hoolah’s team
Finance
500 Startups invests in mobile-focussed Esports Players League
Esports Players League (ESPL), a global e-sports tournament network and platform, has announced that it has secured an undisclosed investment from 500 Startups as a part of its seed round.
500 Startups said that it intended to support ESPL in executing its initial business objective of rolling out branded tournaments and platforms in ten countries in its first year of operation.
ESPL is a global e-sports tournament platform provider focussed on creating mobile ecosystems for amateur esports leagues globally. Through ESPL’s national franchise model, up-and-coming esports talents can easily participate in global competitions, all by facilitating grassroots participation.
ESPL was co-founded by former eSports.com CEO Michael Broda; Kin Wai Lau, Founder of iCandy Interactive Limited; and Datuk Azrin Bin Mohd Noor of Sedania Innovator.
According to the release, phase one of ESPL’s global roll-out has yielded franchise partnership agreements in Southeast Asia and Latin America.
ESPL also entered into its first media partnership with eGG Network, the largest esports TV network in Southeast Asia and Australia that reaches approximately 100 million TV viewers.
Indonesian AI-based NLP platform Datasaur snags US$1M funding from GDP Ventures
Datasaur, Indonesia-based NLP platform that categorises phrases to increase the understanding of computer system towards language and context, has raised US$1 million in extended investment from GDP Venture. The round was also joined by several angel investors like Calvin French-Owen, Co-founder and CTO of Segment.
Also Read: AI-powered data labeling startup Datasaur secures seed funding
As reported by DailySocial, the company will use the funding to strengthen the platform capability, minimise the bias in text-labelling, and increase privacy and data security, something that’s regarded as a crucial aspect of AI-based NLP and used to be outsourced.
“We basically handle all kinds of NLP, including entity recognition, parts of speech, document labeling, coreference resolution, and dependency parsing. We’ve built the intelligence into our system to make labeling more efficient and accurate, allowing companies to manage all their labeling systems in one easy platform,” said Founder and CEO Datasaur Ivan Lee.
Datasaur team is joining the Y Combinator accelerator batch Winter 2020 in San Francisco.
hoolah nabs Series A funding led by VC firm Allectus to accelerate expansion plans
hoolah, a Singapore-based company that provides interest-free payment installments by partnering with a variety of merchants, has announced the closure of Series A funding, led by VC firm Allectus.
Joining the round are Singapore-based iGlobe Ventures, who participated in hoolah’s seed round, and new investors including Genting Ventures; Max Bittner, former group CEO of Lazada; and Tim Neville, CEO of FNZ.
According to hoolah, the fundraise allows it to double down on their recently announced launch in Malaysia and fuel further expansion. It also plans to enable the team to build an omnichannel solution – enabling customers to shop online and in-store.
Business
Insurtech startup CXA Group shares profitability effort behind downsizing decision
Singapore’s insurtech startup CXA Group is releasing dozens of its staff despite having an ongoing US$50 million Series C funding round, says a TechInAsia’s article. According to another article by The Business Times, CXA’s decision was fueled by concerns from its investors, who want to see a “clear path to profitability”, as told by chief executive Rosaline Koo.
Also Read: AI-powered insurtech startup CXA Group to set up tech hub in Ho Chi Minh City
One source in the original report specified that the startup plans to retrench about 40 staff in the engineering, product development, and marketing departments. However, Koo said that only 12 staff in Singapore, out of a 319 regional team, have been laid off, mainly in marketing and other roles that involved “manual processing”, which have been automated, and there will be no further cuts.
The startup also states its effort in white-labelling its software that made the decision to let go some staff is to be expected, while other layoffs had to do with performance issues.
CXA so far has raised US$58 million from backers including HSBC, Singtel Innov8, the Singapore Economic Development Board’s investment arm EDBI, and B Capital Group. The startup is currently building up a tech hub in Vietnam and has hired 70 developers there.
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Picture Credit: hoolah
The post Morning News Roundup: 500 Startups invests in e-sports platform ESPL; Indonesia’s Datasaur secures US$1M funding appeared first on e27.