Cento VC

It has been an incredible journey working alongside industry veterans, Julian Tan, and the FastJobs Team. We have had the privilege of witnessing FastCo's substantial progress in providing job seekers access to income and vital services while ensuring employers have access to a dependable talent pool. We look forward to seeing FastCo continuing its meaningful impact on the 280 million underserved non-executive workers in Southeast Asia. 🤝

https://www.bfm.my/podcast/enterprise/open-for-business/fastcos-management-led-buyout-series-a-dollar75-million-funding-and-push-into-malaysia


cr: BFM Radio - The Business Station

FastCo’s Management-led Buyout, Series A $7.5 Million Funding, And Push into Malaysia With Malaysia's gig economy growing to an estimated 30% of the workforce, various job platforms have

🤝 It is a privilege to partner with lending industry veterans Markus Prommik and Reinis Simanovskis!

We are impressed by how powerful toolset empowers digital platforms across industries to deliver financial services without the usual back-office complications and in full compliance with Indonesia’s increasingly nuanced regulations. Together with Seedstars, /X, Hustle Fund, Fintech Nation, , , and existing investors, we look forward to the much-needed financial inclusion that Finfra and its partners will bring to businesses and consumers in Southeast Asia.

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cr: TechCrunch

Finfra lets Indonesian businesses add embedded finance to their platforms Finfra, an Indonesian startup that provides tech infrastructure for online businesses to offer embedded finance products, has raised $1 million in new funding. The round included participation from DSX Ventures, Seedstars International Ventures, Cento Ventures, Fintech Nation, FirstPick, BADideas Fu...

🎧 Curious about the latest state of Malaysia's gig economy?

Tune in to Astro AWANI for an insightful interview exploring gig workers' opportunities and challenges. Join FastJobs' Joelle Pang as she discusses the future of gig work and how we can better support this growing workforce.

Shaping Malaysia's gig economy, promoting decent work and inclusive opportunities Join us as we delve into the dynamic world of Malaysia's Gig Economy and discuss the importance of transforming the labor landscape to ensure decent work for freelancers with Joelle Pang, the General Manager of FastGig Malaysia.

Our look back at 2022 (and the seeds of what is to come in 2023) has been published. Quite a year by all accounts, and probably the beginning of an end of an era.

As tradition would have it, Dmitry Levit will discuss the report’s findings with Jianggan Li and the team at Momentum Works on Friday, May 12th 2023 3 PM SGT

📌 Please drop by! https://www.eventbrite.sg/e/on-stranger-tides-southeast-asia-tech-investment-in-2023-tickets-628912894397

📌 Please find your free copy of Cento’s overview of Southeast Asia tech state of play here https://www.cento.vc/southeast-asia-tech-investment-report-2022.

On stranger tides: Southeast Asia Tech Investment in 2023 When ants feast

Congratulations to David Chmelar, Heinrich Wendel, the team, and Bukalapak on the next chapter!

iPrice has come a long way from the initial days of uniting Southeast Asia's fragmented eCommerce space to becoming a regional product discovery and price comparison leader with 8 billion offers on-site from thousands of merchants. In 2022 alone, iPrice helped over 100 million consumers across 7 countries in SE Asia save money.

We can't wait to see what's next as iPrice expands its unique user experiences into new verticals and regions with Bukalapak. As always, we look forward to the insights that iPrice provides into the rapidly growing and evolving e-commerce market in SE Asia.

https://vulcanpost.com/822063/iprice-group-malaysia-bukalapak-indonesia-majority-acquisition/

iPrice gets acquired by Indonesian unicorn Bukalapak, eyes the gaming vertical & Australia This comes after having to scale back and downsize last year.

It is our pleasure to work so closely with Julian Tan and FastJobs’s exceptional team to improve the lives of underserved, non-executive workers. We are delighted to join forces with future-of-work veterans and , to continue supporting FastCo’s ambitions.

📌 Why are we excited about what FastCo has in store for SE Asia's non-executive workforce? Read more at: https://bit.ly/3NRqYaF

https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/fastco-raises-series-a-funding-315660



cr DealStreetAsia

Our investment in FastCo – serving Southeast Asia’s 280 million non-executive workers | Cento Ventures Non-executive workers account for more than 70% of Southeast Asia’s workforce. The recent economic disruptions from pandemic recovery, high inflation and a looming global recession are driving massive changes in the workforce. On the demand side, companies increasingly look for ‘on-demand’ sta...

ธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย - Bank of Thailand (BoT) has been laying the groundwork for its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) initiatives since 2018 (Prj. Inthanon Distributed Ledger). We are excited about this year’s collaboration between BoT, leading banks, and the alternative payment expert like 2C2P, and how it will take Thailand’s retail CBDC to the next milestone.

Bank of Thailand partners with 2C2P, others to launch CBDC trial However, the Bank of Thailand said it currently does not have any plans to issue an official retail CBDC soon.

💬 "Pomelo is a one stop fashion brand for everyone. We aim to have the widest selection, the best service, and hopefully the most advanced stores (coming soon!)"

