Nas Talks to Khailee

• Nuseir Yassin, more known as “Nas Daily”, is a household name on Facebook. His snappy videos have garnered billions of views on the platform.
• The video blogger inked a deal with Spotify recently, having launched the first episode in July.
• After interviewing the likes of Yuval Noah Harari of “Sapiens” and “Homo Deus” and his very own girlfriend Alyne, he featured 500 Startups Managing Partner, Khailee Ng, to debate and defend the valuation of his own company in this episode of “Nas Talks”.

• Nas also probed Khailee on the misconceptions around venture capital and some of the recent happenings in the industry.
• It’s an entertaining look into the intriguing world of venture capitalism through the lens of an insider. Check it out right here on Spotify!

A helping hand

• 500-backed Carousell and Fave are doing their part to serve the communities in Singapore during this unprecedented period.
• Carousell started a movement called #ChooseToGive to encourage Singaporeans to donate items through its platform and show compassion to people in need.
• Ahead of the country’s National Day, Carousell rallied its community to donate 20,200 essential items as a show of unity.
• “In these difficult times, we want to ensure that unused and under-utilized items can reach the communities in need. We have thousands of receivers, ranging from mothers and students to low-income families and charities, (and) many of our users have taken the opportunity to ‘Marie Kondo’ their homes while doing good,” said Carousell co-founder Marcus Tan.

• Carousell is also taking part in Retail for Good, a movement created by National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre’s (NVPC) Company of Good in conjunction with this year’s National Day.
• On the other hand, Fave launched #GiftaMeal in May for its users in Singapore to donate meal vouchers to those in need by purchasing them from the #GiftAMeal collection of merchants. The company then matches the donations to meal requests submitted through a separate online portal.
• Following #GiftaMeal, Fave kickstarted Fave Cares. Partnering with GobblerShop, Fave users can pledge S$10, S$20 or S$50 for “care packs” that will go to the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics, a non-governmental organization that provides services to, and advocates on behalf of, migrant workers.

Grab x Unilever

• 500-backed Grab and Unilever are collaborating to protect Grab drivers and riders, connect small business retailers to online channels, and dispatch products to retailers using GrabExpress drivers.
• Unilever will be equipping vehicles in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines with Lifebuoy hand sanitizers and Cif disinfectant sprays, at no cost to driver-partners or passengers. The aim is to bring greater peace of mind to drivers and passengers and help people get back on the move safely.
• Meanwhile, Unilever products will be available for consumers to purchase directly from Unilever’s vast network of retailers in Southeast Asia through GrabFood and GrabMart, thereby also helping small retailers and mom-and-pop shops around the region.
• Separately, Grab and Unilever are setting up virtual ice-cream booths on the Grab platform which will offer Grab users instant access to their favorite Unilever ice cream brands such as Wall’s, Ben & Jerry’s, and Breyers.

• Over 250 Unilever Ice Cream virtual stores have been established across Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, with the goal of reaching over 550 stores by end-2020 through upcoming expansion into other Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia.
• Orders will be fulfilled by Unilever retailers located closest to the consumer — the majority of which are offline businesses such as neighborhood mom-and-pop shops.
• More information on the Grab and Unilever partnership 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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