What having an ecommerce marketplace could do for Grab

More: GoTo’s fundraising plans and PhonePe’s legal troubles [Read from your browser]( Daily Newsletter Hello {NAME} My journey with ecommerce started when I was a teenager and I would buy clothes and accessories off blog shops on the internet. Now, it’s transitioned into my love affair with Shopee, which I talked about last week. Honestly, I don’t know where I would be without ecommerce - buying stuff online is a huge part of my life. While ecommerce is a big deal for me, it may not be particularly important to regional decacorn Grab. A venture into ecommerce may present new opportunities for the firm, but it may also not be worth the hassle. Today we look at, - Whether [Grab should go into ecommerce]( - This Japanese HR tech firm’s latest round of funding - Other newsy highlights such as GoTo’s fundraising plans and PhonePe’s legal troubles -- Stefanie  ---------------------------------------------------------------  PREMIUM SUMMARY  Should Grab have ecommerce ambitions? The merger between Gojek and Tokopedia has turned up one big question: Should Grab acquire an ecommerce marketplace of its own? It may seem like a good idea, given the sheer size and potential of ecommerce, but it may not necessarily be in the cards for the Southeast Asian super app. - All in favor: Ecommerce gives additional leverage in attracting consumers and enables the cross-selling of other services. It would also benefit Grab’s payment infrastructure tremendously and enable it to cross-sell and synergize with its logistics and delivery services. - Maybe not the best idea: However, ecommerce is notorious for burning cash. Shopee, which is owned by Sea, is fueled by the growth of its sister gaming company Garena. Grab doesn’t have that kind of money to burn, given that it is still working on getting its core businesses to profitability. - Opportunities ahead: Going into ecommerce may distract Grab from its central products. But the door remains open, and there are other ecommerce models such as social commerce that the firm may benefit from exploring. Read more: [Following the GoTo merger, should Grab buy an ecommerce marketplace?](  ---------------------------------------------------------------  STARTUP SPOTLIGHT We got the Grooves Ka-ching! Tokyo-based talent recruitment platform Grooves announced it [has raised US$7.3 million]( in its latest round of funding led by JIC Venture Growth Fund 1. - *Founded in 2004, Grooves has been around for quite a while. Through its services, the firm aims to support the digital transformation of local startups, small to medium-sized enterprises, and large businesses that have the potential to help Japan’s tech industry. - At present, the firm has onboarded over 9,000 listed Japanese corporations on its platform. Its IT engineer career support platform Forkwell, which looks to expand globally, has also amassed more than 50,000 users, gaining an additional 30,000 members in the past year. - The fresh funding will be used to help expand Grooves’ user base, develop new features, and foster partnerships with its investors. The company will also focus on providing its recruitment services in local areas such as Nara and Hiroshima.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  IN PARTERSHIP WITH Creating a frictionless - and secure - ecommerce experience Providing a frictionless customer experience is important for ecommerce companies, but this puts businesses at risk of fraud from malicious attackers who engage in different schemes in order to do so. Consider a sneaker retailer. Sneaker collecting is a growing field, and some limited edition models can go for hundreds, even thousands of dollars - making retailers exciting targets for malicious attackers. For one particular retailer, its dedication to providing a frictionless shopping experience led to five pain points for the company, the result of aggressive automated attacks: - Fraud and chargebacks - Gift card cracking - Shoe-bot scalpers - Bot-induced server outages - Buy online, pick up in-store fraud Leveraging AI and ML security solutions enabled the retailer to proactively mitigate fraud without adding friction to the customer experience journey. Its business ended up saving more than US$500,000, which would have been lost to fraudulent account takeovers and gift card cracking. It also reduced 99% of non-human traffic on its servers, lifting a huge burden off its infrastructure and making a direct positive impact on revenue. [Read more about how F5 helped make a difference in this sneaker retailer’s business here](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  QUICK BYTES  1️⃣ GoTo seeks more cash GoTo, the entity formed by Gojek and Tokopedia’s merger, is planning [another round of fundraising]( ahead of launching an initial public offering (IPO) later this year. Investors in the planned funding round may help GoTo anchor the IPO, which the company expects to execute before the end of 2021.  2️⃣ Indus OS investors vs. PhonePe The acquisition of content discovery platform Indus OS by Indian fintech firm PhonePe for about US$60 million has [led to a legal battle]( with Indus OS’ investors. In a Singapore court, investor Affle Global has reportedly made an appeal on its right of first refusal against the sale of the stake belonging to Indus OS’ founder to PhonePe.  3️⃣ Blume Ventures launches fourth fund Early-stage investor Blume Ventures has [announced its fourth fund]( which will stand at US$120 million to US$150 million. The fund is said to be the firm’s largest and will be backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. 4️⃣ Breathonix goes to Malaysia Singapore-based Breathonix, which has developed a test that can detect Covid-19 from breath samples, has [signed an agreement]( with Malaysia-based government services provider MyEG Services. MyEG will begin applying for regulatory approvals and certifications for the breath test to be made commercially available in the country and will be appointed as Breathonix’s exclusive distribution partner. 5️⃣ UpGrad’s newest acquisition Online higher education company upGrad [has acquired]( Bengaluru-based video-enabled learning solution platform Impartus for US$20.6 million. The deal will give upGrad access to the 280 higher educational institutions, 50,000 teachers, and 600,000 learners on Impartus’ platform.  6️⃣ This jobs portal is going public Kanzhun Limited, operator of mobile recruitment app Boss Zhipin, [has filed]( for an IPO in the US. The firm, which is backed by Tencent, said in its prospectus that it had 24.9 million monthly active users during the first quarter of this year, increasing by 71.8% year on year. No financial details of the IPO were disclosed in the filing.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  EVENTS HAPPENING - ASEAN Fintech Forum on July 6 Want to find out how you can build and scale successful fintech businesses in ASEAN? We got you. We've brought together fintech thought leaders and technical experts from the region to discuss some of the most pressing and important topics in the sector, including the hottest fintech movements, regulatory trends and compliance, AI/ML in fintech, blockchain, and more. Seats are limited, so [grab your ticket]( for free today!  ---------------------------------------------------------------  WHO'S HIRING - [Software Development Engineer - Backend II - III]( at Halodoc ID (Setiabudi, Indonesia) - [Engineering Manager]( at Clover Health (Hong Kong, Hong Kong) - [Node.JS Engineer]( at 2359 Media (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)  ---------------------------------------------------------------  SHARE WITH YOUR FRIEND If you're feeling generous today, help us share this newsletter with your friends and coworkers 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]( | [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. 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 was written by Stefanie Yeo, with contributions from Jofie Yordan and Deepti Sri. It’s edited by Jaclyn Tiu. Copyright © 2021 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 51 Bras Basah Rd, #05-5061, Singapore 189554