Option 2: Kopi Kenangan, the comeback kid

Also: Xendit, Country Delight, Babel Finance, and more startups raised funding this week. [Read from your browser]( FOMO Saturday Hello {NAME} I love coffee (shout-out to my dad, who makes me a cuppa on some mornings when we’re both working from home), so when I saw [this article]( about how Indonesia-based coffee tech startup Kopi Kenangan went from a year of losses to a profitable fourth quarter of 2021, I immediately clicked to read it. What surprised me wasn’t that the company’s recorded monthly revenue this year was higher than its pre-pandemic numbers but that one of the many factors to its success was its rapid geographical expansion - particularly in residential areas. It seems only logical: with everyone working from home during the pandemic, setting up shop close to customers ensured that the firm wouldn’t lose too much business. But you have to admit that it takes a special mindset to execute an expansion plan at a time when most other businesses were suffering shutdowns and losses. With a recession on the horizon, perhaps there’s something the rest of the region’s startups can learn from Kopi Kenangan’s comeback 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. -- Nathaniel --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIGGEST DEALS BY COUNTRY 🇮🇩 Xendit: The Indonesia-headquartered payment gateway firm [bagged US$300 million in series D funding]( from Accel Partners, Amasia, Coatue Management, EV Growth, Goat Capital, Insight Partners, Intudo Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, and Tiger Global Management. 🇮🇳 Country Delight: The India-based food delivery firm raised US$108 million in series D money from Elevation Capital, IIFL AMC, Matrix Partners India, Orios Venture Partners, SWC Global, Temasek Holdings, Trifecta Capital, and Venturi Partners. 🇸🇬 Babel Finance: The Singapore-based crypto financial services company got US$80 million in series B funding from 10T Holdings, BAI Fund, Circle Ventures, Dragonfly Capital, and Jeneration Capital. 🇨🇳 Oriental Space: The Chinese aerospace tech service provider scored US$59.7 million in series A money from Atlascap, China Minsheng Bank, Dinghe Gaoda Investment, FZ Capital, Hike Capital, Sky Saga Capital, Vision+ Capital, and miHoYo. 🇵🇭 Coins.ph: The Philippines-based fintech firm [secured US$30 million in a series C funding round]( from Ribbit Capital. Here’s the complete list of this week’s funding chart: [124 deals worth over US$1.3 billion](. --------------------------------------------------------------- M&As 🇸🇬 MatchMove, a Singapore-based fintech startup, [acquired local ecommerce enabler Shopmatic]( in a US$200 million deal. 🇮🇳 Indian edtech startup Infinity Learn acquired WizKlub, a Bengaluru-based cognitive development startup, for US$10 million. 🇭🇰 Prenetics has become the [first Hong Kong-based unicorn to list on Nasdaq]( following a merger with blank-check company Artisan Acquisition Corp that values the healthtech firm at US$1.3 billion. 🇮🇳 India-based home-buying platform Blox acquired Plinthstone Rema, a local real estate sales and marketing company, for an undisclosed sum. 🇮🇳 Actis, a UK-headquartered investor in sustainable infrastructure, acquired Rx Propellant, an India-based platform focused on providing real estate solutions to tenants in the life sciences and related sectors, for an undisclosed amount of money. 🇵🇰 Switzerland-headquartered buy now, pay later firm ZoodPay acquired Pakistani consumer lending fintech company Tez for an undisclosed sum. 🇮🇳 Indian agritech startup Krishi Network acquired Rocket Skills, an edtech platform providing online training courses to farmers at affordable prices, 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](. 🇮🇳 Antibrnd is an India-headquartered online marketplace that sources, designs, develops, and sells quality goods using manufacturers who also serve top brands. 🇵🇭 Cocotel International is a Philippines-based hotel and property management aggregator that aims to boost tourism in the Philippines by partnering with local hotels and resort owners. 🇮🇩 Pasar Ramah Bisnis is an Indonesian B2B marketplace for surplus and used inventory across Indonesia. You can find the full list of fundraising startups in Asia [over here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- KILLER PITCH DECKS 1️⃣ A blockchain-powered fintech firm used this pitch deck to raise US$2.2 million Doxa Holdings is a modern procurement-to-payment platform that links buyers, suppliers, and financiers in the industrial space. It used [this pitch deck]( to raise US$2.2 million in pre-series A funding earlier this year. Doxa’s pitch deck is simple and uses the company logo’s color palette as the presentation’s theme. The deck begins by summarizing the contents of the presentation clearly and crisply. 2️⃣ This deck helped a dating app for Muslims secure seed funding from 500 Startups Created in Egypt in 2017, Hawaya is a dating platform tailored to Muslim singles. In 2018, the firm used [this pitch deck]( at a 500 Startups Demo Day to win US$150,000 in seed funding from the early-stage venture fund. The deck immediately outlines the current trend of online dating and how it is deemed socially unacceptable in the Middle East. This helps contextualize why Hawaya’s founders developed an online dating app specifically for the region and for North Africa. It also details the company’s recent growth, followed by a brief explanation of how the platform works. 3️⃣ This pitch deck bagged US-based OS developer firm raised US$17 million from Wells Fargo, HSBC, and others OpenFin has developed an operating system that allows teams in global financial institutions to work together in a single, secure, and unified workspace. In 2019, it used [this pitch deck]( to secure series C funding. The deck begins with a problem statement along with a clear comparison table of the problems around innovation in operating systems. It continues by outlining OpenFin’s solution, how it works, and how it has fared since its launch. --------------------------------------------------------------- IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Open sesame - but only to the right people Every day, we log in to multiple different websites and programs, both for work and play. These instances usually take barely a second, so we don’t really think about them at all. It’s like breathing - it comes naturally. But there’s actually so much more that goes into making the login process so seamless. Given that it’s essentially a security check that makes sure only those who are authorized can get in, striking the balance between robust security and a smooth user experience can be tough. Find out about the latest ways to solve complex and large-scale identity use cases at Auth0’s session, which will take place on May 31, just before Tech in Asia’s Product Development Conference 2022. Register and [get your ticket 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 value of digital currencies for small businesses Small businesses work with smaller margins, less bargaining power, and more cash flow problems than larger firms. But stablecoins and central bank digital currencies may be the solution to those problems. Read [this Harvard Business Review piece]( to learn how. 2️⃣ VCs’ approach to the bear market Software companies have seen their valuations plummet over the past few months and Predictiv partner Jonathan Low says that VCs need to be prudent and perform realistic analyses of their investment portfolios more than ever before. Read more of his thoughts in [this blog post]( 3️⃣ How managers can help their teams avoid burnout Everyone experiences burnout, especially in times of uncertainty, but a good manager could be the difference between a motivated team and a worn-out one. Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy, co-authors of Big Feelings: How to Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay share their tips for beating burnout in [this First Round Review article](. 4️⃣ The rise of crypto-native consumer products Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Mercedes Bent believes that a major tectonic shift to blockchain-based apps and services is right around the corner. She outlines what she thinks the future of the industry could look like in [this Medium post](. 5️⃣ More female VCs ≠more investments for female founders Indie.vc fund manager Del Johnson took to Twitter to debunk the myth that the solution to bring more investments to female founders lies in having more females enter the VC world. Read the full Tweet thread [here](. 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