PayPal Ventures’ latest investment is in an Indonesian startup that provides personal insurance products covering a variety of risks, including accidents, phone screen damage, and ticket cancellations to over 5 million customers. Qoala has secured $47 million in a new round co-led by PayPal Ventures and MassMutual Ventures, the five-year-old startup said Wednesday. MUFG Innovation […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only ..read more

Wagely, a fintech out of Indonesia, made a name for itself with earned wage access: a way for workers in Southeast Asian countries to get advances on their salaries without resorting to higher-interest loans. With half a million people now using the platform, the startup has expanded that business into a wider “financial wellness” platform, […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only ..read more

In the middle of a long funding winter, AC Ventures’ latest news will give Southeast Asian startups hope. The Jakarta, Indonesia–based venture firm announced today it has raised $210 million, finishing the final close on its fifth fund, called ACV Fund V. Limited partners include the World’s Bank’s IFC and investors from the United States, […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only ..read more

ByteDance’s TikTok wants to do more business in Indonesia — Southeast Asia’s biggest e-commerce market. So after facing roadblocks from the regulators, it’s now come up with a new route to get there. TikTok is putting up $1.5 billion in a new joint venture that will bring Tokopedia, the e-commerce unit of the Indonesian tech […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only ..read more

Indonesia’s construction industry is growing quickly, driven by residential and industrial building, alongside infrastructure development plans by the government. Sourcing skilled labor is still a time-intensive process, however, and often relies on personal networks and lengthy recruitment efforts. The founders of Gravel want to change that by making it easier to find workers and other […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only ..read more

In Western markets, freight forwarders are well into digitizing their operations, but the same doesn’t hold true in Southeast Asia, say the founders of Fr8Labs. The reasons for that include the lack of localized software and a more fragmented logistics industry where SMBs dominate. Fr8Labs wants to digitize Asia’s logistics industry with its SaaS operating […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only ..read more

A recent report said that Indonesia’s electric vehicle (EV) market is projected to reach $20 billion by 2029, up from $533 million in 2022. Moreover, as much as half of the overall motorbike market in Southeast Asia could be replaced by electric two-wheelers by 2030, McKinsey associate partner Rahul Gupta said at the G20 summit last year. Today, an Indonesian electric vehicle maker called Maka Motors said it has raised a $37.6 million seed round, one of Southeast Asia’s biggest seed fundings, to mass produce its two-wheeled EVs, aiming for late 2024. Maka will start deploying its fir ..read more

After reports that it is raising new funding, Indonesian aquaculture startup eFishery announced today that it has netted $200 million in a Series D. The company, which makes a smart feeding system for fisheries, says this makes it the first startup in the global aquaculture industry to pass a $1 billion valuation. Its goal is to reach one million aquaculture ponds in Indonesia by 2025 and expand overseas. The funding was led by Abu Dhabi-based 42XFund and included participation from Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan), Malaysia’s largest public sector pension fund, Swiss asset manager resp ..read more

TikTok has already dominated the short-video and social media market, and is now looking to take on Spotify and Apple Music with its latest offering. The company announced today that it’s launching a new subscription-only music streaming service called “TikTok Music” in Brazil and Indonesia. TikTok Music lets users sync the service to their existing TikTok accounts and listen, download and share songs. The service includes the catalogs of major record companies, including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music. TikTok Music lets you play full versions of viral TikTok songs, d ..read more

Large brand distributors dominate the top of the supply chain, but toward the bottom, there are thousands of middlemen, including wholesalers, who are the ones creating relationships with retailers. Founded last year, Baskit wants to provide them with tools to digitize the management of their inventory and services to help them get better prices. The Indonesian-based startup announced today it has raised $3.3 million for its seed round, from investors including Betatron, Forge, 1982, Investible, DS/X, Orvel and Michael Sampoerna. This follows a $1.5 million seed round three months ago. Founder ..read more