A Recap on What Happened This Week: Asian Startup News Overview (26th February- 3rd March)

We are already in the first week of March, and can clearly see that the global Asian startups are doing well in terms of receiving funds, with plans to grow further in 2023. Let's have a look at the best Asian startups that had an international impact this week.

This was definitely a fundraising weekend! From a business superapp called Enstack, which raised $3 million in funding to support its goal of digitizing small and medium-sized businesses, to a Seoul-based startup called Indent, which raised $10.5 million to help these consumers by providing access to video reviews and product ratings.

Here is the list of Top Asian startups that received massive financing this week.

Enstack

Enstack, a business superapp, has raised $3 million in a funding round to support its goal of digitising small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines and throughout Southeast Asia.

The startup said in a statement on Thursday that it was able to raise the amount thanks to a funding round led by Mangrove Capital Partners, which was its first investment in Southeast Asia. Xendit, a payments startup, and Shinsegae International CEO William Kim are among the other participants.

Mangrove Capital has previously invested in technology companies such as Skype and Wix, a website builder.

Enstack came out of beta in October last year and recorded a growth of five times in the last quarter of 2022. It is projected to grow by 10 times by 2023.

Durioo+

Durioo+, a Malaysian Islamic-themed streaming service, has raised $2.85 million in seed funding.

Y Combinator, Uncommon Capital, Gobi Partners, Lynett Capital, New Venture Order (NVO), and Innate Capital are among the investors. Durioo+ stated on Wednesday.

Angel investors included unicorn founders and employees from well-known companies around the world, such as Google, Meta, and IQIYI, in the fundraising round.

Durioo+ intends to expand its viewership in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Indonesia, Europe, and other South Asian countries over the next five years.

DigiFT

DigiFT, a Singapore-based decentralised digital asset exchange (DEX) for asset-backed tokens (STO), announced on Tuesday that it had completed a $10.5 million Pre-Series A funding round.

Shanda Group, a global privately-owned investment group founded in 1999 by Chinese online entertainment pioneer Tianqiao Chen and his family, led the investment round, according to DigiFT.

Other investors who participated in the funding included HashKey Capital, a multi-stage global venture capital firm investing in visionary blockchain founders, Hash Global, a Web3 venture capital firm with offices in Singapore and Shanghai, Xin Enterprise Pte. Ltd., a Singapore investment firm wholly owned by Liang Xinjun, co-founder of Fosun Group, and North Beta Capital, an eco-building capital in the digital technology industry.

Betterhalf

The funding round comes after the startup from Bengaluru raised $3 million in its Pre-Series A round in May 2021.

Betterhalf, which was founded in 2016 by MIT graduates Pawan Gupta and Rahul Kumar Namdev, targets high-income individuals in Tier I cities.

Betterhalf also claims to have developed the world's fastest AI-based matchmaking system, which it has patented in the United States.

Betterhalf, an AI-powered matrimony startup, has raised $8.5 million (INR 70.2 crore) in its Series A round of funding. FinSight Ventures, Rebel Fund, and Nurture Ventures all participated in the round.

Indent

Indent, a Seoul-based startup, wants to help these shoppers by providing them with access to video reviews and product ratings, while also driving sales for e-commerce merchants by providing them with this valuable customer feedback. VREVIEW is its video review marketing tool, and it works by sending a chatbot to a merchant's customers to collect video reviews and product ratings. Merchants can then use these customer-generated video reviews and product ratings to attract more potential shoppers and consumers to their websites.

Investors like Indent’s conversion rates, seemingly. The startup just raised $8.1 million (10.5 billion won) in a Series A led by SV Investment, with participation from strategic investor LG Uplus (a telco unit of LG), Korea Investment Partners and Crit Ventures, among others. The round brings the outfit’s total funding to date to $13.7 million and it will be used to continue developing its video platform.