There are many reasons why a piece of funding news can rock a startup ecosystem. It could be the amount that the startup raised (Unicorn! Decacorn! Hippogriff!) or the investor behind it (Somebody famous, such as a boxer or an actor).
This year, we have seen several funding announcements that are significant not only to the parties involved but also to the ecosystem where they are based. Unlike our routine monthly funding rounds listicle, this time we decided to group the funding announcement into categories based on verticals or markets. Because, after a while, you just see a pattern emerging.
Without further ado, here are the top 10 funding news that rocked the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem this year:
The edutech sector graduates to the next level
2019 was an exciting year for Indonesian edutech sector as three of the leading startups in the market —Ruangguru, Zenius, and HarukaEdu— announced their later stage funding rounds. Even better: Ruangguru raised up to US$150 million, a number which is said to be the highest ever raised by an edutech startup in the market. Beyond Indonesia, we also saw investment flowing to the Philippines, with a funding round for Edukasyon.
Fintech continues to shine
As a sector, fintech remains popular among investors in the Southeast Asian region. Notable funding announcements include investment into startups such as Kredivo, MyCash, iSTOX, PayMongo, or Crowde. As the market becomes more open and receptive towards fintech innovation, investors are also becoming more confident in Southeast Asia’s ability to turn into a fintech hub.
Also Read: Indonesian legal tech startup Legalku raises seed funding from UMG Idealab
Property tech finds a home in Southeast Asia
The most interesting part about property tech investment in 2019 was the variety of it. There are investments directed towards emerging markets such as ShweProperty in Myanmar, the more mature markets such as Travelio in Indonesia, hotel and hospitality sector such as RedDoorz, and property marketplaces such as 99co.
Automotive e-commerce platforms are making moves
Automotive e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia are also gaining popularity among investors. Interestingly, startups such as Carsome are mentioning “profitability” as part of their goal for the next year. This part of the great wave of change that was triggered by coworking space giant WeWork’s failure to get listed.
Investors are getting their dose of caffeine
Apparently even rapper Jay-Z knows how much you love your morning cup of coffee. Since the end of 2018, VC firms in Southeast Asia started to invest in non-tech companies such as Alpha JWC Ventures’s investment in Kopi Kenangan, East Ventures’s investment in Fore Coffee, and Intudo Ventures’s investments in Artotel and R Fitness. The trend reached a new height in 2019 with Kopi Kenangan raising an extended Series A funding round from US celebrities and athletes such as Jay-Z and Serena Williams.
Emerging market is where the actions are happening
2019 is the year of emerging markets with Vietnam and Myanmar as the centre of all these activities. Investors are getting increasingly interested in the market as they invested in Vietnamese startups such as Propzy or Rever and Burmese startups such as Kone Si or ShweProperty.
Investing for the environment
When you are investing in a startup, you are investing in innovation. This is especially important in the context of environmental protection, and luckily, investors are growing more interested in investing in companies with a strong social impact. Think CricketOne or Bambooloo. In fact, Big Idea Ventures launched a fund that focusses on investing in the development of meat alternatives.
Also Read: Vietnamese bus booking platform VeXeRe raises funding to accelerate products development
Giving birth to new unicorns
Despite heightening scrutiny against tech startups and their valuations, investors continue on investing in companies that would later become a unicorn. Singapore saw the birth of its latest unicorn when Trax announced its Series D funding round, while Indonesia saw its fifth unicorn in OVO.
Healthtech, medtech investments are looking healthy
Another sector that is gaining popularity in Southeast Asia is healthtech and medtech. One of the latest was an investment in Zenyum, a dentistry startup, and an investment into AWAK, a wearable dialysis device.
Securing new funds
Startups are not the only ones raising funding this year. Many VC and CVC firms were also announcing their new funds in 2019. The latest that we saw was EV Growth’s fund, announced at the final week of the year. What was interesting about 2019 was also the variety of funds that are being launched. While most funds remain sector-agnostic, some funds chose to focus on a particular vertical, such as New Protein or women entrepreneurs.
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