Rhinoceros beetles are one of the greatest threats to oil palm crops, attacking plants while they are young and potentially lowering a farm’s yield for years. They also affect workers’ health, since pesticides need to be sprayed frequently. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Poladrone wants to change the way farms use pesticides with a combination of […]
Hong Kong-based fintech XanPool raises $27M for its decentralized payment network
XanPool, a payment infrastructure provider that facilitates faster crypto and fiat settlements, announced today it has raised a $27 million Series A led by Valar Ventures. The round included participation from CMT Digital, Wise founder and chairman Taavet Hinrikus and existing investors Gumi Gryptos and Antler. The funding brings XanPool’s total raised since it was […]
Doyobi, a Singapore-based edtech startup focused on teachers, gets $2.8M seed
The edtech boom has focused primarily on students, but teachers are learners, too. Doyobi, a Singapore-based professional development platform, wants to give educators new, more engaging ways of teaching STEM subjects. The startup announced today it has raised $2.8 million in pre-Series A funding led by Monk’s Hill Ventures. The round included Tresmonos Capital, Novus […]
Dispute resolution platform Immediation raises $3.6M AUD to expand in the U.S.
The pandemic forced the legal profession to cobble together remote work strategies, often through a combination of video conferencing and emails. Founded in Melbourne, Immediation provides a tailor-made solution with digital courtrooms and mediation tools. It has been adopted by Australian federal courts and New Zealand government agencies, and is now expanding in the United […]
ThoughtFull gets $1.1M seed to make mental health support more accessible in Southeast Asia
Depression and anxiety were taking a serious toll on peoples’ well-being even before COVID-19, and the pandemic prompted more interest (and venture capital) in mental health startups. While many of the highest profile mental health startups, like Calm or Headspace Health, are based in the United States, more attention is also being paid to emotional […]
Gogoro launches battery swapping stations in China
Five months after announcing a deal with two of China’s biggest two-wheel vehicle makers, Gogoro officially launched there today, opening 45 battery swapping stations in Hangzhou. The company’s co-founder and chief executive officer Horace Luke told TechCrunch that it targets 80 stations by the end of the year, before expanding into other major cities with […]
Upmesh wants to build a community-driven discovery app for Southeast Asian live commerce
The founders of Upmesh were building a game on top of Twitch’s API when they realized something about another group of livestreamers. Even though selling through Facebook Live has been gaining popularity in Southeast Asia for years, many vendors are still going through their comments afterward and using pen-and-paper to collect orders. Upmesh was created […]
FoundersHK, created to strengthen Hong Kong’s startup ecosystem, holds its first demo day
FoundersHK was created to strengthen Hong Kong’s startup community, which has weathered more than two years of political turmoil, along with the COVID-19 pandemic. Today the non-profit, which started as an events and mentoring network, held the first demo day of FoundersHK Accelerate, its equity-free accelerator program, which was created to help prepare Hong Kong […]
Lawpath gets $7.5M AUD to become the Asia Pacific’s LegalZoom
With its subscription-based legal services platform, Lawpath wants to become the Asia Pacific’s LegalZoom (in fact, LegalZoom is one of its investors). Based in Sydney, Australia, Lawpath serves small businesses with services like legal documents, customized legal workflows, e-signatures, business registration, and on-demand lawyers. The company announced today it has raised $7.5 million AUD (about […]
Komunidad, a Philippines-based environmental intelligence platform, lands seed round
The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, with geography that makes it vulnerable to typhoons, floods, volcanos, earthquakes and droughts. While working in IT, Felix Ayque began compiling cyclone reports and sending them as email alerts to communities. His work evolved into environmental intelligence platform Komunidad, which collects data from […]