FEBE Ventures launches US$25M Vietnam-focused early-stage VC fund [press release]
FEBE Ventures, an early-stage VC firm, has announced the launch of a US$25 million fund, which will invest in Vietnam-based and cross-border startups.
“We believe that Vietnam is a great place to invest in outstanding founders at the beginning of their startup journey and to support them to become regional champions,” said Eric Merlin, Co-founder of FEBE Ventures.
“We invest in entrepreneurs who want to become regional leaders and we are acting on two main corridors: Southeast Asian startups that want to enter Vietnam early and Vietnamese founders who want to expand regionally,” said Olivier Raussin, Co-founder of FEBE Ventures.
FEBE Ventures is sector and business model agnostic (B2B, B2C, education, healthcare, logistic, fintech, O2O, mobility, etc.) and is looking for startups that can scale exponentially and quickly dominate their market.
The fund is focused on early stages, which can be Powerpoint or MVP phase, or ‘pre-seed’, or ‘seed’ rounds. Despite its early stage focus, the fund can also be flexible to make investments in pre-series A and series A deals.
FEBE, the acronym of ‘For Entrepreneurs, By Entrepreneurs’, is founded and managed by three entrepreneurs with 28 years of experience building and scaling companies in Vietnam and Southeast Asia as well as investing in tech startups in Asia, Europe and South America. Prior to forming FEBE, the five-person team together have invested in a total of 31 companies.
FEBE Ventures’ third Co-founder is Olivier Raussin, also the fund’s Managing Partner.
The three co-founders have personally committed 10 per cent of the fund as Limited Partners (LPs). The fund is accredited by the MAS in Singapore and it aims to complete the second closing in 2020.
FEBE Ventures has made its first investment in Zenyum’s Series A round alongside Sequoia Capital and others VCs.
Malaysia risks falling behind Indonesia, Vietnam: Pikom’s Ganesh Kumar Bangah [DigitalNewsAsia]
Malaysia runs the risk of falling behind neighbours in the region if the country doesn’t pick up the pace of digitisation, warned outgoing Pikom chairman, Ganesh Kumar Bangah, in his final media briefing as chairman on Tuesday in Selangor, Malaysia.
“It is very important for us to be adopting technology faster than our neighbouring countries to ensure that we remain competitive,” he said. “Our competitor today is not Singapore. Our competitor today is Indonesia, our competitor today is Vietnam.” Pikom is the Nasional ICT Association of Malaysia.
TransferWise rolls out in Malaysia, allows cheaper cash transfers to 83 countries [The Star Malaysia]
British cash-transfer service provider TransferWise has rolled out in Malaysia, allowing customers to send money to 83 other countries at competitive exchange rates.
TransferWise chairman Taavet Hinrikus said the entry into Malaysia was due to a high number of requests from potential customers – over 15,000 altogether.
“Along the way, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and other government departments were very professional in the way they handled our application. By allowing and encouraging more nonbanks to provide financial services in Malaysia, BNM is ensuring consumers benefit from better and more affordable services,” he said.
she1K angel syndicate invests in New York-based Farmshelf [press release]
she1K, a global corporate executive women angel network, has made a syndicated investment into Farrmshelf, headquartered in New York.
Farmshelf aims to democratise farming, enabling anyone to grow where they live, work and eat by offering a plug & play indoor bookshelf-like farming system.
Farmshelf’s smart, hydroponic growing systems evoke a space commitment to design, innovation and sustainability while providing meaningful yield in an automated, internet-connected bookshelf-sized device. The system is equipped with all the sensors and tools necessary to monitor the produces’ needs every step of the way and notify the user when to its ready to harvest.
EOS VC invests in blockchain games developer Biscuit [press release]
EOS VC, the venture capital arm of blockchain software company Block.one, has announced an investment in innovative blockchain games developer Biscuit.
Biscuit is the creator of EOS Knights, the first mobile game to run on the EOS blockchain.
“Our direct investment in Biscuit extends our strategic focus of working with some of the smartest minds in the gaming blockchain sector,” said Mike Alexander, CEO of EOS VC. “Biscuit has taken the powerful qualities of blockchain’s smart contract and combined it with the traditional Role Playing Game elements to produce one of the best-loved gaming apps on the market.”
“Block.one has closely supported us in the successful development and operation of EOS Knights from the very start,” said Jay Lee, Founder of Biscuit. “This new investment from Block.one’s venture arm EOS VC confirms our strong continuing partnership and underscores our belief that gaming dApps like EOS Knights are catalysts for the mainstream adoption of blockchain technology.”
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