A Recap On What Happened This Week: Asian Startup News Overview (April 10th - April 14th)

The summer is merciless and the heat waves are striking all over. The weather impacts a lot of things, it dictates one sense of fashion, diet and transportation choices and many more. But the one thing the weather doesn’t dictate is business decisions. Startups continue to thrive and the countless startups which have thrived over the years have fuelled the trust of institutions and have continued to aid them in seeking success.

This week we saw a startup which eased the morning schedules of office workers by providing them instant coffee for takeaway and also a startup which is helping labourers in skilling themselves. Simple everyday ideas to complex ideas are making waves.

PICKUP COFFEE

Coffee is something that no one can start their mornings without, but a lot of them do not have time to prepare a good coffee, This is where PICKUP COFFEE comes to save the day

Philippine grab-and-go coffee startup PICKUP COFFEE has confirmed raising $40 million so far in its latest funding round.

Go-Ventures, an investment firm backed by Indonesian tech major GoTo, led PICKUP COFFEE’s Series A1 round. Other investors in the round include DSG Consumer Partners, Gentree Fund, Kickstart Ventures and Antler, according to PICKUP’s filings with ACRA.

Cakap

Cakap, an Indonesian upskilling platform, announced an undisclosed Series C1 funding round from MDI Ventures and existing investor Heritas Capital on Wednesday, valuing it at more than $100 million.

Cakap received the funding a year after receiving an undisclosed investment from Indonesia Impact Fund (IIF). Cakap also raised $10 million in a Series B round led by Centauri Fund and Heritas Capital in December 2021, and $3 million in a Series A+ round led by Heritas Capital a year earlier.

Cakap plans to use the funds to expand its blended learning programme, which combines online and in-person classes. The edtech company previously stated that, in addition to a planned expansion, blended learning will be one of the growth drivers in 2023.

Fashol

Fashol, an agri-tech startup, announced on Thursday that it has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to connect farmers to markets and optimise supply chains.

According to a press release, it received funding from South Asia Tech Partners (SOSV) and angel investors such as Foodpanda Co-Founder and CEO Ambareen Reza and Foodpanda Co-Founder and Managing Director Zubair Siddiky.

Through dedicated Fashol Farmers Centres, Fashol is working to eliminate multiple layers of middlemen in the supply chain and provide farmers with direct market access and hassle-free transactions.

Fashol, founded in 2020 by Sakib Hossain and Mamunur Rashid, is dedicated to leveraging recent investments to build technology to optimise the supply chain and bring automation for seamless transactions from farmers to retailers.

FitHub

Fit Hub, an Indonesian fitness startup, has successfully raised US$ 6.5 million in funding to make health and wellness accessible to all Indonesians. In early 2022, the company received US$ 3 million in seed funding from Global Founders Capital, Trihill Capital, and Goodwater Capital, followed by a US$ 3.5 million seed extension round led by Wavemaker Partners, with participation from Trihill Capital, East Ventures, Gentree, and BAce Capital in December 2022.

Fit Hub's offline and online presence will be expanded, with free workout content and e-commerce for healthy foods, apparel, workout equipment, and supplements. Fit Hub plans to open 100 clubs in Indonesia by the end of the year to address issues such as high membership fees and limited access to quality facilities. The company is still looking for talented people to join its growing team.

MindX

MindX, which was founded in 2015, prepares Vietnamese people for careers in technology through an ecosystem that includes education as the core business, as well as global job matching and startup space.

Over 35,000 students of all ages have graduated from the company, with many now working in successful technology careers in nearly 20 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, and Australia.

MindX, a Vietnamese technology education startup, has raised $15 million in a series B funding round to support its mission of nurturing and empowering Vietnamese innovators to address global challenges with technology.

According to MindX, the Series B round was led by education-focused private equity fund Kaizenvest.