Cybersecurity startup Horangi nabs US$20M Series B led by Provident Growth

Horangi, a Singapore-based cybersecurity company that provides solutions to industries across Southeast Asia, has announced a US$20 million fundraise in a Series B round, led by Southeast Asian private equity firm Provident Growth

Other participating investors include Singapore’s Monk’s Hill Ventures, Australian VC firm Right Click Capital, and venture debt fund Genesis Alternative Ventures.

This round brings Horangi’s total funding raised to date to US$23.1 million.

Horangi will use the fresh funds to support its expansion plan in the region. It also plans to enhance its cloud security product Warden, double its staff count to grow presences in Singapore and Indonesia, and infuse Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies.

Since its launch in 2016 by former Palantir cybersecurity experts Paul Hadjy and Lee Sult, Horangi has worked with over 200 customers to provide cybersecurity solutions.

Horangi’s services include Penetration Testing and vCISO, which seeks to empower organisations of all sizes to threats.

Its product ‘Warden’ is designed to protect organisations using public cloud infrastructure from critical security threats and compliance violations in the cloud. 

Temasek suffers US$23.5B shareholdings plunge in three months

Singapore’s Temasek reportedly experienced a significant fall in its biggest equity shareholdings and those of its subsidiaries, losing almost US$24 billion since January as the result of the coronavirus outbreak hiccuping the market. 

Singapore’s state investor owns multibillion-dollar stakes in worldwide-operating companies such as Alibaba.and Singapore Airlines.

Also Read: Singapore’s Horangi Cybersecurity bags US$3.1M Series A round led by Monk’s Hill Ventures

According to a DealStreetAsia report, there’s a one-third decline in Temasek’s market value.

The nation’s benchmark Straits Times Index slumped 7.4 per cent on Monday. Temasek’s majority stake in Singtel slumped US$7.4 billion. DBS Group is also down US$5.3 billion. Temasek’s interest in Singapore Airlines has declined US$1.7 billion.

Just last month, Temasek announced a company-wide wage freeze and voluntary pay cuts for senior management in part to help fund community programs aimed at alleviating the impact of Covid-19, Channel News Asia reported.

Golden Equator Consulting appoints Meredith Carson as Managing Partner

Golden Equator Consulting (GECo) announced today the appointment of Meredith Carson, a digital transformation, communication, and marketing industry leader, as its Managing Partner. 

Carson will lead a team of strategists, analysts, and creators and will be responsible to drive the growth of the digitally-focused consulting business.

Before joining Golden Equator, Carson was based in the UAE, where she spent 12 years advising global brands throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as well as Europe and North America. 

She has previously co-founded and was Director of Strategy at Bravo Romeo by AJ, an integrated marketing and communications strategy firm focused on smart government, ICT, and media sectors as well as consulting startups.

Also Read: Singapore-based GECo to run Brunei accelerator program

A subsidiary of the Singapore conglomerate Golden Equator Group, GECo is known for its digital transformation initiatives which impact markets and sectors. GECo is also known for its Startup Bootcamps, including those which it conducts with Brunei’s national SME agency Darussalam Enterprise, as well as for providing market-entry consulting for companies looking to enter and access Southeast Asia.

In January 2020, the group announced its expansion into Brunei.

Grab introduces grocery services operation GrabMart in Vietnam

Singapore-headquartered ride-hailing service Grab has launched GrabMart, a grocery service on its app, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, says a DealStreetAsia report

GrabMart allows users in the southern city to order fresh and processed food and drinks from its merchant partners, including supermarkets, convenience stores, and food retailers.

“GrabMart is implemented in light of the government’s push for online shopping, providing safety options for local people amid the spread of COVID-19,” said Nguyen Thai Hai Van, the newly-appointed Country Manager for Grab Vietnam.

With this, Vietnam has become the fourth market in Southeast Asia where Grab has launched the grocery service, after Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia.

AppAnnie named Sea as Top Publisher 2020, becoming the only Southeast Asian company included

Application market analytics firm AppAnnie has published the results of its Top Publisher Awards for 2020. Sea is the first and only Southeast Asian and Singapore-headquartered company to be included in this global ranking.

With the downloads from digital entertainment firm Garena and e-commerce platform Shopee combined, Sea has also been ranked as Southeast Asia’s #1 publisher of 2020.

Also Read: Tencent grants Sea’s Garena first access to its games titles with a publishing contract

Garena’s self-developed game Free Fire was the world’s most downloaded mobile game, reaching a new record of 60 million daily active users across the globe. 

Shopee, its e-commerce business, ranked first in Q4 2019 by monthly active users and total time spent in the app in the Shopping category, in both Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

Digital innovation firm Imaginato sets an operation based in Singapore

Imaginato, a technology services provider, has announced the expansion of its operations into Singapore to further accelerate digital innovation within the region. 

The Singapore office will be directly overseen by Founder and CEO Sean Liao, who was previously Managing Director for Rocket Internet China.

Founded in 2012, Imaginato has partnered with companies across Asia Pacific on product strategy, platform development, and scaling.

Since arriving in Asia from the US, Liao has founded tech ventures in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. Some of his other top ventures include Airizu, China’s first national-scale, sharing economy platform; and Hong Leong Group-backed e-commerce marketplace, GEMFIVE.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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