➤  Rebellions: US$15 million   Rebellions is an AI chip company currently working with Samsung on a chip for GenAI.  •⁠  Stage: Series B (extended round) •⁠  ⁠Industry: Artificial Intelligence, Semiconductor manufacturing / South Korean •⁠  ⁠Investor: Wa'ed Ventures 👉 Stay updated on the Southeast Asia startup and VC scene by hitting the "Follow" button for more news like this 🚀 👉 To get weekly updates on what’s buzzing in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe to our newsletter #ICYMI here: https://lnkd.in/gTztaHUG #startupfunding #SEA #venturecapital #investments #Asia

The first half of 2024 is over, but the picture is still grim for the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem. Venture capital funding for regional startups fell 36% year-on-year to US$2.29 billion in the first half of 2024, the lowest in more than five years, per the data compiled by DealStreetAsia. Number of deals declined 13% year-on-year to 340 during the period. Meanwhile, the number of new IPOs in Southeast Asia dropped by 21% to 67, while the proceeds raised by these IPOs shrunk by almost 60% to US$1.38 billion in H1 2024 over H1 2023, per a recent report by Deloitte. To sum it up, regional startups are not getting much funding from investors, who are still awaiting the local and global IPO market to perk up and give them good exits. Money needs to be circulated nicely for investors to reinvest it. All hopes are on the second half of 2024 for things to pick up. Well, some solid cues point toward a strong likelihood of the situation getting better. 👉 The equity funding for Southeast Asian startups grew 29% in Q2 2024 compared to Q1 2024. 👉 At the same time, the debt funding for Southeast Asian startups rose to US$760 million in H1 2024 compared to US$220 million in H1 2023. 👉 Early-stage startup funding surpassed late-stage funding in the first six months of this year for the first time in the past five years, underscoring the investors' confidence and excitement in the region’s up-and-coming startups. 👉 The anticipated interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve in the later half of the year can very well reignite larger investments. 👉 American VCs are already calling for more capital from their investors (limited partners or LPs). VC funds capital calls rose 20% in the first half of this year over H1 2023. This means VCs see LPs more willing to loosen their purse strings for good deals. 👉 As for IPOs, the second half of the year was the better-performing half between 2020 and 2022, which is what the expectation is this year. 👉 While the Indonesian listings are down, the Malaysian IPO market is doing pretty well. Listings on the Malaysian stock exchange raised US$723 million this year so far, 43% more than the same period in 2023. All these factors put together signal a promising outlook for the regional ecosystem, at least for now. 💡 Read more about it in our latest edition of #ICYMI: https://lnkd.in/gyTenn-x 💡 Stay updated on the Southeast Asia startup and VC scene by hitting the "Follow" button for more news like this 🚀 💡 To get weekly updates on what’s buzzing in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe to our newsletter #ICYMI here: https://lnkd.in/gBjcqnXz #startupfunding #southeastasia #whatisnew #techtrends

#BuzzingDealsOfTheWeek ➤ Hive Health (YC S21): Undisclosed Hive Health is a digital health platform that offers HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) plans tailor-made for small-medium enterprises in the Philippines. •⁠  Stage: Pre-Series A •⁠  ⁠Industry: Insurance tech / The Philippines •⁠  ⁠Investor:  Gentree Fund and BEENEXT ➤ CHITOSE Group: US$6.2 million Chitose Bio Evolution is a holding company for Chitose Group that runs a network of sustainability-focused biotech firms engaged in R&D and industrial use of microorganisms, cell lines, microalgae, etc. across agriculture, food, and health. •⁠  Stage: Debt Financing  •⁠  ⁠Industry: Biotech / Singapore •⁠  ⁠Investor:  Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation – SMBC Group ➤ BluMaiden Biosciences: Undisclosed  BluMaiden Biosciences focuses on solutions to microbiome-derived diseases and specializes in small-molecule drug discovery, leveraging artificial intelligence-guided computational genetics and chemistry technology.  •⁠  Stage: Series unknown •⁠  ⁠Industry: Biotech / Singapore •⁠  ⁠Investor: elev8.vc and Seeds Capital ➤ Peak Energy: US$55 million  Peak Energy industrializes sodium-ion to expedite the shift to renewable energy. •⁠  Stage: Series A  •⁠  ⁠Industry: Cleantech, EV/ the US  •⁠  ⁠Investor: Temasek’s Xora Innovation ➤  Amity Solutions: US$60 million Amity’s GenAI chatbots allow its enterprise customers to resolve issues or respond to employee queries.  •⁠  Stage:  Series C  •⁠  ⁠Industry: GenAI/ Thailand •⁠  ⁠Investor: Insight Capital ➤ Wisedrive | The Warranty Company: Undisclosed  Wisedrive offers AI-driven extended warranty services for used cars.  •⁠  Stage: Series unknown •⁠  ⁠Industry: Auto industry/ India •⁠  ⁠Investor: Rigel Capital Management         ➤  Ayala Land, Inc.: US$250 million  Ayala Land is the real estate arm of the Ayala Corporation, one of the Philippines' biggest and well-established business conglomerates. •⁠  Stage: Sustainability-linked loan •⁠  ⁠Industry: Real estate/ the Philippines •⁠  ⁠Investor: IFC - International Finance Corporation                                                                                                                           👉 Stay updated on the Southeast Asia startup and VC scene by hitting the "Follow" button for more news like this 🚀 👉 To get weekly updates on what’s buzzing in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe to our newsletter #ICYMI here: https://lnkd.in/gAGy7fB7 #startupfunding #SEA #venturecapital #investments

Singapore is fond of emerging technologies, especially those that can help it strengthen its position as a powerful financial hub. Currently, it’s in love with artificial intelligence and quantum technology.  👉 The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state's central bank, has just committed an additional SGD 100 million (US$74.33 million) to support financial institutions in building capabilities in quantum tech and AI and to enable the adoption of these technologies in financial services. 👉 MAS will establish a quantum track—comprising a technology center grant, a technology innovation grant, and a security grant—to support financial institutions’ interests in building quantum capabilities in Singapore. 👉 Parallelly, Singapore’s National Quantum Office, Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR), National University of Singapore, National Supercomputing Centre, and Quantinuum have recently signed a memorandum of understanding. The new partnership will enable access to Quantinuum’s advanced quantum computer to explore and collaborate on quantum computing use cases, focusing on computational biology. Beyond Singapore, there are new developments this week that highlight the growth of the regional GenAI industry. 👉 Thailand-based GenAI startup Amity Solutions has just raised US$60 million in a Series C round led by Insight Capital. Founded in 2012, Amity’s GenAI chatbots allow its enterprise customers to quickly resolve issues or respond to employee queries. 👉 Meanwhile, GenAI Fund, a Vietnam-based  AI-focused investment fund, is looking to invest in 50 high-potential regional startups through its $10-million debut fund, as per a DealStreetAsia report. 💡 Read more about it in our latest edition of #ICYMI: https://lnkd.in/gwC5eqn3 💡 Stay updated on the Southeast Asia startup and VC scene by hitting the "Follow" button for more news like this 🚀 💡 To get weekly updates on what’s buzzing in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe to our newsletter #ICYMI here: https://lnkd.in/gBjcqnXz #startupfunding #southeastasia #whatisnew #techtrends