🔋One Car's E-Waste is Another Company's Treasure

GM. This is micro digest. Unlike other newsletters, we don’t belong in the museum.

Here’s what we got for you:

• 🌊 The SEA - NEU Battery Materials - The Singaporean Startup that wants to e-waste into real cash

• ⛵ SEAppets

• 💰 SEA Deals - Audra Pakalnyte and Joel Neoh launched a VC fund

• 🖼️ AI Image of the day

• 🐣 Tweet of the day

Markets 📈

The SEA 🌊

The future of transportation is undoubtedly electric, but what happens to all the batteries when the cars inevitably need to be replaced and upgraded?

Fear not, a Singaporean startup is ready to take on the challenge with its innovative, forward-thinking approach to battery waste.

I’m talking about NEU Battery Materials.

🤷‍♂️ Who is NEU Battery Materials?

• Founded in 2021 by Bryan Oh and Kenneth Palmer, Neu Battery Materials specializes in processing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are often used in electric vehicles and have a longer lifespan than other types of lithium batteries

• They have also recently opened a recycling plant in Singapore which can process 150 tonnes of lithium batteries a year

🔋How it works?

• NEU Battery Materials' technology treats Lithium-ion battery residue.

• Battery smash centres can also deliver Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries to NEU. This will help satisfy official waste regulations all over the world

• They then turn that processed waste into battery-grade lithium hydroxide and other battery-grade materials

💰 Funding

• The startup has raised $3.7 million in a seed funding round led by SGInnovate

• The money will fund the deployment of an automated recycling line and the development of partnerships with EV OEMs and battery manufacturers

• NEU also plans to research other lithium battery chemistries. The industry is projected to generate $400 billion by 2030, but also produce 11 million tonnes of waste by then

• The startup is working on a pilot recycling plant and has partnered with Saft Batteries and ComfortDelGro to explore sustainable recycling solutions

SEAppets ⛵

1. A new report by early-stage investor AC Ventures and industry body Electric Mobility Ecosystem Association (AEML) states that Indonesia's $20-billion electric vehicle industry needs concerted efforts from both the public and private sectors to grow. The report explores the scale, potential, and future of the EV industry in the archipelago and notes that electric bikes have shown lower overall operational costs. Despite the support, progress for EVs has been slower than expected. To accelerate production and adoption, the country needs favourable policies, infrastructure and local producers to meet the 40% local component requirement. Investments and support for EVs and their infrastructure, as well as leasing, financing and SaaS, should be prioritised.

2. Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology & Innovation (MRANTI) and pitchIN have announced a strategic partnership to revolutionize the investment landscape and capital access for Malaysian startups and spinoffs. This collaboration will enable them to raise investments through pitchIN's platform and receive guidance from MRANTI. The program will also provide capacity building, access to a diverse range of investors and support from legal, marketing and financial experts.

Yet they still haven’t addressed the lack of funding for early-stage startups.

3. Touch 'n Go eWallet is offering complete coverage of on-street parking in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor with 19 enabled councils and over 300,000 users paying their parking fee daily. TNG Digital Sdn Bhd, founded by Touch 'n Go Sdn Bhd and Ant Group in 2017, provides financial services and payments services to both retail users and small to mid-sized businesses and is also available to tourists in Thailand.

4. Giselle Makarachvili, who was recently appointed CEO of Singapore-based flexible living firm Hmlet, has decided to step down to focus on her family. She will be replaced by Jonathan Wong, who has held executive positions at CloudKitchens and Uber. Hmlet was founded in 2016 and was acquired by Habyt last year. The company has implemented several pandemic-related measures, such as cutting staff, to stay afloat.

SEA Deals 💰

1. Audra Pakalnyte and Joel Neoh, former executives of fintech firm Fave, have launched First Move, a venture capital fund that will invest in consumer-focused startups in Southeast Asia. The fund provides pre-seed funding and mentorship and has established the Consumer Tech Angel Syndicate, a group of experienced consumer space founders and executives from Southeast Asia to co-invest and provide support. The fund focuses on fintech, e-commerce, health and wellbeing and more. This launch comes as VCs in Southeast Asia have closed 31 funds and raised over $4 billion in 2022.

2. VentureBlick, a Singapore-based venture platform for healthcare innovation, has successfully closed two deals, raising a total of $2.6 million for two startups. They have developed a "Super Incubator" model to help build, test and market medtech innovations, with an end goal of successful exit or commercialization. They also offer an extensive medical advisory business. The company has a global presence and is aiming to improve healthcare outcomes worldwide.

3. Needle, an AI marketer based in Singapore, has raised $1.2 million to expand their team and help e-commerce brands with limited resources more effectively invest in marketing campaigns. Their AI connects data between platforms, sets goals, and suggests tactics from a database of proven strategies used by large brands. It also creates marketing assets and customer emails to expedite action-taking.

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AI Images of The Day 🖼️

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Tweet of The Day 🐣

Note to self:

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

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