B2B FinTechs In Asia Take Top VC Spot

Investors are fueling growth for B2B FinTechs across Asia, with startups in Indonesia, Singapore and India securing most of the more than $125 million raised in recent days. Take a look at the logistics startup that grabbed more than half of that amount to disrupt India’s logistics space and which other industries secured VC financing — including alt lending, software-as-a-service (SaaS) and eProcurement.

Alt Lending

Lidya

Nigeria-based Lidya announced this week that it raised $1.25 million from backers as it works to streamline access to financing for SMEs across Africa. Reports Wednesday (March 29) said Accion Venture Lab led the seed funding round as part of its broader focus to invest in businesses that promote financial inclusion. Newid Capital and angel investors also participated, reports said. Lidya said the new funding will go toward product development and expanding staff numbers; while the company is today focused on Nigeria, the company said it hopes to broaden SMEs’ access to finance across Africa with its digital platform that builds a custom SME credit score and links borrowers to a loan.

eProcurement

Mbiz

Mbiz won’t reveal exactly how much it recently raised, but according to COO and cofounder Ryn Hermawan, its latest funding round puts a valuation on the firm at about $75 million. Led by Tokyo Century Corporation, the Series A funding will help the Indonesia-based company continue to provide digital business-to-business and business-to-government procurement solutions amid the nation’s growing eCommerce market.

SaaS

Weeloy

Based in Singapore, Weeloy provides software and data analytics solutions to the food and beverage industry. This week the company revealed a $3.8 million raise from FirstFlow Capital, based in Malaysia, which will go toward product development and building a larger user base. The company, which operates in both Singapore and Thailand, also plans to expand across Southeast Asia, providing restaurants and other F&B companies with a back-office solution to manage the data coming in and out of the company for better business performance. In addition to its B2B SaaS solution, Weeloy also offers a B2C platform with social media tools to help businesses reach new customers, while its B2B platform aids with things like online ordering, table management and advertising.

Fleet

BlackBuck

With the largest funding in our roundup, BlackBuck recently revealed $70 million in Series C funding to digitize fleet and logistics across India. Sands Capital joined in as a new investor, while the World Bank’s IFC, Accel and Flipkart also participated in the funding, reports said. BlackBuck provides an online platform through which businesses can connect with logistics providers that are traveling across the country and provides technology to help track truckers during the transit process, reports said. The startup said it will use the funds raised to improve its underlying technology, focused on the matching of businesses and managing supply and demand, and will also look to continue scaling.

Cloud Management

CloudCheckr

Another significant raise from recent weeks went to CloudCheckr, a U.S.-based company that secured $50 in Series A million for its cloud management solution. The company offers a platform through which businesses and government agencies can manage their clouds and ensure compliance. Level Equity provided the financing, reports said, which will go toward business growth, CloudCheckr said.