No snooze, no lose

Maya Innovations, Aqua Security, Baoying Gas 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} Happy New Year! How was your first week back at work? Here at Tech in Asia, there was a real sense of hitting the ground running, as if we were all held in stasis for the holidays and then thawed out to just continue as we were once the calendar flipped to January 2. Similarly, funding deals didn’t stop just because it was the festive period. Read on to see which company closed a US$80 million series C round while the rest of us were just getting back into the swing of things. 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 that recently took place. -- Winston  --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIGGEST DEALS BY COUNTRY  PH Maya Innovations, a Philippines-based startup that primarily develops fintech platforms, has raised US$80 million in series C funding from investors including Jumel Holdings, First Pacific Company, PLDT Inc, SIG Venture Capital, and Tencent. The startup’s most recognizable product is the mobile wallet PayMaya. IL Aqua Security, an Israeli firm that provides a scalable security solution that protects containerized applications against internal and external threats, has closed a US$60 million series E round. Investors include the likes of Lightspeed Venture Partners, Stepstone Group, and Evolution Equity Partners. CN Baoying Gas is a Chinese national gas company that focuses on the production, exploration, and development of industrial gas solutions. It secured US$55.9 million in series B money from Hengxu Capital, Itg Holding, BOCOM International, and Cathay Capital Private Equity. JP Japan-based Micoworks operates a sales and marketing tool called MicoCloud. The firm closed a [US$24.5 million series B funding round]( from Vertex Growth Fund (FGV), Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, and JAFCO Group Japan, among other investors. ID Swapis a city-based infrastructure of battery-swapping stations for e-motorcycle riders. The Indonesian firm secured [US$22 million in series A round]( from Qiming Venture Partners, GGV Capital, Ondine Capital. Here’s the complete list of this week’s funding chart: [45 deals worth over US$410 million](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  M&As SG Solscan is a Solana block explorer and data analytics firm based in Singapore. It was acquired by Etherscan, a leading blockchain explorer for Ethereum, 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]( SG Singapore-headquartered ConfirmU is a B2B2C startup that enables lenders to underwrite people with no credit history. BD Bili is a Bangladeshi full-stack, asset-light retail distribution chain. PH Based in the Philippines, Betterteem serves as an early warning tool for unwanted employee resignations, enabling business leaders to take data-driven steps to prepare for potential disruptions to their business operations. You can find the full list of fundraising startups in Asia [over here](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  KILLER PITCH DECKS 1️⃣ An AI map startup scored US$6.2 million from Microsoft’s venture fund via this deck NextBillion’s AI mapping solutions are aimed at helping enterprises expand in emerging and developed markets. In 2023, the Singapore-based company used [this pitch deck]( to secure a series A extension round from M12. The well-designed deck starts out by introducing NextBillion’s mapping platform and its capabilities then provides case studies showing how much traction the startup has gained. 2️⃣ An ex-Morgan Stanley executive used this pitch deck to raise US$2 million Zoe Financial is a wealth management platform that curates a network of independent, commission-free fiduciary financial advisors and planners without any intermediaries. Founded by former Morgan Stanley employee Andres Garcia-Amaya, the startup used [this pitch deck]( to raise US$2 million in seed money in 2018. The presentation introduces the company before moving on to funding details. It also shares information about Zoe’s market size, business model, competitors, milestones, and roadmap for the future. competitors. 3️⃣ A healthtech firm’s pitch deck got the attention of a former PayPal executive Oscar is a direct-to-consumer platform that provides medical insurance packages for individuals, families, and small groups. The US-based firm used [this pitch deck]( in 2014 to bag US$80 million in a series A round led by Joe Londsdale, a general partner at 8VC and an ex-PayPal executive. The presentation has a simple look that keeps viewers engaged and offers a background of the health insurance industry before introducing Oscar and how it works. --------------------------------------------------------------- JUMPSTART 2024 WITH SINGAPORE’S FINEST  Join us for this closed-door roundtable and networking dinner on Feb. 1 Singapore-based IT, data, and digital transformation leaders - are you ready for a new year of new beginnings? It’s time to break away from the norm of rigid, traditional business processes in 2024! In today’s changing market, companies must embrace the shift toward composable enterprise to remain agile and versatile as well as to keep pace with evolving demands and needs. Join us on February 1 to uncover the latest best practices in streamlining workflows with composable technology at our closed-door executive roundtable and networking dinner in Kabuke, Singapore. Capped at 25 seats for maximum engagement, you’ll be in for insightful discussions, plenty of networking, and a delicious dinner. [Register your interest now](  --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 What 2024 will be all about, according to this VC Fred Wilson, co-founder of Union Square Ventures, foresees [three main developments in the tech world this year]( AI moving into its application era, regulations around Web3, and an accelerated transition from carbon to “clean” energy. 2️⃣ A look back at how we approached the sustainability question in 2023 Climate change is a looming existential threat, whether you like it or not. If you’re wondering what you can do to help, it could be as simple as switching to paper straws or bringing your own tumbler when you get your daily coffee. [This Harvard Business Review article]( looks back at the complex details the issue ran into in the year just past. 3️⃣ Reflections Have you reflected on 2023 and what you’ve learned from everything you went through, good and bad? If not, I recommend doing so. Maybe [this episode of the Masters of Scale podcast]( will give you a nudge. 4️⃣ More predictions AI was the thing in tech in 2023. [This article from Sifted]( looks at what founders and investors think is coming next for the industry in Europe. 5️⃣ New year, new funds? Are you optimistic about funding in 2024? [This Pitchbook article]( doesn’t feel quite the same.  --------------------------------------------------------------- [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 © 2024 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 63 Robinson Road, Singapore 068894