We started off 2020 with a whopping number of 21 early stage funding round announcements.

The most unique thing about this month’s announcements is that many investors are embracing new territories with their investments. For example, we published a story about Vynn Capital, which expanded to the Borneo region with a funding round for e-commerce and logistics platform Epost.

We also saw a case of funding round that is followed by a rebranding –which happened to be done by leading investor Tim Draper.

Without further ado, check the early stage funding round announcements that e27 got to cover in January.

Hacktiv8
Funding: US$3M in Pre-Series A
Investor(s): East Ventures, Sovereign’s Capital, SMDV, Skystar Capital, Convergence Ventures, RMKB Ventures, Prasetia, and Everhaus.

Hacktiv8 plans to use this newly acquired funds to build more schools and offer what they dubbed as the first Income Share Agreement (ISA) programme in Indonesia, an alternative to traditional student loans.

Also Read: MassMutual Ventures launches US$100M second fund for Southeast Asia’s early stage startups

StoreHub
Funding: US$8.9M in Series A+
Investor(s): Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, Accord Ventures, and a private family office.

Malaysia’s StoreHUb had previously raised US$5.1 million in its Series A round, bringing its total raised funding to US$14 million.

Klub
Funding: US$2 million in Pre-Seed
Investor(s): Sequoia Capital India (Surge programme), EMVC Fintech Fund, Better Capital, Tracxn Labs, 9Unicorns, angel investors

Singapore-headquartered fintech startup Klub is in stealth mode and is doing limited pilots with select brands, including some international ones entering India.

iSTOX
Funding: US$5 million
Investor(s): Hanwha Asset Management

In early 2020, iSTOX plans to transition into full operational status.

Lumitics
Funding: US$557,000 in Seed
Investor(s): Franck Courmont, ReadyVentures, Startup-O and Louise Daley

Lumitics has previously received grants from Temasek Foundation Ecosperity and Enterprise Singapore.

Waresix
Funding: US$11M in Series A
Investor(s): EV Growth, Jungle Ventures

This brings Waresix’s total capital raised to date to more than US$27.1 million.

allrites
Funding: US$1.1M in Pre-Series A
Investor(s): Artesian Venture Capital, SOSV, Chinaccelerator, and Clarion Venture Partners

allrites enables sellers of professionally produced film, TV and short-form content to list their content for free.

Also Read: That time of the year: A look back into the early stage funding rounds of December

Eko.ai
Funding: US$4M in Seed
Investor(s): Sequoia India, EDBI, Partech Ventures, SGInnovate and Startup Health

Eko.ai is a healthcare company which integrates Machine Learning into its software to predict and treat early-stage heart diseases.

Arkademi
Funding: Undisclosed
Investor(s): SOSV

Arkademi will use the fresh funds to enhance its product, hire new talents, and establish its footing in the Indonesian market.

Great Deals
Funding: US$12M
Investor(s): Navegar

The e-commerce enabler plans to use the capital to enhance its IT, infrastructure, warehouse capabilities and technology solutions, as it aggressively expands its presence in the country.

Hi-So
Funding: Undisclosed
Investor(s): Undisclosed

Hi-So said in a press release that the money will be used to further accelerate the pace of expansion of transaction volume in the delivery and online shopping market in the country, where the competitive environment is intensifying day by day.

Muuve
Funding: Undisclosed
Investor(s): Ooctane

The Phnom Penh-headquartered Muuve said it plans to use the funding for expansion into new cities in the country and strengthen its current operations.

Gredu
Funding: Undisclosed Pre-Series A
Investor(s): Vertex Ventures

The funding will be used to develop the Gredu application further so that its features are “fully completed and functional” in accordance with the existing education system in Indonesia.

Also Read: Kinesys Group names Steven Vanada as managing partner, targets US$20M for early stage startups

Epost
Funding: US$700,000 in Seed
Investor(s): Vynn Capital

The newly raised capital will be used by the company to expand business operations in Southeast Asia, acquire talents, and enhance marketing efforts.

Draper Startup House
Funding: US$3.5M in Series A
Investor(s): Tim Draper

With the strategic investment, Singapore-headquartered hostel chain Tribe Theory rebrands to Draper Startup House and form the international division of the business, said a press note.

Pand.ai
Funding: “seven digit” in Pre-Series A
Investor(s):Bualuang Ventures Bangkok

The company said that it will use the newly raised fund to expand its NLP Lab’s resources in Singapore, focussing on developing conversational AI engines for Southeast Asian languages.

RecyGlo
Funding: US$900,000
Investor(s): Undisclosed

The startup is currently raising a US$350,000 bridge funding and expects to make the final close of the ongoing round by the end of Q2.

Joosk Studio
Funding: “six figure”
Investor(s): Nest Tech VN

Joosk Studio is a creative digital animation agency founded and run by artists Thet Paing Kha and Zeyar Htet. The company has worked with companies, including Facebook, CB Bank and Telenor, as well as NGOs, UN agencies and the World Bank Group.

TurtleTree
Funding: Undisclosed Pre-Seed
Investor(s): KBW Ventures, Lever VC, K2 Global

TurtleTree uses technology to create real milk from animal cells, with no animal required.

Also Read: Kinesys Group names Steven Vanada as managing partner, targets US$20M for early stage startups

Moladin
Funding: Undisclosed Pre-Series A
Investor(s): East Ventures

Moladin said it will use the fresh fund to accelerate its existing products scaleup, build new features such as new car sales category and auto mortgage loans, as well as expansion to new cities.

Akseleran
Funding: US$8.6M in Series A
Investor(s): Beenext, Access Ventures, Agaeti Venture Capital, Ahabe Group, and Central Capital Ventura

Akseleran states that it will use the new funds to focus on scaling up the team, technology, and penetrating the underserved Indonesian market.

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Image Credit: Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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