In terms of growth stage funding rounds, lifestyle seemed to be a popular sector in September

One common theme that e27 noticed among the growth stage funding rounds of September: Lifestyle.

Lifestyle is a massive industry that involves a lot of different verticals, from fashion to entertainment. In the Southeast Asian tech industry, we saw plenty of growth-stage funding rounds being raised by startups working in the field.

There are plenty of reasons why the industry became popular. Apart from having a huge market of its own, the lifestyle industry also enables cross-collaboration with businesses and investors from sectors outside of tech, providing a great opportunity for growth.

Check out some of the most notable growth-stage funding rounds we covered in September:

ADVANCE.AI
Funding: US$80 million in Series C
Investor(s): Gaorong Capital, Pavilion Capital, Unicorn Venture, eGarden Ventures, GSR Ventures and Vision Plus Capital

ADVANCE Guardian, the company’s flagship product, uses AI technology to assist banks and other businesses in e-KYC, fraud detection, and credit scoring. ADVANCE.AI claimed that it currently has more than 300 enterprise customers across five markets in Asia.

gojek
Funding: Ongoing Series F
Investor(s): AIA Indonesia

As part of the partnership, AIA Indonesia will become a part of Gojek’s financial services strategy, by providing life and health insurance services and wellness propositions to its users, drivers, and merchants across Indonesia.

Gushcloud
Funding: US$11 million
Investor(s): GDP Venture, KB Investments, Golden Equator Capital and Korea Investment Partners (via GEC-KIP Fund), Kejora Ventures

The group will use the money for the expansion of its digital celebrity representation business into the US and China, and into other new business areas.

Also Read: Learning to fly: Notable growth stage funding rounds of August

Pomelo
Funding: US$52 million in Series C
Investor(s): Central Group, Provident Growth Fund, InterVest Star SEA Growth Fund, Andre Hoffman, Toivo Annus, Lombard Private Equity, Ambient Sound Investments OU and The Luxembourg Company Deverel

With the new funding, Pomelo wants to focus deeper on developing its technology, particularly in the use of big data and AI.

TechNode
Funding: “tens of millions of RMB” in Pre-Series B
Investor(s): UCommune, XCGT Holding Group

TechNode aims to increase its global outreach with international technology innovation as its core strategy, as well as accelerate the expansion of its international influence through media, branding, and data-sourcing.

Sociolla
Funding: US$40 million in Series D
Investor(s): EV Growth, Temasek, EDBI, Pavilion Capital, Jungle Ventures

The startup will use the funding to strengthen its human resources capabilities, with particular attention on technology-related functions.

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