A regional milestone
- 500-backed used car trading startup Carsome has acquired a stake in PT Universal Collection (PT UC), a Jakarta-based offline car and motorcycle auction company. This marks its first investment in Southeast Asia.
- According to Carsome, the investment will allow it to double its automotive transaction volumes in Indonesia. This is in line with the startup’s vision of building a regional, end-to-end integrated online used car ecosystem.
- As part of the investment, Delly Nugraha, country head of Carsome Indonesia, has been appointed as president director of PT UC.
- “Through PT UC’s access to used car supplies, Carsome’s dealer partners will enjoy more inventory diversity and broader options. PT UC’s suppliers, on the other hand, will be opened to a wider demand pool, broadening their accessibility in the used car market,” he said.
- Read the full article on Digital News Asia here.
A priority on security
- 500-backed cybersecurity startup Horangi has been selected to be part of the Accreditation@SG Digital Programme by Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).
- The program seeks to recognize promising and innovative Singapore-based high-growth companies. It also aims to improve the quality of Singapore’s SME (small to medium enterprise) cybersecurity solutions.
- The Director of Innovation & Tech Ecosystem of IMDA said “We view the Warden cloud security platform, which has the capability to aggregate, detect, and fix emerging threats in multi-cloud environments being extremely useful for enterprise users in managing cloud security.”
- “With the rapid cloud adoption in Singapore, the need for robust cloud security solutions is more evident than ever, and this will help government agencies and enterprises to protect their cloud infrastructure,” he added.
- Read the full announcement on Horangi here.
Swimming in data
- 500-backed food review startup abillion released a report on alternative seafood, including insights on consumer demand and market opportunities.
- The report revealed that reviews for ocean-friendly alternatives grew 9.4x since the start of 2020. While COVID-19 lockdown restrictions dampened demand momentarily, the startup is witnessing a rebound and expects growth to accelerate again.
- In Singapore, the startup notes that 87% of plant-based fish consumption is via restaurant dining, making it the top market for fish-free dishes. On the other hand, Singapore ranked 6th when it comes to reviews for fish-free products.
- According to abillion, this could be a reflection of a finding from a previous report showing that existing alternative meat options generally cater more towards Western palettes. The startup concludes that there is a viable opportunity for plant-based fish to play a significant role in Singapore and other Asian markets.
- Read the full report on abillion for more insights.
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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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