Terminus takes the top

Terminus, iBus Networks, Bach Hoa Xanh, and more raised funds this week [Read from your browser]( FOMO Saturday Welcome to Tech in Asia's free Saturday VC newsletter! Get full access to our subscribers-only premium content and other insightful analysis on the big and messy topics of Asia’s tech and startup community by [registering here](.  --------------------------------------------------------------- Hello {NAME} Sometimes, I like to poke a little fun at how startups are named. A common approach is to choose a familiar term then replace one of the vowels with a letter that doesn’t change how the word is typically pronounced. That’s how we end up with names like Ryde instead of Ride or Lyft rather than Lift. Once in a while, though, you get a firm like Terminus - our top-funded startup for this week - that bucks this trend. It sounds a little bit like a name from Transformers, doesn’t it? (I wonder if Terminus and Optimus Prime are brothers.) But Google tells me that Terminus refers to a Roman god who protected boundary markers. All things considered, the name sounds pretty cool to me. You can find all other important investment deals that happened in the last few days in our [weekly funding news wrap-up](. Let’s dive into the biggest deals that recently took place. -- Jonathan  --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIGGEST DEALS BY COUNTRY  CN Terminus is a Chinese startup that provides smart city solutions. It raised US$276 million in series D money from investors including AL Capital, China Everbright Group, and Futian Investment. IN India-based iBus Networks, which offers internet infrastructure solutions, has secured US$200 million through a strategic investment from the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund of India. VN Bach Hoa Xanh is a Vietnamese ecommerce firm that scored US$72 million from CDH Investments. SG Singaporean hospitality firm RedDoorz has banked US$28 million in a series C round from Asia Partners, Jungle Ventures, Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, and SIG Venture Capital. TH WYZauto, an ecommerce startup based in Thailand, has netted US$2 million in pre-series A funding from Kaya Founders, Vynn Capital, and Vincent Lee. Here’s the complete list of this week’s funding chart: [61 deals worth over US$1 billion](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  M&As  IN India-based SaaS provider Eka Software Solutions has been acquired by Symphony Technology Group for an undisclosed amount. IN Mom’s Kitchen, an Indian foodtech firm, has been acquired by SGF India. Financial terms were not disclosed. IN Shy Tiger, an ecommerce startup based in India, has been acquired by Ghost Kitchens for an undisclosed sum.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  STARTUPS THAT ARE RAISING FUNDS Fundraising is hard. To make things slightly easier, we’ve compiled this list of fundraising startups for our subscribers. Do you run a startup that’s raising at the moment or know someone who does? Sign your company up for listing [here.]( MY DeWorld Tech is a Malaysian metaverse platform focused on virtual tourism and retail shopping. SG Xcube is a Singapore-based corporate venture studio that launches companies for internal projects and corporate clients. ID Blitz Electric is a sustainable logistics provider in Indonesia. You can find the full list of fundraising startups in Asia [over here](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  BEHIND THE GLASSWALL Fundraising often involves reaching out to multiple contacts, many of whom founders might not have dealt with before. To provide some transparency to this process, we created Glasswall, a platform for founders to give feedback and recommendations on investors. Check out the full list [here](. - ✅︎ “Navigating the challenging landscape of fundraising, especially in the early stages, can indeed be a daunting task. However, encountering investors like Arya and the Prasetia team can be transformative for a startup's journey. I vividly recall our initial meeting, held at a time when our revenue stream was still nascent, primarily coming from WhatsApp through my role as an admin. What struck me most during that encounter was not just Arya's investment acumen, but the profound level of trust and support they extended to us from day one. Their belief in our vision, despite the modest beginnings, was incredibly motivating. It wasn't merely about the numbers or the metrics; it was about recognizing the potential and the passion behind our endeavor.” - [Read more]( - ❌ ”There's a lot of focus currently on Wavemaker Impact and ESG initiatives which results in two camps. One camp where people are building real business, sound unit economics etc, and the other camp, frankly more fluff and magic powder than anything else. No surprises which camp we are writing for. All for ESG, Impact, but please ensure unit economics are sound. After all, if the business folds after a few months/year, there's no one getting "impacted" except a few readers online that clicked on the blogs.” - [Read more]( - ✅︎ “ACV has been really helpful in many ways to our business. They're not the hands-off kind, but in a good way. They'll willingly share information, make connections even