How this traveltech startup grew 7x despite Covid-19

We dive into how traveltech firm Vouch grew in 2020 and look at what fresh funding will do for an AI-driven edtech startup. [Read from your browser]( Daily Newsletter Hello {NAME} My birthday is coming up, and I’d initially wanted to commemorate the occasion with a solo journey around Japan, seeing the sights and stuffing my face with delicious food. Unfortunately, Covid-19 threw a wrench in those plans, and I’m now stuck staring longingly at pictures of Mount Fuji and delicious bowls of ramen on my laptop screen. My yearning for adventure, however, is nothing compared to the desire of the travel, tourism, and hospitality sectors for business to resume. These sectors have been hit hard by the pandemic, and it’s pretty gloomy news all around. However, there have been some rays of hope shining through the storm. Today we look at: - How this traveltech company [grew sevenfold]( in the pandemic - What this edtech startup plans on doing with its fresh funds - Other newsy highlights such as the ongoing investigation into CoAssets Group and Grab’s closure of a US$2 billion loan facility  ---------------------------------------------------------------  PREMIUM SUMMARY  A flight path to growth Covid-19 has been brutal on companies in the travel, tourism and hospitality space, but not all of them are in trouble. Vouch, a chatbot builder turned digital concierge service for hotels, has actually done pretty well for itself amid the pandemic. The traveltech startup, which had a single-digit market share in January 2020, captured 20% of hotels in Singapore after just a few months, with 80% of its revenue coming from the city-state. - It’s the suite life: Hotels have been forced to adopt technology as a result of job cuts, which is where Vouch comes in. With the assistance of chatbots, hotels can offer a variety of services to customers, such booking taxis, making restaurant reservations, or buying tickets to local attractions. - All the right moves: The Singapore government’s efforts to encourage domestic tourism played a part in Vouch’s success. Aside from providing digital concierge services to hotels, Vouch managed to lock down deployments with the National Heritage Board and other attractions including the Singapore Zoo, expanding its income sources. - What’s next? With a 20% market share, Vouch has pretty much hit the ceiling in terms of securing the services of luxury hotels in the Lion City. The company has set its sights on markets like Korea, Japan, Australia, and Europe, but given the uncertainty around travel and tourism, only time will tell if it’ll be able to fully take flight. Read more: [How one traveltech startup grew sevenfold since the pandemic started](  ---------------------------------------------------------------  STARTUP SPOTLIGHT  E is for English, E is for ELSA Ka-ching! English Language Speech Assistant, an AI-powered edtech startup based in the US, announced that it [has raised US$15 million]( in a series B round co-led by Susquehanna International Group and Vietnam Investments Group. - Founded in 2015, the company also known as ELSA helps people improve their English-speaking ability by listening to how learners pronounce words, sentences, or conversations to pinpoint errors and then provides real-time suggestions on their pronunciation mistakes. - The startup recently piloted its new business-to-business offering with schools and companies in Vietnam and India. It’s now set on creating a “scalable” platform that enables cooperation with corporate partners around the globe. - This fresh funding will go toward research and development to bolster ELSA’s voice recognition AI as well as to develop its B2B platform and hire new talent. ---------------------------------------------------------------   UNLOCKED  Evolving into One In the pre-GameStop era, being a hedge fund manager meant having a career that made many people green with envy. But that wasn’t the case for Chatri Sityodtong. The founder and CEO of One Championship chose to step away from his extremely lucrative role on Wall Street to pursue his real passion: martial arts. His friends and family members were against it, but Sityodtong pushed forward with his plans. First, he opened a martial arts school called Evolve and eventually set up One Championship, Asia's largest sports media property. So how did Sityodtong build two successful businesses from his passion? In the [second episode of Unlocked: Chatri Sityodtong]( Sityodtong takes us through his arduous journey of entrepreneurship and recalls the moment when he almost threw in the towel.