Paving the way to Asia

• 500-backed fintech startup Fave has been acquired by Indian merchant platform Pine Labs in a US$45 million deal. Both companies noted that the acquisition will help them accelerate their growth in the Asia region.
• The combined team is working to bring Fave’s offering to customers in 3,700 Indian cities, which, according to TechCrunch, is one of the rare times when a Southeast Asian startup is launching its offering in India.
• Fave’s leadership will continue working at the startup. Co-founder and CEO of Fave Joel Neoh added that it plans to hire an additional 100 employees and launch a buy now, pay later product in the next one to two months.
• Read the full article on TechCrunch here.

Supercharging the super app

• 500-backed super app Grab announced it plans to go public in the United States, facilitated by a partnership with Altimeter Growth, a special purpose acquisition company. This is expected to be the largest-ever U.S. equity offering by a Southeast Asian company.
• According to Grab, it will also receive about US$4.5 billion in cash as part of the deal to continue expanding its business.
• Co-founder and group CEO Anthony Tan said, “Altimeter is investing in a way that demonstrates our aligned values, with a three-year lock-up on their sponsor promote shares and unprecedented contribution of shares to our new GrabForGood endowment fund… This is testament to the global investment community’s belief in the long-term value proposition of Grab’s superapp strategy and the exciting growth potential of Southeast Asia.”
• Read the full announcement on Grab here.

A cookieless monster

• By January 2022, Google will have phased out third-party cookies in its Chrome browser. This means ad companies and businesses that rely on cookies to target consumers will have to find an alternative solution.
• Xin-Ci Chin, head of marketing for StoreHub, a tablet-based point of sale (POS) system startup said the biggest losers from third-party deprecation would likely be SMEs, especially the smaller enterprises, which are not in the habit of owning or even collecting first-party data.
• On how the startup is managing its user base of over 13,000 companies across Southeast Asia, Xin-Ci shared, “We are mostly preparing our customers for the cookie-less world in a variety of ways, such as making it easier for them to collect their customers’ information using technology, from store-enabled cashback and QR ordering to online ordering.”

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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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