unprompted. ACV team also helps us with other areas such as PR management and hiring process.. They're your best supporter and cheerleader all the way through.” - [Read more](  --------------------------------------------------------------- TECH IN ASIA’S FOUNDERS MEETUP: VIETNAM ON MAY 30 Founders Meetup is coming to Vietnam as part of the official closing party of Saigon Summit Double the excitement awaits as Founders Meetup returns to Vietnam, this time in conjunction with our inaugural Saigon Summit’s official closing party. Join us for an unforgettable evening of networking and celebration at CTY Kitchen + Bar on May 30. Unwind and connect with founders, startup leaders, and investors from across the region at this premier networking mixer. [Early bird tickets are up for grabs - get yours now before promo ends on April 19!]( ---------------------------------------------------------------  EVENTS HAPPENING You can also check out a curated list of trending tech events [over here]( and Tech in Asia’s signature events [here](. - [Saigon Summit 2024 : Charting Vietnam’s Tech Future on May 30]( Put your startup on the map at our signature trade show, Startup Showcase, and get the attention of hundreds of tech professionals. Your next investor or business partner could be among the crowd! Only 30 slots are available, and the competition is fierce. [Sign up before April 22]( and make sure your startup doesn’t get left behind! - [Tech in Asia Conference Kuala Lumpur 2024 : Malaysia on The Rise on July 24-25]( Join us this July for a time of insightful panels, skill-building workshops, and exclusive interviews with top brands. First release tickets are available until April 22nd. Participating comopanies include AWS, Antler, Google Cloud, Odoo, Sunrate, and more. [Purchase a General Pass for just US$45]( (U.P. US$80) today! - [Product Development Conference (Jakarta, 25-26 June 2024)]( This year’s conference, themed around “scaling product innovation from startup to enterprise,” will deliver tailored insights for attendees at any stage of their business journey. [Secure your spot now.](  - [Tech in Asia’s Founders Meetup in Singapore on April 24]( Get the secret sauce from esteemed VCs on navigating the tech winter and have exclusive face time with them to find solutions to your funding challenges. Hurry - due to overwhelming demand, we only have a handful of tickets left. [Secure your ticket now before it’s gone!](  - [Tech in Asia’s Founders Meetup in Vietnam on May 30]( Founders Meetup is returning to Vietnam as part of the official closing party of Saigon Summit! Unwind and connect with founders, startup leaders, and investors from across the region at this premier networking mixer. Hurry, [get your early bird ticket before promo ends on April 19!](  --------------------------------------------------------------- EXCLUSIVE LISTICLES Lists of most active investors in the region [China]( | [India]( | [Indonesia]( | [Japan]( | [Singapore]( | [Southeast Asia]( List of top-funded startups in Asia [China]( | [India]( | [Indonesia]( | [Israel]( | [Japan]( | [Hong Kong]( | [Singapore]( | [South Korea]( | [Vietnam](  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THOUGHTFUL READS  1️⃣ Don’t worry, be happy OK, I wouldn’t say never worry, but I think being positive is usually a good thing. As it turns out, optimism is beneficial not just on a personal level but on a societal one, too. Listen to [this podcast episode]( by Masters of Scale to learn how optimism can drive the economy. 2️⃣ Have funds [This Reddit post]( discusses why VCs create new funds, but there’s a comment chain explaining how Sequoia’s evergreen model is interesting even if LPs might not like it. Check out the post to know why. 3️⃣ Let them eat AI Now that generative AI is becoming more accessible to the average consumer (thanks, social media apps), we’re getting to the point where scaling these capabilities to everyone is a topic for discussion. Find out how we can democratize AI even more [here](. 4️⃣ A whole new world For those interested in the grocery business, this [podcast episode]( should be interesting. It covers the story of John Mackey, co-founder and former CEO of Whole Foods Market and how he eventually sold the company to Amazon. 5️⃣ The numbers … what do they mean? A huge consideration for any investor is whether it makes financial sense to pump money into a startup. For founders, however, these calculations might not be readily apparent. [This post]( goes a little deeper into the math behind VC investments.  --------------------------------------------------------------- [ADVERTISE]( | [SUBSCRIBE]( | [HIRE]( | [FIND JOBS]( P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Too many emails? Switch to a different frequency or get new content through our [preference center]( or [unsubscribe](. You can also break our hearts and remove yourself from all Tech in Asia emails over [here](  ---------------------------------------------------------------  Tech in Asia’s newsletters are handcrafted daily with love - and sometimes powered by good kopi. Today’s edition was written by Jonathan Chew. It’s edited by Dhania Putri Sarahtika. Copyright © 2024 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 63 Robinson Road, Singapore 068894