A Recap on What Happened This Week: Asian Startup News Overview (August 7th

By: Asia Business Outlook Team | Friday, 11 August 2023

Presently, the Asian landscape of emerging businesses stands as the globe's most extensive and densely populated, boasting a rapidly flourishing economy and a continental GDP that reaches unparalleled heights. The character of this Asian entrepreneurial environment draws inspiration from its sprawling geographical expanse that envelopes over 45 nations, coupled with a burgeoning middle class that perpetually expands. This phenomenon is most pronounced within the boundaries of China and India, prognosticated to steer forthcoming market tendencies and encompass a staggering 87% of the up-and-coming middle-class demographic by the year 2030. While they might not presently reign at the zenith, the startup ecosystems across Asia are undeniably burgeoning, harboring immense potential for future expansion.

This week, OKX Ventured, a global crypto exchange and innovative Web3 company, announced a $1 million investment in Moonbox, while Endowus, a Singapore-based digital wealth platform, raised $35 million in its most recent funding round.

These are some of the best startups that were fortunate this week.

OKX Ventures

OKX Ventures, the investment arm of OKX, the global crypto exchange and innovative Web3 company, has announced a $1 million investment in Moonbox, a Hong Kong-based artificial intelligence (AI) technology and Web3-focused start-up.

Moonbox will use the investment to accelerate product growth and continue to develop its core technology, which is centred on building applications powered by the latest generative AI technology for use in Web3 and non-fungible token (NFT) applications, according to a statement issued by OKX Ventures.

Moonbox has a licence to use Stephen Chow's intellectual property (IP), including "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons," "Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back," and "The Mermaid."

The company plans to launch a series of AI-powered NFTs and applications inspired by the art and film industry by the end of 2023.

Disprz

Disprz, an enterprise software as a service (SaaS) learning and skilling platform based in India, announced on Aug 7 that it has raised $30 million in a Series C funding round. According to Disprz, the round was led by Lumos Capital Group and 360 ONE Asset (IIFL), with participation from Kae Capital, KOIS, and Dallas Venture Capital.

The funds raised in the round, according to the statement, will be used for global market expansion and product development, including the integration of generative AI across the learning and skilling cycle.

Disprz intends to expand its presence in emerging markets where it already has a presence, such as India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Additionally, the company intends to enter the US market.

MIXI

MIXI, a Japanese digital entertainment company, has set aside $50 million (nearly 414 crore) to invest in early-stage startups in India's B2C gaming and digital entertainment industry over the next 3-4 years, according to a senior official.

The newly announced venture fund, MIXI Global Investments, will serve as an investment vehicle for the Tokyo-based company to identify and assist promising startups in India.

"Our primary focus in India is the digital entertainment sector, and I have been meeting with many startups across the country for quite some time..."There are many gaming studios coming to India, and I like the ecosystem around them, such as gaming streaming services and esports, which I think would be really fitting," says Tomoharu Urabe, principal partner at MIXI Global Investments.

GORO

Iterative, an early-stage venture capital firm, led a $1 million pre-seed round for GORO, an Indonesia-based fractional property marketplace platform. Several prominent investors, including XA Network, StashAway's Angel Investing Programme, and Indonesian property veteran, Mike Broomell of Colliers Indonesia, took part in the funding round, GORO said in a statement on 9 August.

The new funds will be used to expand GORO's team and strengthen its regional user acquisition strategy, according to the statement.

"Everyone aspires to invest in property, but the obstacles of financial entry barriers and complex procedures deter many individuals," said Robert Hoving, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GORO. "GORO aims to address these challenges and enable anyone, regardless of location, to build a high-yielding property portfolio."

As previously stated, the startup is also working on launching a secondary market to increase user liquidity.

Endowus

Singapore-based digital wealth platform Endowus has raised $35 million in its latest funding round. Citi Ventures and MUFG Innovation Partners, as well as four of Asia's wealthiest families with various operating businesses ranging from banking to real estate across Singapore, Southeast Asia, and Greater China, including Hong Kong, said in a statement on Aug 9.

Existing investors in this round include UBS Next, Singapore-based global investor EDBI, Naspers-owned Prosus Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Singtel Innov8, and Endowus employees.

Endowus will use the new funds to continue scaling and dominating its core markets of Singapore and Hong Kong in order to bring fee-only, conflict-free wealth management to a broader segment with greater penetration, according to the statement.