The week that went by ended on a rather grim note as news of the assassination of Shinzo Abe, the former Prime Minister of Japan, trickled in on Friday.
The death of Abe, 67, from gunshot wounds inflicted by a gunman during an election campaign, stunned not just the Asian country known for its stringent gun controls, but also world leaders with whom he had built a rapport during his tenure as PM between 2012 and 2020 — the longest in the country’s history.
The demise of Abe — who earned a unique place among world statesmen for his globally-recognised, eponymous brand of economic stimulus, Abenomics — will “drastically transform Japan’s policy priorities on both the domestic and foreign fronts” wrote Nikkei Asia in an obituary.
Here are some of the other top stories from the week.
The scoops
Data gleaned from DealStreetAsia’s DATA VANTAGE platform helped us bring some exclusive fundraising news to our readers.
Indonesia-based Paxel, a logistics startup that offers same-day delivery and smart locker services raised $22.73 million in a Series C funding round, and Naver-backed South Korean gaming firm Planetarium Labs raised $31.8 million in Series A funding.
Meanwhile, Singapore-based big data and AI platform Finquest raised $5.5 million in a funding round led by Capricorn Partners, while cloud communications provider Toku is understood to have raised an additional $6 million as part of its ongoing Series A funding round, regulatory filings showed.
Our DATA VANTAGE subscribers also got access to our report Indonesia Digital Banking Review 2022 this week. At least 16 local and foreign tech companies have either acquired or invested in 14 Indonesian banks with the intention to repurpose them into digital-first banks, the report shows.
Meanwhile, Indonesian conglomerate Astra International announced it acquired a 49.56% stake in local lender Bank Jasa Jakarta for $258.56 million.
Our reporters also got wind that the tech-focused Indian VC firm Iron Pillar is in talks to raise $400m for a second fund. Its portfolio includes FreshToHome and the automation startup Uniphore.
Vietnamese education group Nguyen Hoang is understood to be working with JP Morgan for a share sale that would potentially value the business at over $1 billion.
PE firm Navis Capital Partners has invested in Thailand-based Ambassador Education to build up its regional education platform with current assets in Vietnam and Cambodia.
Chinese electrical appliance company TCL Technology has agreed to invest $266.9 million in GCL Semiconductor, a domestic developer of silicon materials used in integrated circuit (IC) production.
Sequoia Capital China submitted filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showing it is in the market to raise four new vehicles. Reports suggest the VC firm is about to close $9 billion in fresh capital, exceeding its $8 billion target for the four new funds.
The deep dives
This week we decided to dig deep into the startups working to digitise Indonesia’s construction sector — a massive industry that has been relatively untouched by technology. While not as celebrated as their peers in the fintech and e-commerce space, emerging startups in Indonesia’s construction sector — Brik, Juragan Material, and GoCement, to name a few — have been quietly securing deals, albeit small ones, in the last eight months.
The so-called funding winter is resulting in consolidation in the startup scene. Southeast Asia and India have been witnessing active acquisition activities in the past six months as market corrections and cheaper valuations have created targets that are primed for a takeover. We examined the forces driving this trend in SE Asia and India.
In another analytical take on the Indian startup scene, we examined the role of family offices in providing capital to young companies.
The pandemic has increased the demand for used cars across the globe. However, many of India’s used car startups are stuck in the red. We examined why in this report. Meanwhile, used-car marketplaces in Indonesia are deepening their financial service offerings to build an end-to-end ecosystem, we wrote in another analytical article this week.
The recent carnage in cryptos has cast a shadow on Web3 projects, which have been touted as the future of the internet. While funding to Southeast Asian startups in the sector has not fully dried up, investors are exercising caution in their approach to the sector.
In India, meanwhile, fin-fluencers — or financial influencers who share investment advice on social media — have been facing criticism for their past endorsement of crypto platforms. Case in point: Vauld, which suspended all withdrawals, trading, and deposits on its platform early this week, much to the chagrin of the fin-fluencers who recommended it.
We also published our monthly deal review for China this week. Startup financing in Greater China rose for a second consecutive month in June to reach $4.8 billion — the highest so far in 2022. At 246, the volume of PE-VC deals in the month was also 2022’s highest.
Interviews and people news
Singapore multi-family office Kamet Capital Partners has roped in Kenneth Hor as the first member of a team that will look at investing in secondaries, as well as divesting some of Kamet Capital’s existing holdings. “Many GPs are starting to use the secondary market as the mainstream liquidity tool, beyond the traditional options,” said Hor in an exclusive interview with DealStreetAsia.
Sebastian Togelang, the founder of Indonesia-focused venture capital firm Kejora Capital, confirmed to DealStreetAsia that he has set up a new venture fund. Togelang is listed as the sole director of Rigel Capital Management, an entity registered with Singapore’s ACRA.
In a similar vein, Rajeev Misra, the CEO of SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund, is also stepping back from his role as he establishes his own investment fund.
And finally…
The timeline of Elon Musk’s attempt to acquire Twitter received one more entry on Friday as the Tesla boss decided to terminate the $44 billion deal. Musk had earlier attacked Twitter — via Twitter — over the social media company’s calculations on the prevalence of bots. The saga, though, is far from over as Twitter’s chairman, Bret Taylor, said on the micro-blogging platform that the board planned to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement.
