Catherine Shu
Senior Reporter
The Latest from Catherine Shu
AC Ventures reaches first close of a $250M fund for Southeast Asian startups
AC Ventures (ACV), a venture firm focused on early-stage startups in Indonesia and the rest of Southeast Asia, has reached the first close of its fifth investment fund (Fund V). The fund is targeting
Lucidity keeps cloud block storage neat, tidy and cost-efficient
Cloud storage is expensive (especially in this economy), but many companies often over-provision, cutting their full return on investment. Lucidity was created to help them manage block storage more e
Shipmates makes order fulfillment less tedious for the Philippines’ online sellers
The Philippines’ e-commerce market now has a gross merchandise volume of $12 billion, a 132% increase from 2020, and is expected to reach $26 billion in GMV by 2025. This obviously is good news for
Edupia raises Series A to close the education gap in Vietnam
There’s a large education gap in Vietnam between urban centers, which have access to more resources, and the smaller cities and rural areas where 80% of students live. Edupia, an online learning pla
SnappRetail helps Pakistan’s kiryanas compete against supermarkets
The number of global retailers, department stores and supermarkets operating in Pakistan is increasing, which spells convenience for consumers, but trouble for kiryanas, or small general stores. Accor
Nektar.ai exits stealth mode to plug CRM data leakages
A lot of important data gets lost along the sales pipeline because sales teams use multiple tools, including email, Zoom and WhatsApp, to talk with buyers. Nektar.ai wants to solve the problem of data
Agritech company Cropin launches its cloud platform to digitize the agricultural industry
Backed by investors including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and CDC Group, Cropin is set on digitizing the agricultural industry. Today, the company announced the launch of Cropin Cloud, a clo
SkorLife gives control of credit data back to Indonesian consumers
Indonesia’s credit bureaus currently have about 92 million credit records, but the founders of SkorLife say many people have trouble accessing their own data. That’s why they built the app, whic
Docquity, a community for healthcare professionals, raises $44M Series C
A call between doctors can save lives. That’s what Docquity co-founder Indranil Roychowdhury learned when his father was hospitalized with a life-threatening condition in India. An emergency room do
Kula makes the job recruitment process less exhausting
The process of finding job candidates often entails a lot of tedious manual work for recruiters, like sending versions of the same email over and over again. That’s why Kula was created. The platfor
PostEx acquires Call Courier to become Pakistan’s largest e-commerce service provider
Pakistani fintech PostEx has acquired logistics service provider Call Courier, creating what it describes as the largest e-commerce service provider in the country. PostEx will now serve 1.3 million u
Singapore-based career development platform Glints recruits $50M in new funding
Glints, one of Southeast Asia’s largest talent development and recruitment platforms, announced today it has raised $50 million in an oversubscribed Series D. The round was co-led by DCM Ventures, L
Singapore-based Propseller uses data to take the hassle out of real estate transactions
Headquartered in Singapore, proptech startup Propseller is on a mission to make real estate transactions more efficient and data-driven for sellers and buyers alike. Its platform is able to tell users
Privado is ‘Grammarly for code privacy issues’
Privacy breaches are not only bad for users, but also costly for tech companies. For example, GDPR fines now total $1.7 billion, and earlier this year Twitter had to pay $150 million for misrepresenti
Scalenut’s AI copywriter also helps content make a dent in search engine results
AI copywriters are getting a lot of attention from investors. A couple that have recently raised funding include Copy.ai and Copysmith. Now Scalenut is entering the arena with a $3.1 million funding r
DhiWise takes the tedium out of programming
Programming involves a lot of monotonous tasks. Based in Gujarat, India, DhiWise wants to makes things less onerous for developers with its programming automation platform. The company, which won Prod
Dioseve wants to help infertile people with tech that grows egg cells
Based in Japan, biotech startup Dioseve’s ambitious goal is to grow human oocytes, or eggs, from other tissue. Its aim is to help people struggling with infertility, and it recently raised $3 millio
DealCart is focused on price-conscious Pakistani consumers
The price of consumer goods has been soaring all around the world, creating a major budgeting headache for many people. Social commerce startup DealCart wants to make life easier for shoppers, at leas
Packworks makes operations easier for sari-sari stores in the Philippines
Sari-saris are small neighborhood stores in the Philippines that are often run on pen and paper ledgers. Inspired by a motorcycle journey, Packworks is on a mission to change that, with a mobile enter
Indonesia’s IDEAL takes the pain out of applying for mortgages
Applying for mortgages is often a time-consuming and disorganized process, with reams of manual paperwork required. Based in Jakarta, IDEAL simplifies the process with a platform that lets users compa