Don’t you just love watching startups raise funding?

Uniphore, Funding Societies, SemiFive, and more startups also secured funding this week. [Read from your browser]( FOMO Saturday Hello {NAME} , A few years ago, I interviewed Kelvin Teo, the co-founder of Funding Societies, on [the Startup Snapshot podcast]( about the challenges the startup faced in its early years. A lot has happened since that conversation. The peer-to-peer lending platform weathered the pandemic, raised capital a number of times, and even launched its services in new markets. Then this week, the firm [raised US$144 million in a series C+ round](. It's great to see founders I’ve met take their startups to greater heights - in fact, I’d say it’s one of my favorite things about this job. 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 🇮🇳 Uniphore: The India-based conversational automation firm [bagged US$400 million in series E money]( from March Capital and New Enterprise Associates. 🇸🇬 Funding Societies: The Singapore-headquartered fintech startup [secured US$144 million in a series C+ round]( from Ascend Vietnam Ventures, BRI Ventures, EDBI, Indies Capital Partners, K3 Ventures, Rapyd, Sequoia Capital, SoftBank Vision Fund, and VNG Corporation. 🇰🇷 SemiFive: The South Korea-based semiconductor firm raised US$104 million in series B funding from Bon Angels, Korea Investment Partners, LB Investment, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Pavilion Capital, and SoftBank Ventures Asia. 🇨🇳 Smartlogictech: The Chinese microprocessor tech IP licensing and chip service provider got US$100 million in series C money from CICC Capital, Chipone Technology, Grand Flight, and TFTR Investment. 🇮🇩 Akulaku: The Indonesian fintech startup [scored US$100 million in series E funding]( from Siam Commercial Bank. Here’s the complete list of this week’s funding chart: [129 deals worth over US$2 billion](. --------------------------------------------------------------- M&As 🇰🇷 5MinLab, a South Korean game developer, was acquired by local gaming firm Krafton for US$19.04 million. 🇮🇳 Mamaearth, an Indian direct-to-consumer startup, acquired local hair color brand BBlunt in a US$17.8 million deal. 🇮🇱 Nintex, a US-headquartered process intelligence and automation company, acquired Israeli AI automation firm Kryon for an undisclosed amount. 🇸🇬 Bolttech, a Singapore-based insurtech firm, [bought local insurance firm Ava Insurance]( for an undisclosed sum. 🇵🇰 GoZayaan, a Bangladesh-based online travel aggregator, [acquired Pakistani traveltech firm FindMyAdventure]( for an undisclosed amount of money. 🇮🇱 Fireblocks, an Israeli cryptocurrency security company, acquired local stablecoin and digital asset payments tech platform First Digital for an undisclosed sum. 🇵🇭 Vietnam-based tech firm Society Pass [acquired Philippine-headquartered online grocery delivery firm Pushkart]( for an undisclosed amount. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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](. 🇸🇬 Helixtap Technologies is a Singapore-headquartered startup that organizes fragmented data to provide unbiased, fair, and transparent pricing information to customers in the rubber industry. 🇮🇩 Ultra Salon Professional Supplies is an Indonesia-based B2B ecommerce firm that sells professional salon supplies. 🇲🇾 Pegasuswork is a Malaysia-based construction digitalization app that provides users access to end-to-end construction services. You can find the full list of fundraising startups in Asia [over here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- KILLER PITCH DECKS 1️⃣ This Vietnamese trading app’s deck won it US$1.2 million Anfin, a Vietnam-based fintech startup, enables users to buy and sell stocks listed on the largest stock exchanges in the country. The startup used [this pitch deck]( to raise US$1.2 million in its third round of seed funding earlier this year. The deck is straightforward and easy to read, with a good balance of scripts and visuals. It highlights Anfin’s solution and platform execution as well as its go-to-market strategies. 2️⃣ This Vietnamese mobility app’s pitch deck helped it raise US$1.5 million in seed funding Phenikaa MaaS, founded by award-winning programmer Yee-Thanh Le, is the developer of Vietnamese public transit app BusMap. The firm used [this pitch deck]( to raise seed funding from Pheenika Group last year. The deck is presented well and provides comprehensive information about Phenika MaaS’ business. It also lays out the company’s milestones to date. 3️⃣ An AI map startup’s pitch deck helped it score US$6.2 million from Microsoft’s venture fund NextBillion, a Singapore-based startup, provides AI mapping solutions to enterprises that allow them to expand in emerging and developed markets. Last year, the company used [this pitch deck]( to secure a series A extension round from M12. The deck is well designed and introduces NextBillion’s mapping platform and its additional capabilities. It also provides case studies that reveal the traction that the startup has gained. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Should you hire a chief ESG officer? Companies like C. H. Robinson, Royal Caribbean, and Verizon are looking to appoint chief ESG officers, as the pressure to address environmental, social, and governance issues grows. But does every company need such a role? [This article]( on Harvard Business Review lists three questions company leaders should ask themselves when considering it. 2️⃣ Europe’s VCs need more female partners While European VCs are making strides in gender parity among junior and middle positions, female representation has dropped sharply in senior roles, according to a new report. In fact, across the top 22 funds in the region last year, only two women were made partners, compared with nine male partner appointments. Read the full findings of Sifted’s analysis on the topic in [this article](. 3️⃣ Would you charge founders to critique their pitch decks? Earlier this month, Mexican-American investor Lolita Taub mentioned on a Twitter Spaces chat that she was taking payments in exchange for critiquing founders’ pitch decks, drawing heavy backlash from the startup community. Read the full account of the events and its aftermath in [this article]( on The Business of Business. 4️⃣ Tech firms are getting desperate in the wake of The Great Resignation Ever since lockdowns turned working from home from an abnormality into an expectation, employees have been resigning en masse in favor of joining more flexible companies. This has led to desperation among tech firms hunting for talent, with some even offering money to potential hires just for an interview. Read [the full story]( on Wired. 5️⃣ Are you rushing or dragging? Union Square Ventures’ Fred Wilson is a fan of taking things at a steady pace - not too fast, not too slow. But over the last two years, he’s observed the VC industry operates at an exhausting pace. Read his thoughts on the matter in [this blog post](. 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