🏗️🔩 Founded in 2022, Got Into YC in 2023

Hey folk, this is micro digest, the only SEA tech newsletter with flavour.

Here’s what we got for you:

• 🌊 The SEA - Proglix - The Indonesian startup that wants to make raw material procurement easy for SMEs

• ⛵ SEAppets - Netflix is opening an office in Vietnam

• 💰 SEA Deals

• 🖼️ AI Image of the day

• 🐣 Tweet of the day

Markets 📈

The SEA 🌊

Procurement. It’s one of those words where it sounds fancy but nobody knows what it means.

Well, procurement just means sourcing and purchasing goods or services. This Indonesian startup, on the other hand, managed to build a business around procurement and get into YC’s winter batch programme.

Today I’m talking about Proglix.

🤷‍♂️ Who is Proglix?

• Founded in 2022 by Wynn Nathaniel, Wendy Wijaya and Prawira Indra, Proglix aims to be a one-stop shop for industrial raw material

• Wynn, born in Indonesia and with 6 years of B2B experience created his first venture in 2016 to provide Renewable Energy Hardware solutions for government solar energy projects. In 2019, he set up a commodities trading and processing business for major oil companies.

• Wendy has created two businesses in the Construction distribution and F&B industries. In 2016 he started a steel distributor in Cikarang, Indonesia and in 2018 he opened Joomba, an F&B company selling smoothies. By 2022, Joomba had 70 outlets and was invested in by a large Indonesian F&B company

• Prawira is a software engineer with 11+ years in software development

• Needless to say, they’re not a bunch of nobody

🤕 What pain points are they solving?

• The typical issues that B2B businesses normally face with traditional suppliers:

  • Unreliable stock availability

  • Delivery delays

  • Price fluctuations

🔩 How does it work?

• Proglix incorporates tech into the entire procurement process from integrating inventory updates and prices from multiple manufacturers to taking customer orders, tracking deliveries and facilitating payments

• Customers can shop from the startup's extensive online product catalogue with just one click and have their order conveniently delivered to their business address

• The startup currently focuses on metals, steel, polymer and electrical supplies

💰 Funding

• Proglix recently secured USD $1.35 million in investment from 500 Global, Number Capital, and Magic Fund

• Additional investors in the round include Arkana Ventures, MDI Arise, and several others

• The startup plans to use the funds to expand its product offerings, increase customer outreach and grow the team

• It claims to have recorded a 66x growth in revenue within its first year of operation

As much as I would like to root for Proglix, I gotta say, I think it’s not going to work out so well ☹️

Hear me out, I work in the construction industry. Sure there’s a big problem with price fluctuations but it’s more of a macro economical issue than a supplier’s issue. The same issue will still be there no matter how much tech you incorporate.

Besides, Proglix is going after the construction industry but the thing is, in the construction industry, contractors are required to use certain brands that have been specified in the drawing like the type of metal deck because different brands have different capacities.

What Proglix should do instead is go after the home improvement industry instead and be the Home Depot of Indonesia/SEA.

SEAppets ⛵

1. Netflix Inc is making plans to open an office in Vietnam in late 2023 or later. This would make it the first major US tech firm with a presence in the country. The office is subject to a lengthy regulatory process. The Vietnamese government has strict internet rules and has been increasing pressure on tech firms to abide by them. It has also collected taxes from tech giants such as Netflix and has blocked access to certain content deemed offensive to the Vietnamese people.

2. Gaw Capital Partners and A3 Capital have formed a joint venture to invest in data centres in Southeast Asia and have launched their first one in Malaysia. They also plan to launch similar projects in Indonesia and Singapore and adopt ESG principles for their data centres.

3. DishServe is an Indonesia-based F&B platform that helps small businesses increase revenue by providing brands, technology and training to improve customer experience. It has pivoted to focus on automating back-of-house operations and it has helped over 200 kitchen partners in 10 Indonesian cities with its proprietary technology. It is backed by global investors and aims to reach USD $100 million in annual recurring revenue by 2026.

4. Alchemy Foodtech is a Singapore-based food technology company that has developed a solution for reducing sugar content in food. They partnered with Subway to create a lower sugar cookie, the 'Chocolate Chip Cookie Siew Dai' and are now expanding their sugar reduction solutions for a variety of food products. Their patented technology is based on plant ingredients and aims to reduce sugar intake and improve the management of chronic diseases. They are backed by public-listed Thai President Foods and several venture capital firms.

Sugar reduction solutions? Yikes 🤮

SEA Deals 💰

1. GetGo, a Singapore-based car-sharing platform recently raised S$20 million (USD $15 million) from Treis, a family-backed investment group. The funds will be used to accelerate the growth of their electric fleet and strengthen their technology platform and operations. The company aims to serve more than a million households in Singapore and has a goal of having 10,000 green vehicles by 2030. GetGo has a no deposit or membership fee policy and their cars are typically used for short trips for activities, family outings or to transport bulky items. The company is focused on expanding its operations in Singapore by making its cars available in 90% of housing development areas.

Fun fact, there is close to 1mil Malaysian working in Singapore. GetGo, give your boy a promo code, I’m sure a lot of my friends would be interested.

2. FPT Software, a Vietnamese technology firm has acquired Intertec International's IT services division to strengthen its North American nearshore delivery capabilities. This investment provides customers with a seamless experience, access to enhanced services and global delivery options. The move is part of FPT Software's global growth strategy and will boost its presence in the Americas, with plans to increase its headcount in the Latin American region to 1,000 in two years.

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AI Image of The Day 🖼️

Winnie The Pooh in a rap batter scene

Tweet of The Day 🐣

Good one 😂😂

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

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