🍴 How To Eat Out Without Breaking The Bank?

GM. This is micro digest where we do the heavy lifting and stare at our phone for 14 hours a day, just so we could bring the best of SEA tech news for you guys.

Here’s what we got for you:

• 🌊 The SEA - Hungry Hub - The restaurant and hotel reservation platform for special occasions

• ⛵ SEAppets - Startup funding in Southeast Asia dropped below USD $1 billion

• 💰 SEA Deals

• 🖼️ AI Image of the day

• 🐣 Tweet of the day

Markets 📈

The SEA 🌊

Ever been to a dinner event and when it’s time to pay the bill,

your friend be like “Let’s just split the check”

And you’re like “But I just ordered a sandwich 🥺”

Well, this Thai startup is trying to solve that awkward situation.

Today I’m talking about Hungry Hub.

🤷‍♂️ Who is Hungry Hub?

• Founded in 2014 by Surasit Sachdev, Hungry Hub started off as an online restaurant reservation app in Thailand

• But the app failed because there wasn’t a real need for such a platform since everyone could just walk into a restaurant and get a table easily

• Before calling quits, Sachdev noticed an opportunity…

💡 Opportunity

• In Asia, most of the time, someone would pay on behalf of the entire table during parties or gatherings. That means people with a more moderate lifestyle wouldn’t know what the people at the other end of the table will order and feel uncomfortable eating out

• For restaurants, that meant less foot traffic

• Sure there were existing online booking apps but they relied heavily on discounts which are not sustainable

🍴 Enter Hungry Hub 2.0

• Sachdev pivoted the company to become a restaurant and hotel reservation platform for special occasions

• The app provides diners with fixed-price offers and gourmet delivery services. Before entering the restaurant, diners can use the app to know exactly how much they will pay and what they will get.

• Hungry Hub has partnered with 1,200 restaurants/hotels across Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Koh Samui and Phuket, including top restaurants like Copper Buffet, Audrey Café, and The Coffee Club (Minor Group), as well as global hotels like Marriott, Anantara and Banyan Tree.

• In the past six months, this startup has been cooking up a storm! Their restaurant base has grown by a whopping 30%, seating over two million hungry diners and dishing out a delicious USD $50 million to their partners

💰 Funding

• In July last year, ORZON Ventures, a Thai VC fund has invested in the company for an undisclosed sum in its Series A funding round

• Hungry Hub is now in the market to raise up to US$5 million to grow its business beyond Thailand

SEAppets ⛵

1. Malaysia's drone industry has seen significant growth, with the country ranking 21st in the Drone Readiness Index, up from the 30th spot last year. MRANTI is driving initiatives such as the Malaysia Drone Technology Action Plan 2022-2030 and Area57, a centre of excellence, to further the industry's development. As a result, the industry has the potential to contribute USD $11.45 billion to the country's GDP and create 100,000 job opportunities by 2030. Furthermore, two Malaysian drone companies, Aerodyne Group and Meraque have been ranked in the world's top 20 by the Drone Services Providers Ranking 2022.

2. Indonesian tech-enabled beauty company Social Bella is undergoing a leadership transition, with co-founder and current president Christopher Madiam taking over as CEO and John Marco Rasjid taking on the role of Special Advisor to the company's Board. Social Bella has raised more than USD $226 million since 2018, with its largest shareholder being Temasek Holdings. Madiam and Chrisanti Indiana will continue leading the strategic vision and marketing and branding strategy of Social Bella, respectively. This transition follows similar leadership changes in other organisations such as GoTo and Tokopedia.

3. In January 2023, startup funding in Southeast Asia dropped below USD $1 billion, a 40% decrease from the previous month. Only one mega-deal was completed, where Thai express delivery startup Flash Express raised USD $447 million. Singapore saw the most deals with 24, while Indonesia had 14 deals and the Philippines had 7. The majority of the funding went to the logistics sector, while early-stage deals dominated the scene.

4. Singapore saw a three-year high of USD $4.1 billion in fintech investments in 2022 across 250 deals, according to KPMG's Pulse of Fintech H2 '22 report. Global fintech investment in 2022 decreased to USD $164.1 billion across 6,006 deals, compared to USD $238.9 billion in 2021. Asia Pacific saw the highest growth with USD $50.5 billion in investment, driven by Singapore's record-high of USD $4.1 billion. Crypto/blockchain, payments, and wealthtech were the top three investment areas in Singapore.

SEA Deals 💰

1. A.P. Moller Capital, the asset management unit of A.P. Moller Group, announced plans to invest over USD $750 million in South and Southeast Asia. A new office in Singapore has been set up and an experienced partner, Dhruv Narain, has been appointed to lead the Asia team. The company currently manages USD $1.5 billion and has invested in 16 projects.

2. FWD Group Holdings Ltd has agreed to buy a 70% stake in Malaysian insurer Gibraltar BSN Life Bhd from Prudential Financial Inc. The remaining 30% will be held by Bank Simpanan Nasional. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter, and FWD is interested in raising at least USD $1 billion from its Hong Kong initial public offering.

3. LIFULL Connect, a Spanish marketplace aggregation network has acquired FazWaz, a Thai property listing platform, for an undisclosed amount. It has received USD $2 million in total funding and is valued at USD $10 million. FazWaz is registered in Singapore and offers an online real estate marketplace in seven countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Proptech startups in the Asia-Pacific have received around USD $4.8 billion in funding since 2013, making up 60% of the worldwide proptech investment.

4. Based in Singapore, Yinson Green Technologies subsidiary has made a strategic investment in Zeabuz, a Norwegian startup offering autonomous solutions for the maritime industry. YGT plans to incorporate Zeabuz's solutions into its electric vessels to boost safety and efficiency and reduce manning. Zeabuz CEO Erik Dyrkoren stated that the technology enables customers to offer safer and more efficient operations. YGT is the green technologies business unit of Yinson Holdings, a global energy infrastructure and technology company headquartered in Malaysia.

🤝 In collaboration with HR Brain Pickings

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That’s a wrap for today. See you all tomorrow! 👋

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