Going for gold

• 500-backed beauty e-commerce platform Favful has been acquired by digital media company iMedia. Under the agreement, iMedia will generate lifestyle content and engagement for Favful’s website and social media platforms.
• The platform uses both machine learning and community-led preferences to create a stress-free online beauty shopping experience for its users.
• Sasha Tan, CEO and founder of the startup, said that joining iMedia in its mission to build the number one integrated digital group in Malaysia “presents Favful with a solid case to be part of the iMedia family”.
• According to Sasha, Favful has grown into a trusted community marketplace, housing over 3,000 beauty and lifestyle influencer members and has an estimated reach of more than 140 million on social media. She added that the combined reach with iMedia’s existing influencer agency will be over 170 million.
• Read the full article on Marketing Interactive here.

Delivering good food

• According to a study commissioned by the Australian government, ~US$500 million of the country’s red meat is lost to waste each year due to problems in the supply chain. 500-backed agritech startup Escavox is here to change that with its ‘Blue Box tracker’ solution.
• Described as ‘CCTV for food’, the tracker is positioned at the point of packing and travels with the food through the supply chain. The Blue Box is always on, capturing data on dwell time, temperature, and location in real-time.
• Once deployed, it requires zero human intervention. Even if the tracker is outside range, the data is transmitted once the tracker is back within cell-tower range. Co-founder Darryl Lyons said that the data and analytics provided helps businesses make informed decisions about their products.
• A partnership between the startup and Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) has yielded positive results. Red meat exports to the Middle East have an increased shelf life, and Escavox’s data has proven the suitability of Australia’s products to be exported to the US via sea freight instead of the traditional air freight. All this leads to increased sales volumes, reduced freight costs, fewer rejections, lower insurance premiums, brand protection, and enhanced market access.
• So far, Escavox has been focused on Australia. It started with horticulture in 2019, moving into the meat sector in 2020, and early seafood trials in 2021. Now the startup is planning to expand into international export markets like southern Africa and South America. A Series B capital raise is underway to help with their global expansion.
• Read the full story on growAG here.

Looking for the right price

• An iPrice report on the estimated monthly cost of living in six Southeast Asian cities revealed that the cost of living for a single person in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, is the cheapest in the region at ~US$780.
• This is 3x higher than Malaysia’s minimum wage of ~US$290 in major towns. However, KL is ranked second-highest in monthly average net salary of ~US$1,020. The report concluded that the quality of life in KL is relatively better compared to its peer countries.
• The highest earners are Singaporeans, who are estimated to earn ~US$2,450 a month, while the cost of living in Singapore is also the highest — at least 132% higher than the rest of the region. Bangkok and Manila were ranked second and third most expensive cities to live in.
• Read the full report by iPrice here.

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500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, 500 Startups invests through the pioneering 500 Southeast Asia family of funds. The 500 Southeast Asia funds have backed over 240 companies across multiple sectors from internet to consumer to deep technology. It continues to connect founders with capital, expertise and powerful regional and global networks to help them succeed.

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