Accelerating Asia announces Q1 investments into 13 startups across 10+ markets

May 5, 2022. SINGAPORE.

International early-stage VC fund, Accelerating Asia has announced its latest round of investments today including nine new companies joining Cohort 6 of the flagship program and additional capital into four existing portfolio companies.

International early-stage VC fund, Accelerating Asia has announced its latest round of investments today including nine new companies joining Cohort 6 of the flagship program and additional capital into four existing portfolio companies.

The new investments take Accelerating Asia’s portfolio to 52 startups who have raised a total of over US$42M. Cohort 6 continues the portfolio’s trend of attracting early investor interest with ~US$1.5M in soft commitments received during month 1 of the program when access is reserved for Accelerating Asia’s network, adding to the $2.5M raised prior to joining the program. The new investments in Cohort 6 also have market traction and growth revenue with an average GMV of $100k per month and an average monthly recurring revenue of over $25k.

“With the 9 new portfolio startups selected from 600 applicants and 4 follow-on investments, Accelerating Asia is excited to continue to invest in highly scalable pre-Series A startups that also have a positive impact in respective operating markets.” Amra Naidoo

Cohort 6 startups have a market presence in 10+ countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, North America and Europe and cover 8 verticals including proptech, marketplace, fintech, logistics, services, eCommerce and healthtech. The nine new startups also include 40% female co-founded startups - Tokban, 60+, relay.club, and Markopolo.ai, all of which have a female Chief Operating Officer or Chief Executive Officer and 80% of startups are also addressing Sustainable Development Goals.

“With the 9 new portfolio startups selected from 600 applicants and 4 follow-on investments, Accelerating Asia is excited to continue to invest in highly scalable pre-Series A startups that also have a positive impact in respective operating markets. Since 2019, we’ve built up our portfolio of startups with investors coming to Accelerating Asia to gain early access to a pipeline of startups that combine profit with purpose,” Accelerating Asia General Partner Amra Naidoo said.

“Our VC accelerator model ensures high potential founders have greater access to needed capital financing, mentoring and skill sets to enhance their growth trajectory and quickly become leaders in their respective verticals while also lowering the overall risk for our investors at an early stage.

“With the new cohort, we add a second investment into Pakistan and India, with Godaam and 60+ joining Deaftawk and ProjectPro in the portfolio. We also broaden our geographical footprint by investing into Relay.Club and Nucredits which are serving Chinese customers and connecting to international markets,” Amra said.

“In Bangladesh, the ecosystem is at a similar point to where Indonesia was 5-6 years ago and GDP growth is on track to be ~7% in 2022, making it one of the fastest growing economies regionally.” Craig Bristol Dixon

In Q1 2022 Accelerating Asia also made follow-on investments into Shuttle, Transtrack.ID, Numu and Giftpack, adding to the additional investments into ProjectPro and iFarmer made in 2021. Accelerating Asia first invested in these six companies in 2020 and 2021, since then average monthly revenue has grown 332% and are projected to grow revenue to an average of over $16M this financial year. Since joining the portfolio, the startups have also launched new product offerings, signed new clients and optimised operations to sustain revenue growth and develop new income streams.

In addition to investment from Accelerating Asia, these startups have raised from Cocoon Capital, the Indonesian Women Empowerment Fund ( an initiative of Moonshot Global & YCab Ventures), Draper Startup House Ventures Fund, HH VC Investments, Startup Bangladesh, Impact Collective and angels investors in Accelerating Asia’s fund.

“We’re excited to continue to invest in our portfolio companies as they grow alongside leading institutional investors. There is significant market and investor demand for the portfolio especially in digitisation of transport and logistics networks with the industry at an inflection point in emerging economies like Bangladesh and Indonesia. With their fleet telematics solution and the founding team’s extensive industry experience, TransTRACK.id is well placed to capitalise on the growth of the freight and logistics market which is expected to be worth US$383B by 2023,” said Accelerating Asia General Partner Craig Bristol Dixon.

“In Bangladesh, the ecosystem is at a similar point to where Indonesia was 5-6 years ago and GDP growth is on track to be ~7% in 2022, making it one of the fastest growing economies regionally. We first started investing in Bangladesh in 2019 as one of the first international VCs, since then investor interest into our portfolio has increased. For example, Shuttle has successfully grown from starting as a safe transportation solution for women to expanding its serve to include B2B offerings for companies and more routes.” Craig said.

Accelerating Asia launched Fund II in 2021, Cohort 6 are the second batch of investments for Fund II which will deploy capital across Southeast and South Asia pre-Series A startups. If you’re an accredited investor who is looking to gain access to qualified deal flow and contribute to Accelerating Asia’s to build the best pre-Series A startups in the region, reach out to the Accelerating Asia team for more information about investing alongside us. The invite only Demo Day for Cohort 6 will be held on June 30, more information on how to apply to attend can be found here

ONEUNITED BANK JOINS WITH LENDISTRY TO OFFER SMALL BUSINESS LOANS NATIONWIDE

April 11, 2022. LOS ANGELES.

The nation’s largest Black-owned bank, joins with Lendistry, a Black-led fintech, to provide small business loans to OneUnited Bank customers.

OneUnited Bank, the nation’s largest Black-owned bank, joins with Lendistry, a Black-led fintech, to provide small business loans to OneUnited Bank customers. The Bank’s continuing mission is to close the racial wealth gap by providing a resource for term loans and non-revolving lines of credit to small businesses nationwide.

As part of its mission, OneUnited Bank introduced its OneTransaction program and podcast to encourage Black Americans to focus on “one transaction” to close the wealth gap for their family. The six options include a profitable business, homeownership, savings & investments, an improved credit score, wills, and insurance. With Lendistry, the Bank can support customers who are business owners seeking funds to expand, buy an existing business or finance working capital.

