The next big thing

• “You can actually make a lot of money by serving a population which doesn’t have that much money,” said Khailee Ng, managing partner at 500 Startups.
• In an interview with CNBC Make It, he elaborated that startups can be too focused on targeting wealthy consumers in advanced economies.

• He believes there are important — and potentially lucrative — problems to be solved in poorer, developing economies.
• I definitely think Southeast Asia has stepped into a new phase now, where building start-ups which fall into increasing people’s productivity (will) be the next wave,” he added. “I look forward to seeing more entrepreneurs actually build more companies that can serve the broader populations.”

Give and take

• Hong Leong Bank has awarded 500-backed cloud-based procurement and inventory management platform Food Market Hub ~US$12,300 to pilot a project addressing food security.
• The bank sought to identify startups with innovative digital, adaptable, and sustainable solutions to help Malaysians adapt and thrive in this new normal.

• The startup recently launched a callout to players in the food and beverage industry to apply for a ~US$1,200 digitalization grant.

Fresh and fashionable

• Two 500-backed startups, Grab and Pomelo, have come together in a collaboration to launch fashion apparel.

• The designs pay special tribute to Grab’s drivers and delivery partners, who have continued to serve the community throughout the ongoing global pandemic.
• More recently, Grab also made the headlines for its partnership with Panasonic.
• Across four countries, 5,500 GrabCar Premium vehicles will be showcasing an air purifier that fits into a car cup-holder.

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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.

This post is intended solely for general informational or educational purposes only. 500 Startups Management Company, L.L.C. and its affiliates (collectively “500 Startups”) makes no representation as to the accuracy or information in this post and while reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that the information herein is accurate and up-to-date, no liability can be accepted for any error or omissions. All third party links in this post have not been independently verified by 500 Startups and the inclusion of such links should not be interpreted as an endorsement or confirmation of the content within. Information about portfolio companies’ markets, competitors, performance, and fundraising has been provided by those companies’ founders and has not been independently verified. Under no circumstances should any content in this post be construed as investment, legal, tax or accounting advice by 500 Startups, or an offer to provide any investment advisory service with regard to securities by 500 Startups. No content or information in this post should be construed as an offer to sell or solicitation of interest to purchase any securities advised by 500 Startups. Prospective investors considering an investment into any 500 Startups fund should not consider or construe this content as fund marketing material. The views expressed herein are as at the date of this post and are subject to change without notice. One or more 500 Startups fund may have a financial interest in one or more of the companies discussed.