Solve problems, get the bag

Zeekr, PhonePe, Aspire, and more raised funds 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} The startup life is all about problem-solving. If you’re truly fulfilling a need in the market, the odds of you finding product-market fit are high and the path to growth is much more clear-cut, as customers will want what you provide. That appears to be the case with this week’s top-funded startups. All of them offer solutions to problems that people have grappled with for years, from simplifying money transfers between individuals to powering vehicles with something cleaner than gasoline. It’s safe to say these firms have helped make people’s lives better, in some way or another. 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.  --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIGGEST DEALS BY COUNTRY  CN Zeekr, an electric vehicle brand of Chinese automaker Geely, [raised US$750 million]( in a series A round backed by CATL, Quzhou Xin'an Intelligent Manufacturing Fund, Tongshang Fund, Yuexiu Industrial Fund, and Amnon Shashua. IN PhonePe is an Indian mobile payment app that allows users to transfer money. It [closed a US$100 million]( late-stage round. Ribbit Capital, TVS Capital Funds, and Tiger Global Management participated in the fundraise. SG Aspire, a Singapore-based startup providing banking solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises, [bagged US$100 million]( in series C money from LGT Capital Partners, Lightspeed, PayPal Ventures, Sequoia Capital SEA, and Tencent Investment. JP Baseconnect is the company behind Musubu, an information database that supports corporate sales. Based in Japan, the firm nabbed US$43.2 million in a series B round from Jafco Group, Japan Post Capital, The Kyoto Shinkin Bank, NTT DoCoMo Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Uzabase, Z Venture Capital, and en-Japan. VN BuyMed is the Vietnam-based firm that operates Thuocsi, a B2B platform for healthcare and personal care distribution. It netted US$33.5 million in series B money from Cocoon Capital, Smilegate Investment, and UOB Venture Management. Here’s the complete list of this week’s funding chart: [74 deals worth over US$1.2 billion](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  M&As IN Healthtech firm MediBuddy has acquired vHealth by Aetna, the Indian telehealth arm of US-headquartered healthcare company Aetna. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  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](.  ID Hunt is a combined digital and conventional recruitment service company in Indonesia. BD HealthOS is a Bangladeshi startup that operates an online B2B marketplace, enabling pharmacies and related healthcare providers to offer better, more affordable services and medication. SG World Entrepreneurs Forum is a platform-as-a-service firm allowing investors and entrepreneurs to network. It’s based in Singapore. You can find the full list of fundraising startups in Asia [over here](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  KILLER PITCH DECKS 1️⃣ This 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 secure seed funding from Pheenika Group in 2021. The presentation provides comprehensive information about Phenika MaaS’ business, including its milestones. 2️⃣ This women-focused fintech firm landed pre-seed funding with this deck Lucy is a mobile app that provides financial support to women entrepreneurs in Singapore. The company used [this pitch deck]( to raise a US$365,787 pre-seed round from 18 women investors. The presentation is designed to showcase the brand’s characteristics, detailing how the startup is guided by its mission of helping women “who are overlooked, underestimated, and underbanked become unstoppable by leveling the financial playing field.” 3️⃣ This firm’s pitch deck earned 500 Startups’ attention Purple Go is a sales platform that automates tasks like invoicing, payments, and order updates so that staff can work efficiently with customers. The company used [this pitch deck]( at a 500 Startups demo day to procure seed funding. The presentation begins by describing the platform being built and goes on to outline the problems that it hopes to solve. ---------------------------------------------------------------  EVENTS HAPPENING You can also check out a curated list of trending tech events [over here](. - [Tech in Asia’s Product Development Conference 2023]( from May 16 to May 17 Tech in Asia’s Product Development Conference is back! This year’s edition, which will be held in person in Jakarta, will feature over 20 industry leaders, experts, and innovators sharing the latest trends and strategies that can accelerate product development growth. [Register now]( and you can get 50% off. This early bird promo is available for a limited time only, though, so don’t miss out! ---------------------------------------------------------------  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 Night of the living dead With rising interest rates and recession fears, it’s very likely that we’ll see more “zombies” - VC firms that are unable to raise new funds and simply exist to manage their current portfolios before winding down. In this economic environment, limited partners are going to be far pickier about where they put their money - and that will certainly lead to more VC zombies, says [this piece from CNBC](. 2️⃣ RE: The latest in the FTX saga You’ve probably heard that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, and Thoma Bravo, accusing them of promoting FTX to the detriment of its users. While there’s no denying that these firms messed up big time, it’s uncertain if there’s actually a case to be made against them. But if there is one, [the implications for VC could be huge](. 3️⃣ Navigating the private markets in 2023 This year has been off to a pretty scary start for many of us, what with tech companies announcing layoffs every other day and the stock market doing its best impression of a yo-yo. But there are some bright spots in the gloomy private markets, according to [this piece]( Forbes piece. The article suggests that taking a measured approach to deciding what to focus on could serve founders and investors well. 4️⃣ Much ado about dry powder Despite having some US$300 billion of dry powder to deploy, the VC scene in the US is moving slowly due to the broader macroeconomic conditions. Investors being far more deliberate with investments has created challenges for cash-strapped startups. To read some tips and articles on what can be done to stabilize things, check out [this Twitter thread](. 5️⃣ Safe and sound Psychological safety at work means that team members feel comfortable taking risks, expressing ideas and concerns, asking questions, and admitting mistakes. This fosters a culture of experimentation, learning, and collaboration, which can be a game-changer for the company’s growth. [Here’s how]( you can create a sense of psychological safety in your organization.  --------------------------------------------------------------- [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 Stefanie Yeo. It’s edited by Dhania Putri Sarahtika. 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