This week’s successful startups paint a greener future

VinFast, Shizen Energy, Wenge Technology, and more companies raised funding this week. [Read from your browser]( FOMO Saturday Welcome to Tech in Asia's free Saturday VC newsletter! Get full access to our subscribers-only premium content and other insightful analysis on the big and messy topics of Asia’s tech and startup community by [registering here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Hello {NAME} Yesterday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk finally completed his takeover of Twitter. I find it amusing that he’s getting involved in so many areas outside of engineering, and only time will tell if he’s getting in over his head. That said, I believe most people will always associate him with Tesla and the electric vehicles that his company manufactures. I’m beginning to see more Tesla cars on the road these days, which could be a good indication of their adoption. I’m also excited to see which new players might enter the market, and Vietnam’s VinFast - one of the companies that raised the most funding this week - could be one of them. 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. -- Jonathan  --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIGGEST DEALS BY COUNTRY  🇻🇳 VinFast: The Vietnamese electric-vehicle brand raised US$135 million in debt from the Asian Development Bank. 🇯🇵 Shizen Energy: The Japan-based firm, which provides carbon energy solutions and services for building renewable energy power plants, has raised US$135 million through a strategic investment from CDPQ. 🇨🇳 Wenge Technology: The Beijing-headquartered company provides big data services and platform-as-a-service solutions. For its series E round, it bagged US$69 million from CCTV Financial Media Fund, Zhongguancun Science City, National Manufacturing Transformation Upgrade Fund, Infotech Ventures, Chinese Academy of Sciences Joint Innovation Fund, and Hengbang Capital. 🇮🇳 DeHaat: The tech platform, which offers agricultural services to Indian farmers, scored US$46 million in series E funds from Sofina, Lightrock India (Aspada), RTP Global (ru-Net), and Prosus Ventures. 🇭🇰 Reap: For its series A round, the B2B fintech firm received [an injection of US$40 million]( from Payment Asia, Hustle Fund, Abacus Ventures, Arcadia Funds, HashKey Capital, Acorn Pacific Ventures, and Fresco Capital. Here’s the complete list of this week’s funding chart: [106 deals worth over US$663 million](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  M&As 🇰🇷 South Korean edtech firm MegaStudy Corporation has acquired Prediction, an AI-poweredprovider of customized education applications, for an undisclosed amount. 🇮🇳 Goldsetu, a software-as-a-service marketplace for jewelry retailers, has acquired BuyMyJewel, an Indian B2B online jewelry wholesale platform, - 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](. 🇸🇬 Cipherem Global is a Singapore-based social media network that aims to let users convert “likes” into Cipherem cryptocurrencies. 🇸🇬 Bursa Hukum is an Indonesian startup that provides various legal services via its onlinea marketplace. 🇲🇾 FusionQB is a Malaysia-based company that offers a customer data platform and a super-app solution to help businesses improve customer engagement and sales conversion through customer data insights. You can find the full list of fundraising startups in Asia [over here](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  KILLER PITCH DECKS 1️⃣ An Indian D2Cfootwear brand got a US$2.4 million leg-up with this deck Yoho offers shoes and sandals that prevent and manage foot problems, and its products can be customized to fit the buyer’s foot profile. [This pitch deck]( helped the direct-to-consumer firm get US$2.4 million in pre-series A funding. The presentation begins by positioning itself against other competitors in the space, explaining how its products are both comfortable and affordable. Then it proceeds to illustrate the potential of India’s footwear market and outline Yoho’s business model and go-to-market strategy. 2️⃣ This 22-page deck helped a fintech firm net US$5.5 million Ayekart is an India-based fintech company that enables traditional businesses to manage cash flow and bring local stores online on its B2C platform. Through [this comprehensive deck]( Ayekart showcased its executive team’s expertise while also detailing important growth and financial metrics in chart form. 3️⃣ A co-living startup took home US$740k in seed money, thanks to this deck Apart from offering co-living spaces, Singapore-based Bespoke Habitat also provides property management services. It got US$740,000 with the help of [this pitch deck]( which features a clear analysis of the industry and the opportunities it presents while also having a strong focus on the company’s unique selling point.  --------------------------------------------------------------- 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](  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THOUGHTFUL READS  1️⃣ Finger on the pulse Now that in-person events are coming back, it’s becoming easier to strike up conversations and figure out what’s going on amid the uncertainty of today’s funding landscape. Vincent Timoney, a managing director at First Republic Bank, attended a conference recently and [shed some light]( on what limited partners and other stakeholders are feeling right now. 2️⃣ But don’t lay that finger down too heavily If you’re a manager, you might find it helpful to constantly track your team’s productivity. There’s no shortage of digital tools that can monitor employee behavior, and placing them in a digital panopticon has become easier than ever. That said, there are critical issues involved in this approach that you should know about. Read all about it in [this Harvard Business Review article](. utm 3️⃣ Third time’s the charm Web3 has become a buzzword, and India is now expected to become a major player in the space. To learn more about Web3 startups in the country, check out [this report]( by Nasscom. 4️⃣ Getting ready to go green There are so many net zero targets set on so many levels nowadays that it can be difficult to keep track of all of them. On an organizational level, however, there are some guidelines that could prove useful, as you’ll see in [this article on Harvard Business Review](. 5️⃣ Read between the lines There’s no doubt that tech is no longer in the same prosperous position as it was just a year ago. Major stakeholders are tightening their purse strings, and this has led to a crucial shift in deals between investors and startups: term sheets. This [article]( delves into what these changes are and what startup founders can do about them.  --------------------------------------------------------------- [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 Eileen C. Ang. Copyright © 2022 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 63 Robinson Road, Singapore 068894