{"id":2567,"date":"2021-09-06T04:00:52","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T04:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=2567"},"modified":"2021-09-06T04:00:55","modified_gmt":"2021-09-06T04:00:55","slug":"daily-markup-328-whats-500-southeast-asias-new-focus-in-the-region-vishal-harnal-on-spotting-the-next-big-thing-eyes-on-four-500-backed-malaysian-startups-in-healthtech-pr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=2567","title":{"rendered":"Daily Markup #328: What\u2019s 500 Southeast Asia\u2019s new focus in the region?; Vishal Harnal on spotting the next big thing; Eyes on four 500-backed Malaysian startups in healthtech &amp; proptech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/jDHaQ-66TRugUnyQDJufCM7_3hswo_57kLPSpOZvXiWfbIdjcn7zKCK5-5HklAzjxQh7KelX0x9BwhzPz9rKzxRWl1owx4zDXY-7A_Mcuv7vURmiKa_ABSBLheNspI5oktiISJWO=s0\" alt=\"\" \/><figcaption>Credit: 500 Southeast Asia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A renewed focus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>500 Durians has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techinasia.com\/500-startups-rebrands-southeast-asia-focused-500-durians-fund\">rebranded<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/sea.500.co\/new\/\">500 Southeast Asia<\/a>. The firm was launched seven years ago with the name Durians because its funds had a \u201cdistinctly local flavor,\u201d said Vishal Harnal, managing partner at 500 Southeast Asia.<\/li><li>He added that it now had multiple companies in its portfolio valued at more than US$1 billion each that have announced plans to go public in 2021 and 2022. Some of the top names are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grab.com\/\">Grab<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bukalapak.com\/\">Bukalapak<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carsome.my\/\">Carsome<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prenetics.com\/\">Prenetics<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/finaccel.co\/\">FinAccel<\/a>.<\/li><li>One of 500 Southeast Asia\u2019s focuses is on \u201cnext generation\u201d firms &#8211; 15 companies reportedly worth over US$100 million each.<\/li><li>The firm will also continue to focus on seed-stage investing, offering up to US$500,000 to founders. It is also now open to provide follow-up funding up to US$5 million and to potential investments via special purpose vehicles (SPV), such as its US$21.2 million funding for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carousell.sg\/\">Carousell<\/a>.<\/li><li>Read the full article on Tech in Asia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techinasia.com\/500-startups-rebrands-southeast-asia-focused-500-durians-fund\">here<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/_Mxru1wZ_y2MFRMJixwRMsKhyZUtEX_Rv2PzelrHHeAPXQGaJVTpZ1pv7tLUN_qfPqKJ_dlohmAse1b8Rpw2PLpzhDOeZ5IG25L4MbrrFoPBLtst0y6RLAAeNz68tundcfTya6Rp=s0\" alt=\"\" \/><figcaption>Credit: 500 Southeast Asia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The next big thing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Back in 2014, investing in Southeast Asia was an acquired taste, said 500 Southeast Asia managing partner Vishal Harnal to <a href=\"https:\/\/restofworld.org\/2021\/how-500-startups-finds-unicorns\/\">Rest of World<\/a>. \u201cIt was for a few rare connoisseurs&#8230; Many people thought [we meant] India.\u201d<\/li><li>To 500 Startups, Southeast Asia was on the same track as other emerging markets such as China. The firm targeted entrepreneurs solving \u201chyper-local problems\u201d based on successful business models from other parts of the world.<\/li><li>Vishal shared that entrepreneurs are no longer necessarily looking to Silicon Valley for inspiration in larger markets like Indonesia and Vietnam. \u201cThe way people live in the U.S. is so completely different in many, many ways from how you\u2019re living in emerging markets, so it may not be the best source of inspiration,\u201d he said.<\/li><li>The next big themes guiding 500 Southeast Asia\u2019s investments are sustainable cities, rural digitization, all-commerce, human and machine productivity, and healthcare with a focus on self-care. Get more details on the investment themes <a href=\"http:\/\/sea.500.co\/new\">here<\/a>.<\/li><li>Read the full interview with Vishal <a href=\"https:\/\/restofworld.org\/2021\/how-500-startups-finds-unicorns\/\">here<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/ara1Y92QOd9nW6CiLQUlVeJs0ZnNthWXVBJ7kI0BjpRzrLkWpDzDrIs3XTx2meimFBh2xoxVAs3edUl1ZbCFx7HMAocARfmw5e2PIWYat9MchIaq1Yya6RLapr4SxR-z_OQC_kdZ=s0\" alt=\"\" \/><figcaption>Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@seakei?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\">CK Yeo<\/a> on<a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/s\/photos\/malaysia?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\"> Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tech for success<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>All eyes are on Malaysia. Tech Collective, billed as \u201cthe definitive guide to technology in Southeast Asia\u201d, the website looked at <a href=\"https:\/\/techcollectivesea.com\/2021\/08\/13\/5-hottest-healthtech-startups-in-malaysia\/\">five standout healthtech startups<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/techcollectivesea.com\/2021\/08\/23\/5-proptech-startups-malaysia\/\">five promising proptech startups<\/a> in the country. Four 500-backed startups were featured on the lists.<\/li><li>In healthcare, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.naluri.life\/\">Naluri<\/a> is in the spotlight for its digital approach to addressing chronic physical and mental conditions. Employing both healthcare professionals and AI technology, it offers users personalized content. Naluri recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalnewsasia.com\/startups\/malaysian-startup-naluri-raises-us5mil-series-round\">secured US$5 million<\/a> in funding.<\/li><li>Women-led health and wellness portal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.purelyb.com\/\">PurelyB<\/a> promotes holistic living by combining innovation with Malaysia\u2019s rich history with herbal medicine and wellness techniques. Its online community offers both free and customizable programs for users.<\/li><li>While the real estate market struggled in the pandemic, property rental platform <a href=\"https:\/\/speedhome.com\/\">SPEEDHOME<\/a> managed to raise <a href=\"https:\/\/vulcanpost.com\/752910\/speedhome-series-a-funding-proptech-malaysia\/\">US$1.6 million in a Series A<\/a> funding round. Back in 2019, <a href=\"https:\/\/speedhome.com\/blog\/speedhome-raised-2-5-million-through-crowdfunding\/\">it raised close to US$800,000<\/a> through equity crowdfunding, making it the largest crowdfunded company in Malaysia that year according to the article.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.mhub.my\/\">MHub<\/a>, a suite of ten apps serving the entire real estate sector, provides quality connections between the different players in the industry. By digitizing the purchasing process, it estimates it can shorten the process from nine months to one.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A renewed focus 500 Durians has been rebranded to 500 Southeast Asia. The firm was launched seven years ago with the name Durians because its funds had a \u201cdistinctly local flavor,\u201d said Vishal Harnal, managing partner at 500 Southeast Asia. He added that it now had multiple companies in its portfolio valued at more than [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2568,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[322],"tags":[380,348,448,449],"class_list":["post-2567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily","tag-mhub","tag-naluri","tag-purely-b","tag-speedhome"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Daily Markup #328: What\u2019s 500 Southeast Asia\u2019s new focus in the region?; Vishal Harnal on spotting the next big thing; Eyes on four 500-backed Malaysian startups in healthtech &amp; proptech - Markup<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=2567\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Daily Markup #328: What\u2019s 500 Southeast Asia\u2019s new focus in the region?; Vishal Harnal on spotting the next big thing; Eyes on four 500-backed Malaysian startups in healthtech &amp; proptech - Markup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A renewed focus 500 Durians has been rebranded to 500 Southeast Asia. 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