Does AI dream of electric sheep?

MiniMax, HealthifyMe, PolicyStreet, 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} Generative AI is all the rage right now, isn’t it? Do you use it in your work? I think the possibilities are pretty cool. I’m particularly interested in image generation tools like Midjourney, mainly because I’m a text-based person with no graphic design or illustration skills to bring some of my ideas to life. (Note that these aren’t necessarily high-brow, life-changing ideas. Sometimes I just wanna make a new meme.) Anyway, a couple of AI companies are featured in the top five funded firms this week. Read on to find out more. You can find all other important investment deals that happened over 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. -- Winston  --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIGGEST DEALS BY COUNTRY CN MiniMax is a Chinese AI company. It received US$250 million in strategic investment from Tencent Investment. SG HealthifyMe, a Singapore-based health and fitness app, secured US$30 million in bridge funding from Blume Ventures, Chiratae Ventures, and Finnfund, among others. MY Malaysian firm PolicyStreet equips consumers with insurance knowledge and provides firms with insightful customer data. It raised US$15.3 million in series B money from Altara Ventures, Gobi Partners, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, and Spiral Ventures. JP Based in Japan, Fairy Devices offers an end-to-end AI-based enterprise solution for onsite digital transformation. The firm closed its series B round at US$15.12 million, with investors such as Daikin, NTT-TX, and Yanmar Ventures. IN River, an India-based electric two-wheeler startup, joined in the series B funding fun. It got US$15 million from Al Futtaim, Lowercarbon Capital, and Maniv Mobility, among others. Here’s the complete list of this week’s funding chart: [49 deals worth almost US$420 million](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  M&As IN TechBiz is a Y-Combinator-backed business management startup from India. It was acquired by fintech startup CredFlow 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](. VN Hodo is a Vietnamese startup that provides cancer patients with direct access to oncologists as well as a list of curated products and services. AU Bidwings is an Australian “super-app ecosystem” aiming to revolutionize the travel industry with a network of partner travel super apps and add-on service providers. ID Briga Sustainability Center is a social enterprise that aims to accelerate the sustainability movement by helping startup founders develop their products. You can find the full list of fundraising startups in Asia [over here](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  KILLER PITCH DECKS 1️⃣ This startup’s pitch deck caught Entrepreneur First’s eye Waste Labs is a Singapore-based AI and sustainability startup that aims to improve waste collection by helping garbage collectors and cities better analyze their systems. In 2021, the company raised US$500,000 in pre-seed funding after using [this pitch deck]( which highlights how current waste collection systems are impractical and result in unrecycled waste. The presentation also states Waste Labs’ mission to modernize waste collection planning using AI and shows how the process is undertaken. 2️⃣ This startup used propelled itself into the unicorn club with this pitch deck Shanghai-based XTransfer operates a one-stop platform providing cross-border financial and risk management services. The company used [this pitch deck]( to net US$138 million in series D funding in 2021, which took its valuation to over US$1 billion. The presentation begins with an overview and goes on to tell XTransfer’s story, including the firm’s current milestones and investors. 3️⃣ The deck that helped a Singapore co-living startup raise US$740,000 Bespoke Habitat provides spaces where clients can live, work, and play. The company, which also manages properties, used [this pitch deck]( to raise its seed round from undisclosed angel investors last year. Starting with an introduction of Bespoke Habitat and its team, the presentation goes on to share the firm’s solution, unique selling point, and business model.  --------------------------------------------------------------- TECH IN ASIA'S FOUNDERS MEETUP: VIETNAM  Join us and share the hardest challenges you’ve faced as a founder If you’re an entrepreneur based in Vietnam, you’re invited to Tech in Asia’s Regional Founders Meetup, which will be held on June 28 at The Sentry in Ho Chi Minh City (2/F Sonatus Building, 15 Le Thanh Ton, District 1) from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Join us and share the hardest challenges you’ve faced as a founder. To help you find solutions, we’ll introduce you to fellow entrepreneurs who have been there and done that. Starting up doesn’t have to be a lonely journey. [Register]( for this exclusive event today. Tickets are priced at US$12.50 per person, inclusive of light bites and one drink. Slots are limited and are available on a first come, first served basis. Thanks to our official event partners - AWS, CleverTap, Cooley, D.Camp, Sinarmas Land, Singapore Global Network (SGN), and Quest Ventures - and our community partners - WeWork and Gobi Partners - for making this meetup possible.  --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Making the case for AI I don’t actually think this is necessary since the hype for generative AI is at an all-time high. Nevertheless, [this article on the Andreessen Horowitz website]( - written by Marc Andreessen himself - tells us “why AI will save the world.” 2️⃣ Another growth case study to learn from An early focus on idea validation and customer discovery led this data-labeling startup to a US$188 million series D. Click to find out [how the Labelbox team did it](. 3️⃣ Building social capital while working remotely Remote working is here to stay, but, even as an introvert, I have to admit that the reduced physical meetup opportunities can adversely affect how you’re perceived by colleagues and other people you work with. [This piece from Harvard Business Review]( talks about how you can build social capital even with the lack of face time. 4️⃣ Talking metrics [This other article on the Andreessen Horowitz website]( explores how company success metrics have been affected by the shift of focus from growth to efficiency. Click to see how your company measures up. 5️⃣ Much ado about prompt engineering The hype of generative AI has led to the rise of prompt engineers - in other words, people who are great at getting the best answers from an AI model by asking it the right questions. However, [this article]( argues that it’s more important to properly understand the problem you’re trying to solve before seeking AI-generated solutions.  --------------------------------------------------------------- [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 Winston Zhang. It’s edited by Dhania Putri Sarahtika. Copyright © 2023 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 63 Robinson Road, Singapore 068894