In the highest gear

• 500-backed used car trading platform Carsome has become Malaysia’s first technology unicorn, according to Bloomberg. As part of a share-swap deal, the startup is acquiring 19.9% of Australia-listed iCar Asia Ltd from Catcha Group.
• In return, Catcha will become a shareholder of Carsome. This boosts the startup’s valuation to more than US$1 billion. Carsome has also put forth a proposal to buy the remaining 80.1% in iCar from existing shareholders in a transaction valued at more than US$200 million.
• In a statement, the startup said, “Carsome and iCar Asia, combined, offers an integrated automotive ecosystem — for dealers to source, advertise and sell cars; and, for consumers to research, sell and buy cars — in a region that trades over US$55 billion worth of automobiles annually.”
• In addition to new products and services, the startup revealed a US$1 billion target revenue for 2021.
• Read the full story on Bloomberg here.

Casting a wider net

• Two 500-backed startups, Kredivo and eFishery, have announced a partnership in an important milestone for both companies. Fintech platform Kredivo will expand access to credit for the underserved and marginalized communities, while for aquaculture startup eFishery, this is a solution to solve financing and capital issues in the sector.
• Fintech platform Kredivo will be connected to eFishery’s Kabayan feature to provide direct loan facilities to farmers. This will allow farmers to purchase various aquaculture needs with periodic payments.
• To date, eFishery has collaborated with various financial institutions to disburse more than US$700,000 in financing to 1,700 fish farmers in Indonesia. CEO and co-founder Gibran Huzaifah hopes to multiply the impact of the platform.
• “By opening access to finance widely, farmers can take advantage of this opportunity to develop their business further, improve their welfare, and ultimately make the fishing industry more productive through true financial inclusion,” he added.
• Read the full article on Mime Asia here.

Building herd immunity

• 500-backed insurtech and healthtech startup Clinikk announced it has successfully administered one million vaccines in 40 days across 200 camps in Bengaluru, India.
• As part of its mission to open access to healthcare, the startup partnered with 3 organizations to vaccinate frontline workers.
• While Clinikk set up vaccination camps, it also wanted to reach people who weren’t able to come to the camps. To achieve that, the startup designed a modular camp for communities that needed vaccinations the most, such as tourism and food delivery workers.
• Watch the full video on Clinikk 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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