A Recap On What Happened This Week: Asian Startup News Overview (29th December- 6th January)

Today, the Asian startup ecosystem is no longer hidden in the shadows, and it has made significant strides in terms of commercial innovation and investment activity over the last few years. Today, the heterogeneity of the countries and ecosystems represented in our latest 2020 Global Rankings Report reflects the diversity of Asia's thriving startup scene. It includes 118 startup ecosystems from 19 different countries among the Top 100.

The top players include the billion-person countries of China and India, the high-income nations of Australia, Singapore, and Japan, as well as thriving smaller economies in Southeast Asia. Here are a few startups that consistently rank at the top and are gaining movement and momentum.

This week saw some significant funding across Asia. Here is a list of the top 3 Asian startups that performed well this week.

WorqApp

WorqApp is a unique all-in-one platform built for eflocLive enterprise execution. It is owned and developed by Nib Technologies Sdn. Bhd (NibTech) — a Malaysian born startup on a mission to make Enterprise Execution effective. Established in 2018 by co-founders Teh Chen Hoe, Jonas Lind and Hassan Mehmood, the company has recently closed a Pre seed Round of USD 1 m with Malaysian and foreign investors teaming together.

Jonas Lind, Managing Director of Megadeals  Invest and  Chairman  of WorqApp says Interacting in today's world is easier than ever yet the gap between strategy and execution is widening. This gap is especially prevalent in large companies and in fast growing startups. Companies that manage to close this gap will  see a tremendous impact on financial performance.

IQiyi 

IQiyi, a China-based video streaming service, has closed a private placement of US$500 million in secured convertible senior notes to a subsidiary of Asia Pacific-focused alternative investment firm PAG. Founded in 2010, iQiyi is a Baidu-backed streaming platform focused on long-form videos. The so-called “Netflix of China” fights head-to-head with other local offerings, including Youku Tudou and Tencent Video – which are backed by Alibaba and Tencent, respectively.

In a statement, iQiyi said the notes will be convertible into its American depositary shares. The notes have an interest rate of 6% and will mature five years after the issuance date.

Kreditbee

Fintech platform KreditBee on Friday said it has closed $200 million in its Series D round by raising additional $100 million in primary funding Advent International, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and existing investors.

Last month, the company raised tranche 1 of Series D from MUFG, Japan's largest bank, along with existing investors Premji Invest, Motilal Oswal Alternates, NewQuest Capital Partners, and Mirae Asset Venture Investments.

KreditBee said the additional capital raised will be deployed towards scaling the existing business and diversifying its product offering by venturing into digitally enabled financial products.