💬 "Also, we’re really excited to be working on our strategy. We’ll keep our community updated as we make more progress."

💬 " is the new e-commerce."

These were David Jou`s responses to the enthusiastic audience during Tech in Asia`s AMA session in March 2018. That vision is now in the numbers. Congratulations Pomelo Fashion

https://buff.ly/3OMhZqh

Pomelo nearly doubles revenue in H1 2022 driven by offline retail The Thailand-headquartered ecommerce firm is “reviewing multiple options internally,” with an IPO as one of the possible routes.

Excellent coverage from Tech in Asia on the journey of a low-profile Southeast Asia payment company that became a $2.5B (and profitable) digital content monetisation platform.

Coda Payments’ road to profitable gaming-fintech unicorn The Singapore-based firm raised US$690 million at a US$2.5 billion valuation in early 2022, but it has been profitable for years.

Joelle Pang, the General Manager of FastJobs Malaysia, shared her insights on the post-covid non-executive job market dynamics: how has each industry recovered, the importance of flexible work, and what are employers looking for?

https://buff.ly/3RmeSrz
cr Astro AWANI

M'sia experiences hiring boom in non-executive sector F&B, retail and administrative work have seen an increased number of roles in FastJobs Malaysia platform, with 84,000 people getting jobs in just one month.

, ...the evolving payment methods sometimes left merchants unsure about the best way to get paid. 2C2P's Agnes Chua addresses the topic with her thoughtful explanation of consumer credit options available to Southeast Asian businesses.

https://buff.ly/3NcC9JW

BNPL vs IPP: Which Suits Your Business? How does Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) work, and how does it differ from Instalment Payment Plans (IPP)? Learn the difference and choose the best fit for your business

2021 was an exceptional year for the Southeast Asia tech scene: record investment levels, 100%+ growth in most sectors, a long list of companies entering the $1B+ club, and a couple of long-awaited IPOs running headlong into a capital market correction of Q4.

Join Momentum Works' Jianggan Li and Cento VC' own Dmitry Levit as they look closer at the stories behind the numbers.

📌 The full report is available at: https://bit.ly/3F22tTX

📌 Save your spot at: https://bit.ly/3rNARwc

Tech Investment in Southeast Asia 2021 - On the crest of a wave How did Southeast Asia fare amidst the global tech boom?

Many congratulations to the 2C2P team on the partnership with Ant Financial Group.

As one of 2C2P’s early investors, we have been privileged to work with the company as it built Southeast Asia’s leading digital payments platform. The Ant partnership is great recognition of what Aung and the 2C2P team have achieved and marks the start of an exciting new chapter for the company.

It has also been a great pleasure to take this journey alongside 2C2P's remarkable team members as well as fellow investors.

https://2c2p.com/news-and-media-article/2c2p-ant-group-strategic-partnership

2C2P and Ant Group Enter Strategic Partnership to Further Digital… 2C2P and Ant Group announced a strategic partnership to accelerate digital payment adoption and innovation. The partnership, upon completion, will see Ant Group becoming the majority shareholder of 2C2P.

Don't miss our candid discussion with Momentum Works on two of the hottest digital ecosystems: SE Asia vs. Latin America
• How they are similar and different?
• What can each region learn from one another?
• What's next?

📌 Save the date: Friday Jan 28th, 9 AM (SG time)
https://www.eventbrite.sg/e/southeast-asia-tech-investment-in-global-context-latin-america-edition-tickets-243356073567

⬇️ If you did not get your copy of SE Asia & LATAM report
Click here: https://www.cento.vc/latinamerica/

Across the Pacific, 's emerging offers interesting learnings on the parallels and differences between the & development in vs. .

In collaboration with our friends at Momentum Works and thanks to the data collected by , we compared the playbook between these two markets to understand what worked and what didn't.

📌 Read the full report below.

https://www.cento.vc/latinamerica/

Digital SE Asia compared to Latin America | Cento Ventures Parallel development and ongoing convergence of Southeast Asian and Latin American digital ecosystems

On the heels of our 2021 H1 report https://bit.ly/3icucXQ, we’re catching up with our friends from Momentum Works once again!

We will discuss what transpired in Southeast Asia’s tech ecosystem in the last couple of quarters and unpack the 4X surge in digital financial services investment the region just witnessed. Featuring Momentum's Jianggan Li and our own Dmitry Levit.

Save yourself a spot at https://bit.ly/3oOGrOc

Tech investment in Southeast Asia - accelerating beyond the pandemic Momentum Works together with Cento Ventures discussed tech investment in Southeast Asia & how it accelerates beyond the pandemic

➕ Deals reached a record high.
➕ New billion-dollar companies emerged.
➕ Valuations jumped.
Find out what moved the Southeast Asia tech scene in the 2021 H1 Tech Investment Report

📌 Bloomberg coverage >> https://bloom.bg/2Y9FKE6
📌 See the full report here >> https://bit.ly/3icucXQ

Southeast Asian Startup Deals Hit Record Number in First Half Venture backers made a record number of investments in Southeast Asian startups in the first half of this year, though the value of those deals declined as investors focus on early stage deals in the region’s burgeoning internet scene.

