Who knew selling used cars could be so lucrative?

Dunzo, Eigencom, Pentera, and more startups also raised funding this week. [Read from your browser]( FOMO Saturday Hello {NAME} , Over the holidays, I watched the movie adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda with my brothers. The titular character’s father is a crooked salesman who trades used cars for way more than they’re worth. When the feds eventually catch wind of his illegal dealings, he's forced to flee to Guam. But if he knew how lucrative the legal used-car business was, he might have just gone straight. Case in point: Malaysia-headquartered Carsome [scored US$290 million in series E funding just this week]( pushing the used-car marketplace's valuation to roughly US$1.7 billion. What’s more, the company is reportedly evaluating a potential listing in the US later this year. Remember, kids, crime doesn’t pay. Used-car marketplaces, though? That’s a different story. 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. -- Stefanie --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIGGEST DEALS BY COUNTRY 🇲🇾 Carsome: The Malaysia-based used-car platform [bagged US$290 million in series E funding]( from 65 Equity Partners, MediaTek, Qatar Investment Authority, SeaTown Holdings, Sunway Group, Taiwan Mobile, and YTL Corporation Berhad. 🇮🇳 Dunzo: The dark-store operator based in India got US$240 million from 3L Capital, Alteria Capital, Lightbox Ventures, Lightrock India, and Reliance Retail in a series F funding round. 🇨🇳 Eigencoom: The Chinese IoT-focused chip developer raised US$152 million in series C money from CUAM/99fund, Cathay Capital Private Equity, China Fellow Partners, Chobe Capital, Costone Capital, Fenghuo Capital, GF Qianhe, Qiming Venture Partners, Visionfund, and Xingwang Investment. 🇮🇱 Pentera: The Israeli platform for automated security validation scored US$150 million in series C funding from Awz Ventures, Blackstone, Evolution Equity Partners, Insight Partners, and K1 Investment Management. 🇮🇩 KoinWorks: The Indonesia-based peer-to-peer lending platform [secured US$108 million in series C funding]( from AC Ventures, East Ventures, MDI Ventures, Quona Capital, Saison Capital, and Triodos Investment Management. Here’s the complete list of this week’s funding chart: [136 deals worth over US$2.6 billion](. --------------------------------------------------------------- M&As 🇰🇷 South Korea-based Cookat, which operates a food community, a global recipe video channel, and a food mall specializing in healthy food, was acquired for US$44 million by local retail firm GS Retail. 🇻🇳 Vietnam-based payments major MoMo [has purchased an undisclosed number of shares in Nhanh]( a provider of sales management software products. 🇮🇳 India-based SaaS platform Bizongo [acquihired Hexa, a local college placement platform]( for an undisclosed sum. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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](. 🇸🇬 Lunar Technology is a Singapore-headquartered tech enterprise that provides affordable, usable technological products to third-world countries to create social impact. 🇮🇩 Danamart is an Indonesia-based startup that helps SMEs and startups raise capital by connecting them with investors. 🇻🇳 Zen is a Vietnam-based mobile app that integrates AI technology and connects clients to certified therapists on demand and at home. You can find the full list of fundraising startups in Asia [over here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- KILLER PITCH DECKS 1️⃣ A robotic process automation firm’s pitch deck bagged it US$150 million in series C funding Cyclone Robotics is a robotic process automation company that uses AI and natural language processing to automate business operations. It used [this pitch deck]( to obtain funds for its series C financing round. The pitch deck's content flows neatly and is divided clearly into sections that explain the company’s product. It also highlights the effectiveness of Cyclone’s tech and service, backed by its evaluation scores from research firm Forrester. 2️⃣ A beauty store startup secured US$6 million in pre-series A money with this deck OsakaKuma, a beauty and personal care store run by lifestyle curator Sinbad, offers exclusive Japanese products from a collection of over 1,000 items. The Singapore-based startup used [this pitch deck]( to obtain pre-series A funding. The deck clearly states Sinbad’s belief, vision, mission, and values in the introduction. It then elaborates on the pain points that customers face before offering OsakaKuma’s solution. 3️⃣ A flying taxi startup’s pitch deck helped it score US$1 million in seed funding The ePlane Company is a transportation firm involved in developing electric planes with the aim of making commuting within cities easier, while keeping the price at only 1.5x current taxi fares. It used [this pitch deck]( to secure seed funding last year. The deck immediately lays out The ePlane Company’s business, which aims to provide high-mileage flying taxis for door-to-door travel in cities. The presentation goes on to outline the company’s vision going forward. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 best managers are good coaches Managers typically spend a large part of their weeks helping solve the problems that their direct reports face. However, that might not be the optimal management strategy. While some managers might feel like fixing someone’s problem is the best way to add value, an overreliance on this strategy limits their ability to lead and robs their team of growth opportunities. [This First Round Review piece]( details how managers can stop just fixing and start coaching. 2️⃣ What 2022 has in store for the biohealth scene Last year saw record high funding and continued advancement in the tech-enabled biohealth and overall healthcare landscape. And the new year arrives, Andreessen Horowitz has also established a new fund to focus on the sector. The team details the key areas in which they’ve been backing founders in the biohealth space and where they see additional opportunities in [this blog post](. 3️⃣ How to get your companies to act on sustainability Climate change is becoming the agenda of focus for boards across companies and industries. However, there’s still a gap between what directors say about climate change and what their companies are doing about it. [This article]( on Harvard Business Review runs through some ways board members can get their companies to walk the talk. 4️⃣ Reid Hoffman’s thoughts on innovating for an uncertain future To the LinkedIn co-founder, uncertainty and turbulence are just the new normal. But more than that, they’re also opportunities to create a better future. On [the latest episode of Harvard Business Review's The New World of Work]( Hoffman shares his thoughts on how to identify the scope for truly beneficial innovation in today’s volatility. 5️⃣ Joining an early-stage startup? Think like a VC Toba Capital’s Susan Su took to Twitter to dish out advice for aspiring startup employees. She suggests that those looking to take up a senior role at an early-stage enterprise should think like a VC. Read her thoughts in [this Twitter thread](. 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 Arpit Nayak. Copyright © 2022 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 63 Robinson Road, Singapore 068894