A Recap on What Happened This Week: Asian Startup News Overview (12th February- 17th February)

This week saw the rise of some major Asian startups, continuing the trend of excellence. We saw an increase in fundraising and major product launches, thus allowing them to establish a strong foothold in the Asian startup ecosystem.

Transcelestial, an SG Wireless startup, recently raised US$10 million and plans to expand Centauri, its wireless laser communication technology, to five key markets in Southeast and India, while an Indian startup insurancedekho has raised $150 million in a Series A funding round as the firm looks for merger and acquisition opportunities at a time when the market slump has engulfed most startups in the South Asian nation.

Here is a list of the top startups that performed well this week.

Transcelestial 

Transcelestial CEO and co-founder Rohit Jha believes that access to the internet "can be a matter of livelihood." As a result of its recent US$10 million raise, the company plans to expand Centauri, its wireless laser communication technology, to five key markets in Southeast and India.

The series A2 investment round was led by Airbus Ventures, with participation from Kickstart Ventures, Genesis Alternative Ventures, and Wavemaker Partners. Transcelestial has raised a total of US$24 million to date.

The startup wants to expand into Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. Transcelestial will collaborate with telecom, Internet service provider, and enterprise partners in these regions to deploy Centauri systems, which will provide 4G, home and office broadband, and campus connectivity.

Aspire 

Aspire recently announced that its Series C round had been oversubscribed. Lightspeed and Sequoia Capital SEA, Paypal Ventures, LGT Capital Partners, and existing backers Picus Capital and Mass Mutual Ventures all contributed US$100 million to the round.

Aspire, which was founded in 2018, provides businesses with a unified suite of financial services, including international payments, corporate cards, and payable and receivable management, all accessible through a single, easy-to-use account. It has quickly gained traction in Southeast Asia, recently tripling annualised total payment volumes from over 15,000 businesses in the region to US$12 billion.

Prozo

Supply chain company Prozo on said it raised ₹45 crore – through a combination of equity and debt financing – in a pre-series B round led by Sixth Sense Ventures. The round also saw participation from JAFCO Asia and other marquee investors.

The current round is a precursor to a larger series B round planned in FY24 and the funds raised currently would be utilised to expand its client base, warehousing and logistics network, and deepen its Prozo Warehousing & Logistics SaaS platform, said the company in a press release.

InsuranceDekho

The Indian insurance platform InsuranceDekho has raised $150 million in a Series A funding round as the firm eyes merger and acquisition opportunities at a time when the market slump has engulfed most startups in the South Asian nation.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management and TVS Capital co-led the seven-year-old startup’s Series A funding round, they said. The round includes some debt — about $40 million — but its executives said that more than half of the raise was against equity.

Venwiz

Venwiz, an India-based SaaS marketplace that digitalizes capex and industrial services procurement, has secured US$8.3 million in a series A funding round led by Sorin Investments. Previous investors Accel and Nexus Venture Partners also participated in the raise.

Founded by Rajesh Reddy and Sandesh Paturi in 2020, Venwiz caters to large enterprise firms with manufacturing plants. It also connects these clients to MSMEs focused on mechanical, civil, automation, and turnkey jobs.

The company has onboarded more than 10,000 vendors on its platform. It counts companies such as Nestle, ITC, and Tata Coffee as among its clients.

Venwiz will use the funds to enhance its products and expand its team.