Peace of mind

• For some employees, the pandemic has been a source of stress and uncertainty, with concerns of an unstable economy further straining their mental wellbeing.
• 500-backed digital health startup Naluri is working together with the Malaysian Aviation Group (MAG) to offer psychological health support during this time. MAG is home to Malaysian Airlines and Firefly.
• Over 13,000 MAG staff will take part in Naluri’s digital therapeutics program led by qualified professionals.
• “With this partnership, we can draw upon Naluri’s digital platform and technologies to provide them with proactive support rather than reactive. We understand the importance of mental well-being and believe that early screening is important so intervention can be timely, and Naluri can help us do exactly that,” said MAG CEO, Captain Izham Ismail.

• The aviation industry is among the ones heavily impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. With traveling still very much restricted globally, airlines are certainly going through trying times.
• Forecast suggests that global passenger traffic will not return to pre-covid numbers until 2024.
• Besides MAG, Naluri is also implementing digital therapeutics solutions for other notable companies such as Petronas, AHA Insurance, Pfizer, and RHB Bank.

Quick transfers

• 500-backed cross-border financial settlement company EMQ announced an upgrade for real-time international payment capabilities across Vietnam.
• Through liaising with National Payments Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) — the country’s domestic payment network — users from around the world can now transfer money to 48 NAPAS banks under a few minutes.

• “Southeast Asia is growing at an unprecedented pace with Vietnam as the fastest growing economy, and it is fuelling the demands for a network infrastructure like EMQ that facilitates in minutes cross-border payments across the region,” said Max Liu, co-founder and CEO of EMQ.
• In addition to Vietnam, EMQ provides in minutes cross border transfers across China, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, Philippines, the United Kingdom, and 19 markets in Africa. More markets will be introduced by the end of this year.
• The company successfully raised a Series B round of US$20 million in July.

Prepping for takeoff

• 500-backed Australian rocket company Gilmour Space is eyeing to raise a new round later this year ahead of plans for a commercial launch in 2022, co-founder Adam Gilmour told InnovationAus.
• The Queensland-based firm last raised US$13.7 million in Series B funding in 2018.
• With SpaceX and Amazon’s Project Kuiper deploying satellites into space through reusable rockets, Gilmour Space has hopes it can do the same, albeit with smaller and cheaper alternatives.
• “Those satellites go into particular orbits and to move from orbit to another is very expensive in terms of fuel and once you’ve put all these massive constellations up there, they’ve got a lifespan of five to seven years and they start to die.

• “The service we can provide is to take them back up in ones and twos to replace them. And so the [satellite] service doesn’t get disrupted and it’s uneconomical for a massive rocket like a Falcon 9 to take up a satellite but it’s very economical for us to do it,” said Adam.
• Last month, it achieved a milestone when a hybrid rocket engine test clocked at 110 seconds, surpassing the last test of 45 seconds.
• You can stay updated with Gilmour Space here.

Missed out the last Daily Markup? Go here to check it out.

You can also find us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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.