Lendistry is a Black-led fintech and a leader in providing equal access to capital for small business owners. Since 2015, minority, women and veteran-owned businesses have trusted Lendistry to help them grow. Lendistry offers funding for working capital, expansion, tenant/leasehold improvements, debt consolidation and to buy existing businesses.

“We’re proud to expand our relationship in 2022 to offer small business loans to our customers nationwide” Teri Williams

“We began our relationship with Lendistry in 2020 with the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and continued in 2021 with our OneTransaction Program,” states Teri Williams, OneUnited Bank President. “We’re proud to expand our relationship in 2022 to offer small business loans to our customers nationwide”.

“Access to capital for the expansion of small businesses is what we do,” said Kerrington Eubanks, SVP of Strategic Partnerships for Lendistry. “We are happy to be a resource for OneUnited Bank’s small business customers to connect with us directly to explore new economic opportunities.”

Lendistry is a resource for all OneUnited Bank customers for small business loans through OneUnited Bank’s online banking platform and highly rated mobile app. Business owners can access the resource, in our app or in online banking, even if their business does not have a business banking account with OneUnited Bank. Qualifications, terms, and conditions apply which are determined by Lendistry.

For more information, please visit: www.oneunited.com/businessloan.

OCBC Bank and MetaVerse Green Exchange to develop new green financing solutions with tokenised carbo

April 25, 2022. SINGAPORE

This partnership between the two Singapore firms aims to help accelerate corporates’ journey to carbon neutrality.

OCBC Bank and MetaVerse Green Exchange (MVGX), a digital green exchange licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, have announced a strategic partnership to develop new green financing solutions aimed at accelerating large corporates’ journey to carbon neutrality.

Scheduled to be launched later this year, these financing solutions will include tokenised carbon credits in the form of MVGX’s Carbon Neutrality Tokens (CNT™s), for large corporates to offset their carbon emissions, simplifying their path to carbon neutrality. An independent party will verify the expected carbon emissions from projects utilising these financing solutions, to calculate the corresponding carbon credits required.

MVGX’s CNT™s are supported by MVGX’s proprietary Non-Fungible Digital Twin (NFDT™) distributed ledger technology that provides corporates a verifiable, immutable and constantly updated record of the carbon performance of the climate-action projects that they have invested in through these digital carbon credits.

The partnership comes at an opportune time when carbon credits are becoming an increasingly popular solution for corporates after they have explored other decarbonisation options to achieve carbon neutrality. This is particularly important for companies in hard-to-abate industries such as shipping, steel and energy. By purchasing carbon credits, corporates are also investing in green projects such as reforestation and renewable energy that contribute to future decarbonisation. The Institute of International Finance’s Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets estimates that the global demand for carbon credits could increase fifteen-fold by 2030.

The ability to properly account for and track carbon credits under existing systems has resulted in challenges which have prevented uptake and impact at scale, such as double counting and the difficulties involved with cross-border carbon trading. The CNT™s provided in the new green financing solutions can mitigate these challenges by providing businesses with a reliable and accurate view of their emissions and offsets.

“We hope to accelerate these efforts by providing financing solutions with tokenised carbon credits, and expand the reach of private-sector finance in areas and sectors most crucial in mitigating climate change.” Elaine Lam

Ms Elaine Lam, Head, Global Corporate Banking, OCBC Bank, said: “With the recently released report by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), there will be increased urgency in corporates' transition to a low carbon future by cutting down greenhouse gas emissions. We hope to accelerate these efforts by providing financing solutions with tokenised carbon credits, and expand the reach of private-sector finance in areas and sectors most crucial in mitigating climate change.”

This partnership underscores the Bank’s commitment to combating climate change and supporting customers in their journey to carbon neutrality, by seizing growth opportunities in green and sustainable financing. By end-2021, the Bank had extended over $34 billion in sustainable financing to customers, surpassing its original target of S$25 billion by 2025 four years ahead of schedule. A new target of S$50 billion in sustainable financing commitments by 2050 has been established.

Commenting on the company’s landmark partnership, MVGX Executive Chairman and Co-Founder Bo Bai, said: “Despite the best intentions, governments and businesses around the world have come to realise the limitations of the current systems for tracking and neutralising carbon emissions. Thankfully, there is now a greater urgency to embrace new solutions that leverage technology to promote carbon reduction and finance green initiatives. By joining forces with Southeast Asia’s second-largest bank, we have the opportunity to advance our sustainability ambitions and fast-track our nation’s goal of achieving Singapore’s 2030 Green Plan. We are excited to be building the bridge between green investments in traditional finance and the global carbon trading markets of the future through green digital assets.”

Last year, MVGX launched its first batch of CNT™s ahead of COP26 in Glasgow. These asset-backed tokens were tied to carbon credits generated by a wind project in Zhangjiakou, China that was verified and registered with China’s National Carbon Registry. The first tranche of 5,000 carbon credits was sold to a Hong Kong-based private equity firm last year, lowering barriers to access ESG assets for retail and institutional investors in Asia Pacific.

Pictured from left to right are: Mr Gabriel Wong, Co-Founder of MVGX; Dr Bo Bai, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of MVGX; Mr Lee Shyong, Managing Director, Partnership & Innovation of OCBC Bank; and Ms Elaine Lam, Head, Global Corporate Banking of OCBC Bank. This partnership between OCBC Bank and MVGX to develop new green financing solutions with tokenised carbon credits will help accelerate large corporates’ journey to carbon neutrality.

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Please contact: Dawn Sin corpcomms@ocbc.com