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  Today’s quote of the day is from Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk: “If you need encouraging words, don’t do a startup.” Let us know if you agree. But one thing’s for sure: The Tech in Asia crew is pretty encouraging! So if you need more of the positive vibes you get from our newsletters, please continue to support us by either [subscribing]( or sharing this with your friends. ---------------------------------------------------------------   QUICK BYTES  1️⃣ CoAssets Group faces investigation The Singapore Police Force and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) [have launched a joint investigation]( into various companies under the CoAssets Group after authorities received complaints and feedback regarding suspected misconduct. Investment platform CoAssets had [disposed of over US$30 million]( in borrowings to Sunfits, a virtually unknown debt recovery firm, in late 2019. As a result, hundreds of investors are unlikely to get any of their money back.  2️⃣ Grab takes a loan Grab [has closed]( its first senior secured term loan facility, with a principal amount of US$2 billion. Thanks to this capital injection, the ride-hailing giant can diversify its financing sources and further invest in its growth initiatives.  3️⃣ Xiaomi’s protecting its own interests The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has filed a legal complaint against two US federal departments: Defense and Treasury. [To protect its interests]( Xiaomi is seeking its removal from a US government list of companies that allegedly have links with the Chinese military.  4️⃣ Tencent gets more Universal Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME), a joint venture between the Chinese tech titan and music-streaming service Spotify, [has acquired an additional 10% equity]( in Universal Music Group, bringing its total stake to 20%. TME expects to leverage UMG’s vast content library as well as its own 47.1 million paying user base.  5️⃣ Fresh funding for Foodics The Saudi Arabian food and beverage technology firm announced that it [has secured US$20 million]( in a series B round led by Sanabil Investments. The startup offers a cloud-based restaurant management system on iPad for restaurants, food trucks, cafes, and fast-food chains across the Middle East.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  EVENTS HAPPENING - [Workshop] How to negotiate term sheets with a VC on February 4 After months of pitching and fundraising, one of the most pivotal moments in a founder’s career is when an investor presents them with a term sheet. But the complex legal structure of a term sheet can be too complicated for many. So we brought in Melissa C. Guzy, co-founder and managing partner of Arbor Ventures, who will talk about the common pitfalls that founders must avoid and how they can negotiate for cleaner and simpler terms. [RSVP today]( - Tech in Asia x AWS Fintech Forum on 23 February Join Tech in Asia’s upcoming half-day conference in partnership with AWS to get a headstart on how to accelerate your fintech capabilities. Through a fireside chat, a panel discussion, and a master class, you’ll get to hear Asia’s best thought leaders discuss the region’s fintech landscape, how to build and scale fintech platforms, and more. RSVP for your complimentary seat [here]( - Tech in Asia’s Product Development Conference on April 7 and 8 This year’s conference is centered around a single goal: helping companies build outcome-oriented products. With five tracks from strategy to analytics, we want you to come out of this conference with product and engineering tips to build a winning product. You can get the ticket at an [early bird discount]( today for just US$15 (usual price US$50). Existing Tech in Asia Core, Live, and ID+ subscribers can RSVP at no additional cost [here](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  WHO'S HIRING - [Video Producer]( at Tech in Asia (Singapore, Singapore) - [Sales / Account Executive]( at Antikode (Jakarta, Indonesia) - [VP of Engineering]( at Nimbly Technologies (Jakarta, Indonesia)  ---------------------------------------------------------------  SHARE WITH YOUR FRIEND Don’t leave your co-workers behind! Share this with them so that they can keep up with what’s going on in the region’s tech scene. Feel free to [drop us some feedback]( if our newsletter today got you feeling smarter (or if it didn’t).  ---------------------------------------------------------------  Thanks for reading! Tech in Asia’s newsletters are handcrafted daily with love - and sometimes powered by good kopi (or tea). [ADVERTISE]( | [PREMIUM]( | [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. Was this forwarded to you? You can read this everyday when you sign up [here](. Don't want to receive these emails anymore? [Unsubscribe](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  Today’s edition is written by Stefanie Yeo, with contributions from Nikki Natividad and Doris Yu. It’s edited by Eileen C. Ang. Copyright © 2021 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 51 Bras Basah Rd, #05-5061, Singapore 189554