Hello, it’s Monday and here are the stories in today’s Daily Markup.

First foray

• Through its corporate venture capital arm, Petronas stepped into the VC space by making its first investment in 500-backed Braintree Technologies.
• According to the New Straits Times, Petronas Ventures entered into an agreement with the agri-tech startup which develops robotic devices and proprietary software to provide agricultural solutions like tree counting and crop health monitoring. It also converts unattended, non-revenue generating agricultural land into high-value crop farms.

• “We believe this investment in Braintree Technologies will establish the right ecosystem for a smart farming business model, capitalising on Petronas’ strong knowledge in urea and fertiliser application and Braintree Technologies’ AI and robotics technology,” said Petronas Ventures head Mohd Azli Ishak in a statement.
• Braintree was handpicked to join last year’s FutureTech, an accelerator program launched by the state-owned oil firm in partnership with 500 Startups, which helped the startup sharpen its business model and attract investors.

IKEA meatballs and curry puffs on-demand

• 500-backed marketplace for on-demand errands and deliveries GoGet announced today it is collaborating with Ikano Centres, part of IKEA Southeast Asia, to enable its entire portfolio of shopping centres in Malaysia to be accessible via the GoGet app.
• This is to launch Shop With GoGet, a feature on the GoGet platform which allows retailers to list their storefront digitally on GoGet’s app at no cost and no commission.

• Customers can select from over 300 stores from three shopping centres: IPC and MyTOWN in Kuala Lumpur and Toppen in Johor Bahru. This includes ordering the iconic meatballs and curry puffs from IKEA Restaurants.
• The service spans across a number of categories including food and beverage, groceries, fashion, pharmacies, electronics, and many more.
• For more information on the tie-up, check out GoGet’s Instagram page.

Honoring frontliners

• Gabriel, a Care Professional with 500-backed Homage, is just one of the many individuals from the healthcare startup who joined the frontlines to help combat the Covid-19 crisis in Singapore.
• Appearing in a video by DBS Bank (Homage is a recipient of the DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grant), Gabriel said he didn’t hesitate to help despite worries from family and friends over his health and safety.

• With PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) provided for volunteers like himself, Gabriel was well-protected against the coronavirus as he conducted swap tests for the elderly.
• Homage co-founder and CEO Gillian Tee revealed they started initiatives for their healthcare professionals to join the national response when the pandemic began. While these initiatives were on a voluntary basis, she was pleasantly surprised by the reception.
• “I was just blown away by how many of them said, okay, yeah, come me in,” Gillian said.
• Watch the video right 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.

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.