Philippines-based HR and payroll startup Sprout becomes Steve Cohen’s Venture Fund first Southeast Asian investment with US$6M fundraising [Tech in Asia]
NY-based Point72 Ventures, American billionaire Steve Cohen’s early-stage Venture Fund, has invested a US$6 million into Sprout, a payroll and human resources platform from Manila, Philippines. The Series A round of funding marks Point72’s first foray into Southeast Asia, Tech in Asia reported.
Participating investors include another New York-based venture Next Billion Ventures, Singapore’s Dymon Asia, and Endeavor Catalyst, the investment vehicle of potentially high social impact entrepreneurs organization, Endeavor. Existing investors Kickstart, Beenext, and Wavemaker Partners returned for this fresh round.
Sprout was founded by husband-and-wife duo Patrick and Alex Gentry in 2015 to solve a royal pain point for businesses operating under the Philippines’ complex labor laws. Sprout’s cloud-based software stores all employee information, automates timekeeping and payroll and takes care of the necessary filings – reducing the time and energy HR personnel spend on these tasks.
Seeing itself as a data company, Sprout has been working on predictive analytics. The new feature allows HR managers to see trends in the workplace, from what the company’s attrition rate is to how much it’s paying for overtime and who’s in the office in real-time with a Google-like search engine feature that allows HR staff to type in any query, and then the information comes up in ad hoc reports.
Singaporean digital merchant platform Fave launches Fave Takeaway, allowing meal pre-order [Press Release]
Fave, Singapore-based digital merchant platforms, announces the launch of Fave Takeaway in Singapore. The newest addition to the Fave platform, the company noted, will enhance the company’s position as the region’s platform for merchants and their customers.
Also Read: Kickstart Ventures to manage Ayala’s US$150M Corporate VC fund in Philippines
Takeaway will allow customers to pre-order their meal selection and make payment via FavePay before picking up their order at the participating stores. The new feature follows the launch of Fave’s Table Ordering service in May this year.
According to Joel Neoh, Co-Founder and CEO of Fave, Takeaway is its way to further headline the F&B sector by allowing merchants to diversify their revenue streams and increase productivity.
Participating merchants include Paul, Wafuken, Menya Musashi, Ajisen, Tokidon, Isaac Toast, BBQ Box, Tuk Tuk Cha, and Chicken Up. Over 200 merchants will be participating in the launch of Takeaway with more to follow by the end of the year.
Knowledge sharing platform Tigerhall enters Malaysia, looking to upskill professionals in the country [Press Release]
Singapore-based knowledge-sharing platform Tigerhall expands its operation to Malaysia, aims to help professionals achieve their career and life goals by learning directly from the most successful people in their fields.
Through the Tigerhall app, Malaysia-based professionals across all industries will now be able to access bite-sized Podcasts and Power Reads by successful experts from some of the region’s most renowned brands. Apart from digital offerings, the startup also offers events that allow face-to-face interactions and learning directly from experts through private dinners, exclusive lunches, and events every month.
Tigerhall’s first event in Malaysia is a Private Dinner on October 24, 2019 with Jocelyn Ng, the Former COO, Malaysia, of Uniqlo and General Manager of PepsiCo Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Mongolia, and The Pacific Islands. A small group of 10 Tigerhall members will get to learn The Art of Business Communication from a successful Malaysian business leader with decades of leadership experience.
Healthtech Halodoc partners Indonesia single-payer system BPJS Kesehatan, facilitating equal healthcare access for all [Press Release]
The Healthcare & Social Security Agency of Indonesia (BPJS Kesehatan), the country’s biggest single-payer system, has officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Halodoc, the online-based health technology application from Indonesia to develop digital-based health services. Through this strategic collaboration, the two parties will jointly combine their expertise to expand equal access to health services digitally for people across Indonesia, especially BPJS Kesehatan participants.
The technology is expected to facilitate the people of Indonesian to gain health access more easily, which will be a benefit for more than 260 million people who lived in 17.504 islands spreadly in the country.
Also Read: Fave acquihires CutQ and FoodTime two restaurant focussed startups
BPJS Director of Information Technology – Dr. Ir. Wahyuddin Bagenda, MM, said, “The use of technology in BPJS Kesehatan services has been our focus for the past few years, in order to optimize the quality of our services. One of them is Mobile JKN which is a digital transformation of membership administration services that have been carried out at branch offices. By combining Halodoc’s expertise in technology, we hope to complement the user experience of health facilities, making them more inclusive, efficient and effective.”
Digital currency exchange Zipmex partners Indonesian interbank fintech startup ALTO, officially onboarding rupiah [Press Release]
Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Zipmex has announced an over US$4.7 million transaction traded on its Indonesia-centric platform since it launched in the market earlier last month.
Zipmex CEO and co-founder Marcus Lim said the move by the country’s regulator to classify Bitcoin as a trading commodity had prompted a rapid expansion of the crypto market in Indonesia.
“Indonesia is ripe for cryptocurrency adoption and Zipmex will bring a safe, fast and secure digital asset exchange to the market, offering seamless Rupiah (IDR) onboarding and competitive BTC prices,” said Lim.
Aiming to legitimise its offering in the local market, Zipmex has partnered with Indonesian fintech leader ALTO, an interbank network, which holds several payment licenses and has a money transfer business.
Zipmex is now accepting Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) from customers and is aiming to offer the best-priced cryptocurrencies for BTC, ETH, EOS, XRP, XRP, and LTC.
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