The youngest unicorn in India

Ignis Therapeutics, Mensa Brands, Justt, and more startups raised funding this week. [Read from your browser]( FOMO Saturday Hello {NAME} , I’d first heard of “ecommerce roll-up startups” a few months ago, when I was producing the [September episode]( of our Deep Dive podcast. These businesses acquire direct-to-consumer brands and scale them up with the help of their deeper pockets and market expertise. I was told then that it was a trend that was beginning to take hold in India and that it had huge potential in the country. This week, Mensa Brands proved that prediction right. The India-based ecommerce roll-up firm [raised US$135 million]( boosting its valuation to about US$1.2 billion. Having only been founded six months ago, it’s the youngest startup in the country to join the unicorn club. Will we see more ecommerce roll-up brands hitting the billion-dollar valuation mark? 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 and M&As that recently took place. -- Nathaniel --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIGGEST DEALS BY COUNTRY 🇨🇳 Ignis Therapeutics: The China-based biotechnology company raised US$180 million from 6 Dimensions Capital, Goldman Sachs, HBM Healthcare Investments, KB Investment, Mubadala Investment Company, Ruentex Group, and WTT investment in a series A funding round. 🇮🇳 Mensa Brands: The India-headquartered ecommerce roll-up [bagged US$135 million in series B funding]( from Accel Partners, Falcon Edge Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Prosus Ventures, and Tiger Global Management. 🇮🇱 Justt: The Israel-based AI firm raised a total of US$70 million across three funding rounds that were individually led by F2 Venture Capital, Oak HC/FT, and Zeev Ventures. 🇯🇵 HIKKY: The Japan-headquartered virtual reality startup scored US$57 million in series A funding from NTT DOCOMO. 🇻🇳 Homebase: The Vietnam-based real estate firm [secured US$30 million in series A money]( from Ace & Company, Emles Advisors, Foundamental, Goodwater Capital, and Partech Partners, as well as from executives of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Binance, Instacart, Microsoft, Opendoor, Republic, SoFi, and Y Combinator. Here’s the complete list of this week’s funding chart: [114 deals worth over US$1.2 billion](. --------------------------------------------------------------- M&As 🇮🇳 Exotel, an India-headquartered cloud custom engagement company, acquired local cloud communication platform Cogno AI for an undisclosed sum. 🇮🇳 India-based edtech firm Mindler Education [acquired local virtual internship firm Immrse]( for an undisclosed amount of money. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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](. 🇸🇬 MyFirst is a Singapore-based startup that aims to enrich a child’s learning process by molding experiences through fun and innovative gadgets, which aim to reinvent the way kids learn and embrace the technological era. 🇸🇬 Beta MedTech is a Singapore-headquartered healthtech firm that supports caregivers by predicting and preventing pressure ulcers, which improves quality of life and clinical efficiency at a reduced cost. 🇮🇳 LivWell is an insurtech platform that allows members to earn rewards and cash for exercising. The startup has operations in both India and Vietnam. You can find the full list of fundraising startups in Asia [over here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- KILLER PITCH DECKS 1️⃣ This startup’s pitch deck caught Entrepreneur First’s eye Waste Labs is a Singapore-based AI and sustainability startup that aims to improve waste collection by helping garbage collectors and cities better analyze their systems. The company raised US$500,000 in pre-seed funding using [this pitch deck]( earlier this year. The deck begins by highlighting how current waste collection systems are impractical and result in unrecycled waste. It then states Waste Labs’ mission to modernize waste collection planning using AI and shows how the process is undertaken. 2️⃣ A seed-stage edtech firm’s pitch deck Orphicy is an Ahmedabad-based education startup that offers online courses based on the school curriculum and national competitive examinations in India. Earlier this year, it raised US$325,000 in seed funding using [this pitch deck](. It begins with evaluation criteria points that capture investors’ attention, then it highlights the projection for the growth of the edtech market in the next 10 years. The deck then introduces the key members of Orphicy by presenting the team’s diverse experiences in education and technology. 3️⃣ A mobile banking firm used this pitch deck to raise its series B round Germany-based N26 helps users manage their bank accounts on the go, tracking their expenses and helping them set aside money in real time. In 2016, the startup raised US$40 million in a series B round led by Horizons Ventures with the help of [this pitch deck](. Accompanied by interesting visuals, the deck offers a brief summary of N26 and highlights its product features as well as its traction in terms of users and transaction volume. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 What to do when offered a meaningless promotion Promotions in title only aren’t a new phenomenon. But with the growing focus on workplace diversity, offering fake promotions can be a way for organizations to make quick fixes to their public diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments. But what should you do if you’re offered such a promotion? [This Harvard Business Review piece]( discusses the issue. 2️⃣ What Lightspeed Venture Partners sees in the web3 opportunity Web3, crypto, and blockchain are making waves in art, music, and the tech world, but their impact goes beyond that - and Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Mercedes Bent is acutely aware of it. In [this Medium post]( she outlines how these emerging technologies are leading to a new future of learning and earning. 3️⃣ The 21st century update to the way we move money If money is the lifeblood of business, the inflows and outflows of revenue and expenses are like the heartbeat of a company. In order to keep businesses healthy, these operations should be tracked and managed effectively. [This Future article]( dives into the ways companies can do just that. 4️⃣ Worries of early overvaluation Union Square Ventures’ Fred Wilson has observed recent seed rounds getting done at around a US$100 million post-money valuation, which concerns him as this situation could be detrimental for the fundraising startups. Read his thoughts on the matter in [this blog post](. 5️⃣ Pakistan: the next frontier Pakistani VC Aatif Awan mused on Twitter about when he’d first started looking at Pakistan-based startups two years ago. Back then, the average annual VC funding came in at under US$10 million. Today, that figure has ballooned to over US$300 million. Read [his tweets]( to see how the market has grown so quickly in such a short time. Did these eye-popping figures shock you? Share this with a friend who would enjoy this week’s funding news as much as you do. 😉 If you liked today’s edition, give us some feedback [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 Lorenzo Kyle Subido. Copyright © 2021 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 63 Robinson Road, Singapore 068894