Meet Asia’s unicorns and their early investors

More: Meesho reaches $4.9b valuation, and another edtech unicorn is born [Read from your browser]( Daily Newsletter Hello {NAME} , Popping in here to apologize for leaving a dead link in Tuesday’s newsletter, and thank you to those who wrote in to let me know about it! So let’s try this again: Fundraising is the first step toward becoming a unicorn. To get your journey started, we’ve highlighted a [list of fundraising startups]( for our subscribers. If you run a startup or know someone who does, [sign up to get it listed right here](. -- Betty --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIG STORY [A list of Southeast Asia’s unicorns and their early investors (Updated)]( A record number of new unicorns have been born in 2021. --------------------------------------------------------------- IN PARTNERSHIP WITH How a 150-year-old bank tackled digital transformation There’s no doubt that if businesses and organizations don’t digitalize, they’re going to get left behind. The Covid-19 pandemic has driven many consumers online, causing governments and companies to accelerate their digital transformation plans. Needless to say, global bank HSBC has been investing heavily in technology. Last year, the 150-year-old financial institution spent US$5.5 billion to strengthen its technology to drive speed, scale, and efficiency for its customers and employees. One such initiative is the digitalization of HSBC’s letter-of-credit process using blockchain technology. This has helped to reduce transaction times from five to 10 days to under 24 hours. Another example is the recent launch of Omni Collect, a payment gateway that allows brick-and-mortar stores and ecommerce sites in the Asia Pacific to provide consumers with multiple payment options. With Omni Collect, corporates can get a comprehensive view of their payment collections across different channels including bank transfers, credit card payments, and e-wallet transactions. HSBC is said to be the first international bank to offer this collections solution across Asia. HSBC believes in a technology innovation mindset, so it plans to pour more money into its tech strategy this year. This is also why the bank is sponsoring the annual [Tech in Asia Confrence]( which is set to take place on October 12 to 13. Find out how HSBC is simplifying banking for consumers with its products and services [over here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- TRENDING NEWS [Facebook-backed Meesho hits $4.9b valuation after fresh fundraise]( The Indian social commerce firm raised US$570 million in the round, which was co-led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group. [Vedantu becomes India’s third edtech unicorn this year with $100m raise]( The startup plans to enter new markets like Southeast Asia in 12 to 15 months and aims to go public within two to three years. [Indonesian digital payment app Ovo appoints new CEO]( Ponnudurai was formerly the COO and CCO of Ovo’s payments division and has previously held several executive positions at Grab, Katadata reported. [Telkom Group’s MDI Ventures joins FinAccel private investment prior to IPO]( The deal boosts the total commitment for FinAccel’s private investment in public equity deal to more than US$125 million. [GGV Capital joins round valuing Singapore logistics firm to over $100m]( Quincus said it currently facilitates more than 70 million shipments per month. [China roundup: TikTok teams up with US-based Square, and other news]( Also, Kuaishou restructures its internal divisions after a drop in its Q2 user activity, and a health management startup launches a smart toilet. --------------------------------------------------------------- Our subscribers’ support helps fund our unvarnished coverage on the challenges and triumphs of the region’s top startups. So we’d be thrilled if you would consider [becoming a paying subscriber](. --------------------------------------------------------------- EVENTS HAPPENING You can also check out a curated list of trending tech events [over here](. - [Alibaba Cloud x Tech in Asia Pitch Battle]( Pitch your startup and stand a chance to win US$60,000 in Alibaba Cloud credits amongst other perks. - [The Day One Workshop with Amazon Web Services]( with AWS' Head of Startup Ecosystem and Startup Solution Architect. Oct 5 - [Tech in Asia Conference: Southeast Asia Global Debut]( Grab your early-bird tickets. October 12 to 14 - [Demystifying the rise of SEA’s automotive sector]( with Aaron Tan, CEO of Carro and Johnny Widodo, CEO of OLX Group Indonesia - [The future of marketing measurement]( with Ronen Mense, President and Managing Director at AppsFlyer. - [What can Southeast Asia learn from China]( with Sze-Meng Soon from JD.com and Rui Ma from Tech Buzz China - [Leadership lesson: Scaling Google in Southeast Asia]( with Stephanie Davis, Vice President at Google Southeast Asia - [What I learned: From a VC, founder, and back to a VC]( with Weihan Liew, venture partner at GGV Capital - [Emtek x Grab: Driving Indonesia SMEs’ digitalization]( with Neneng Goenadi, Country Managing Director at Grab Indonesia and Sutanto Hartono, Managing Director of Emtek - [My roller-coaster journey building HappyFresh]( with Gulliem Segarra, CEO of HappyFresh - [Understanding Razer's fintech and greentech ambitions]( with Patricia Liu (Chief of Staff, Razer) and Li Meng Lee (Chief Strategy Officer, Razer) - [How Bukalapak became a publicly listed “all commerce” firm]( with Rachmat Kaimuddin, CEO of Bukalapak - [The Big Travel Pivot]( with Caesar Indra, President of Traveloka - [How to catch the content economy boom]( with Nuseir Yassin, founder and CEO of NasAcademy - [Making something people love: The Dana way]( Vincent Iswara, Co-founder and CEO of Dana - [Decoding the cloud kitchen boom in SEA]( with Abraham Viktor (Co-founder and CEO of Hangry), Ankush Grover (CEO Rebel Gofood Indonesia), and Rishabh Singhi (CEO of DishServe) - [What does it take to build a biotech startup in SEA]( withDr Zhou Lihan, Co-founder and CEO of Mirxes - [Build your remote team, anywhere in the world]( with Charles Ferguson, General Manager of Globalization Partners’ --------------------------------------------------------------- WHO'S HIRING You can post a job [here]( or search for jobs [here](. - [Data Engineer]( at Homage Singapore, Singapore - [Senior Software Engineer, Fullstack]( at Homage Singapore, Singapore - [Video Editor]( at kelas.com Jakarta, Indonesia - [IT System Analyst]( at Indocyber Global Teknologi Jakarta, Indonesia - [Product Designer]( at Inspigo Jakarta, Indonesia - [Senior Backend Engineer]( at AgriAku Jakarta, Indonesia [ADVERTISE]( | [SUBSCRIBE]( P.S. 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