Has the pandemic killed medical travel? Apparently not.

cr. Forbes
Medical Departures
Dental Departures

Americans Are Flocking To Other Countries For Medical Procedures For a growing number of Americans, medical travel means heading south of the border to Mexico for dental treatment. Other hot spots are Bangkok, Thailand.

Thailand leadership in payment technology and regulation is often understated in the Southeast Asia fintech narrative. 2c2p Thailand CEO, Piyachart Ratanaprasartporn, shares his insights on the state of the country's fintech landscape and its potential.

cr: Bangkok Post

Thailand's fintech comes of age While the Covid-19 pandemic has adversely disrupted many industries globally, it has positively disrupted the finance sector -- especially in accelerating the evolution of FinTech solutions.

Many of the applicants in Malaysia’s digital bank race see the need for robust customer data, which Jirnexu supplies.

Jirnexu Inked Deals With More Than Five Digital Banking Consortia - Fintech News Malaysia Jirnexu announced that it has signed strategic partnership agreements with more than 5 consortia in their bids for a digital banking license.

"In some ways, the age or time to embark on has passed"

Axel Winter shares great insight on how leading Thai and international corporates adapt their digital strategies to succeed in the new reality...where consumption and payment behavior have forever changed.

https://www.2c2p.com/blog/payments-powerhouses-axel-winter

Payments Powerhouses: Driving Digital Transformation in Thailand We chat with Axel Winter to gain some insights from his vast experience as an innovative leader in the digital space for over 25 years.

From SMS verified card payments, digital wallets, to BNPL...2c2p's CEO Aung Kyaw Moe has the privilege of observing how SE Asia fragmented payment landscape evolves firsthand. Here, he discusses with MONEY FM 89.3 how the evolution continues.

[10 mins]

How 2C2P is scaling to meet changing consumer behaviours - MONEY FM 89.3 - Omny.fm The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital payments as convenience and technology have relegated cash to the sidelines. Aung Kyaw Moe, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, 2C2P, discusses how Covid-19 has accelerated the adoption of digital payments and how 2C2P is doing to meet ...

When the best of online and offline fashion join forces.

“I decided to join because it [Pixibo Try-before-you-buy] fills the exact gap that local online start-ups like myself face - the lack of a bricks-and-mortar store for customers to try our gear before they purchase and the hassle of exchanging sizes after purchase, which also affects the customer service experience."
- http://FITTY.store

Cr. The Straits Times

Style goes high-tech: 2 S'pore businesses innovate fashion retail Fashion tech start-up Pixibo and online womenswear label Lily & Lou use technology to improve customer experience.. Read more at straitstimes.com.

What happens when you bring the best online and offline fashion shopping experiences together?

Pixibo's Rohit Kumar sits down with MONEY FM 89.3's Rachel Kelly to discuss the future of omnichannel retail.

Pixibo plans omnichannel retail expansion across Asia - MONEY FM 89.3 - Omny.fm Rohit Kumar, CEO and Co-Founder, Pixibo, a tech startup turned omnichannel retail provider, Pixibo, shares with Prime Time's Rachel Kelly about a new concept FIT Centre store, and plans for local and regional expansion. 

How became the $100B giant that changed the way SE Asia consumers shop and how leading brands like are adapting to this changing shopping preference

Cr: The Information for the comprehensive coverage
BRODO Footwear for insights from the brand POV

How Singapore’s Sea Used Facebook to Become an E-Commerce Giant Five years ago, Facebook was a catalyst for e-commerce across Southeast Asia, where cheap smartphones were changing consumer behavior in a region with twice the population of the U.S. On the Facebook and Instagram apps, local merchants and shoppers were able to find each other and arrange sales, ...

2020 was a highly unpredictable year. Through the tech investment data collected for this report, we had the opportunity to see the unexpected impact the year had on the Southeast Asia tech ecosystem:

📌 How SE Asia fared against other tech ecosystems?
📌 Which SE Asia country attracted the most capital?
📌 What happened to the highly anticipated sectors that should benefit from lock-downs?
📌 Were there exits happening amidst the pandemic?
📌 Which are the new startups approaching unicorn status?

See the full report here:
👉 https://bit.ly/39gb0UC

Coverage credit: Bloomberg Bloomberg Asia
👉 https://bloom.bg/31j0szF

Southeast Asia Tech Startups Ride Out 2020, Raising $8.2 Billion Southeast Asian technology startups defied the pandemic and attracted a similar level of investments in 2020 as the year before, outperforming most other emerging markets.

Who were the winners and losers of SE Asia online shopping in 2020?

Find our in the Map of E-commerce 2020 report here:
https://bit.ly/3snlokS

cc: iPrice Malaysia SimilarWeb AppsFlyer

How Did the Pandemic Affect Southeast Asia’s Online Shopping Behaviour in 2020? With the global pandemic that turbocharged the acceleration of digitalisation in Southeast Asia, the Southeast Asian e-commerce industry has been showing massive developments as a result.