We kick off September with 11 startups getting funded in the region – with FreeCharge notching the biggest round with an extra US$33 million in its pockets.
Personal drone maker XAircraft announced a US$20 million series A funding round led by Chengwei Capital. The Chinese startup makes several models of drones ranging from hobbyist quadcopters to professional aerial photography rigs.
Mayi Zhaopin, a Chinese startup that aims to help solve hiring woes for small and medium-sized businesses, has received RMB 3 million (US$489,000) in angel funding from Suzhou Tianbang.
Chinese bookkeeping app Suishouji announced it raised an unspecified “millions of dollars” in series B funding led by Fosun Capital with participation from series A investor Sequoia Capital China. Suishouji is an app that helps users better control their spending habits, and currently has over 120 million registered users with three million active ones. The new money will be used in data mining and opening up data collected from Suishouji.
India-based startup FreeCharge gifts freebies to users who recharge their prepaid mobile phones, direct-to-home satellite television connections, or data cards on the site. It raised US$33 million in series B funding from Sequoia Capital, Belgium-based Sofina, and Russia’s Ru-Net.
East Ventures has invested an undisclosed amount in Valuklik, an Indonesia-based online agency that offers SEO, SEM, and advanced analytics services to clients. The Valuklik team will use the cash to strengthen expand its offerings to paid social and mobile marketing. (Disclosure: East Ventures is also an investor in TechinAsia. See our ethics page for more information.)
BDC Media is best known for the humor site Malesbanget, which has become one of Indonesia’s most popular viral content sites in terms of traffic. Run by Indonesian celebrity Christian Sugiono as CEO, the startup has raised new funding of an undisclosed amount led by Rebright Partners, and followed by 500 Startups. This is the second round of funding since MBDC’s seed investment in 2011 from Nusantara Capital Incubator.
Studio Ousia, the Japan-based startup behind text-linking service Phroni, has announced JPY 100 million (US$953,000) in new funding from Nippon Information Development. The cash infusion will be focused on new products, Linkify and Linkplaza. Phroni was featured at Tech in Asia’s very first Startup Arena pitch battle in 2012.
Tokyo-headquartered Uzabase, a company and industry information platform built to overthrow Bloomberg Terminal, announced it has secured JPY 472 million (US$4.5 million) from a total of nine investors. The funding will be used to drive further expansion in Asia, using the company’s current offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore as launchpads.
Smove, the Singapore-based startup that brings (relatively) eco-friendly cars to passengers looking to get around town, has nabbed a US$1.1 million funding round led by Rebright Partners, and with contributions by 500 Startups, Wavemaker Pacific, and five unnamed investors. The company will use the funding to increase its fleet of vehicles.
10. Red Dot Payment | Singapore
Red Dot Payment, a Singapore-based online payment processing company with a focus on Southeast Asia, announced it has attracted series A funding “in the low millions” from two investors, GMO Global Payment Fund, a sister company of GMO Payment Gateway, and Wavemaker Pacific.
11. Airsig | Taiwan
Electronics manufacturer Foxconn has invested US$2 million in Airsig, a Taipei-based startup developing technology that lets users enter in passwords for apps and websites by waving their smartphones.
11 startup funding rounds in Asia last week
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