The importance of confidence in the face of adversity

Emeritus, Eruditus Executive Education, Danggeun Market, and more startups raised funding this week. [Read from your browser]( FOMO Saturday Hello {NAME} I’ve been watching the remake of the 2001 anime Shaman King on Netflix recently. The annoyingly laid back protagonist has a catchphrase that goes: “Don’t worry, it’ll work out somehow.” However, that formula doesn’t endorse simply submitting to the slings and arrows of life. Much to the contrary, the main character makes it his motto because he believes there’s no point in fearing the unknowable future - all we can do is put our best foot forward in every situation. (It’s a stretch for sure, but what do you expect from an anime?) That’s the kind of confident vibe I got from our recent piece that [peeled back the layers on PolicyBazaar’s initial public offering filings](. When asked whether the company was looking at profitability in the near future, an executive replied with just one word: “Absolutely.” The India-based insurance aggregator had briefly turned profitable in 2018, but was unable to keep the momentum going over the next two years. But now, with its sights set on a public listing, PolicyBazaar could potentially generate even more interest among investors than [newly-listed Indian food delivery firm Zomato](. According to the executive, the “only” things keeping the company from profitability at the moment are its hyper-growth agenda and heavy investments in geographical expansion and insurance penetration. While it’s hard to say whether PolicyBazaar will leap over all the hurdles that come its way, it seems like its team is spending less time worrying about what might be and focusing more on how to execute their plans and deliver good work right now. You can find all other important investment deals over the last few days in our [weekly funding news wrap-up](. Let’s dive into the biggest deals and M&As that took place recently. -- Nathaniel  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THE BIGGEST DEALS BY COUNTRY 🇸🇬 Emeritus: The edtech startup based in Singapore raised [US$650 million in a series E funding round]( from Accel Partners and SoftBank Vision Fund 2. 🇮🇳 Eruditus Executive Education: The Indian edtech platform bagged US$650 million from Accel Partners, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 in a series E funding round. 🇰🇷 Danggeun Market: The South Korean online marketplace for secondhand goods [scored US$162 million]( in series D money from Altos Ventures, Aspex Management, Capstone Partners Korea, DST Global, Goodwater Capital, Kakao Ventures, Reverent Partners, SoftBank Ventures Asia, and Strong Ventures. 🇨🇳 Longcheer: The Chinese smart products service provider banked US$152 million in series C funding from Beyond Moore Fund, China Internet Investment Fund, Forebright Capital, GP Capital, Huaxu Capital, and Yunfeng Capital. 🇮🇱 BrainQ Technologies: The Israeli healthtech firm secured US$40 million in early-stage funding from Dexcel Pharma, Hanaco Ventures, IT-Farm Corporation, Millhouse Capital, OurCrowd, Peregrine Ventures, Qure, and Sailing Capital. Here’s the complete list of this week’s funding chart: [126 deals worth over US$3.9 billion](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  M&A'S 🇰🇷 GS Retail, which has headquarters in Seoul, inked a deal with Affinity Equity Partners and Permira to acquire local food delivery app Yogiyo for US$685 million. 🇮🇱 Beauty and makeup company Il Makiage acquired Israeli deep tech AI startup Voyage81 for US$40 million.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  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](. 🇸🇬 Ocktolife is a Singapore-based startup that enables employers to give their employees personalized and holistic benefits like insurance, lifestyle amenities, as well as health and wellness content. 🇮🇩 Gelora is the “Shopify for Sports.” The Indonesian startup sets up microsites and reservation systems for sports venues. 🇹🇭 Algaeba is a Thailand-based startup that deals in AI solutions for the aquaculture industry. You can find the full list of fundraising startups in Asia [over here](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  KILLER PITCH DECKS 1️⃣ An Indian learning app’s pitch deck helped it net US$5 million in series A money 90+ My Tuition App is a learning app that aims to help students affordably achieve higher grades with the help of digital visualization tools. The Bangalore-based edtech startup used [this pitch deck]( earlier this year to secure series A funding from the directors of Pearl Investment. The deck presents comprehensive information about the business. It also elaborates on how much funding the platform needs, as well as the firm’s funding allocation plan and exit strategy.  2️⃣ A multiplayer TV platform used this pitch deck to get funding from 500 Startups US-based Hearo.Live offers a “multiplayer TV” experience, enabling users to watch movies, shows, or live TV together online. It used [this pitch deck]( at a 500 Startups demo day in 2019 to successfully secure seed funding. The deck is straightforward and begins by introducing the co-founders and their backgrounds. It then highlights the social aspect of games, recounting how the team was inspired to build Hear.Live. The deck presents data on the huge market potential of the media, gaming, and entertainment industry to make a strong case.  3️⃣ A Vietnamese coffee brand raised US$1 million with this pitch deck Los Angeles-based Copper Cow Coffee, founded by Vietnamese-American Debbie Wei Mullin in 2015, presented [this pitch deck]( at a demo day in 2017. The deck helped it raise US$1 million in seed funding from 500 Startups and angel investors. The deck features a coffee-related theme and includes pictures of the company’s products. It also explains why Mullin started the business and what kind of edge Copper Cow Coffee has over other coffee brands in the US. You can find more [killer pitch decks here]( including those produced by Shopback, Bukalapak, LinkedIn, Coinbase, and Revolut. And if you want to feature your startup's pitch deck, you can [do so here](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  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](  List of largest exits in Asia [China]( | [India]( | [Indonesia]( | [Singapore]( | [Southeast Asia](  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THOUGHTFUL READS  1️⃣ The happiness formula for startups Waseem Daher, founder of financial software firm Pilot, already has two exits under his belt, and his latest startup just attained unicorn status. However, he’s changed things up in his third venture to adopt a “happiness framework” since the company’s earliest days. Read more on why Daher made that switch in mindset to make happiness the focal point of his business [this article on First Round Review](.  2️⃣ Why there’s a high turnover rate among chief data officers The role of the chief data officer is a crucial one, but it’s also a position that comes with an unusually high churn rate. [This Harvard Business Review piece]( details why the chief data officer role is such a demanding one.  3️⃣ How to discover a startup idea We’ve all heard numerous tales of ideas scrawled hurriedly on napkins at fast food restaurants laying the foundation for billion-dollar companies, but how does one actually think up a startup idea? [This First Round Review article]( gives future founders advice on how to come up with a blueprint of the next big thing.  4️⃣ Innovation is the way out of a global climate catastrophe US-based venture capitalist Chris Sacca penned a 12-page letter to potential investors in his climate-focused venture firm. He opens the piece bluntly by saying, “The climate is f’d. Even worse than it seems.” Read some of his thoughts on the role venture capital can play in tackling the climate crisis and what might happen if nothing is done in [this Axios piece]( summarizing the letter.  5️⃣ Venture capital’s impact on the structure of today’s market Atreides Management managing partner Gavin Baker tweeted his thoughts on how venture capital is affecting the market structure with the help of alternative data. Check out the nine-tweet thread [here](.  [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 Nathaniel Fetalvero. It’s edited by Arpit Nayak. Copyright © 2021 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 51 Bras Basah Rd, #05-5061, Singapore 189554