🏪 This Philippines Startup Wants to Help 500k Stores Go Digital By End Of The Year

Happy Monday, this is micro digest. We’re like that super honest friend that lets you know when you have broccoli in your teeth – we tell it like it is.

And speaking of honesty, sorry for the long delay.

My full-time job has caught up with me, I feel like I’m always trying to catch up on tasks so I took a little break.

But hey, I’m back now with more ideas and better content.

So let’s get it!

Here’s what we got for you:

• 🌊 The SEA - Packworks - The Philippine startup that wants to help 500,000 stores go digital by 2023

• ⛵ SEAppets - Tessa Therapeutics, a Temasek-backed biotech company, is shutting down

• 💰 SEA Deals

• 🖼️ AI Image of the day

• 🐣 Tweet of the day

Markets 📈

The SEA 🌊

In Indonesia, they call it warungs; In Malaysia, we call it kedai runcit, In the Philippines, they call it sari-sari stores. Well, this Philippines startup wants to help a million sari-sari stores go digital.

I’m talking about Packworks.

🤷‍♂️ Who is Packworks?

• Founded in 2018 by Bing Tan, Hubert Yap and Ibba Bernado, Packworks is a tech startup that provides a B2B platform to help convenience stores aka sari-sari store owners in the Philippines become more efficient

• The platform was originally designed for multinational companies to connect with neighbourhood stores but now serves over one million Filipino sari-sari stores.

🏪 How it works?

• Packworks provide all the tools needed by merchants through its app, tools like:

  • Shop management system to track all purchases

  • Inventory management for efficient monitoring

  • Bookkeeping for timely and accurate accounting

  • Data analytics for brands to strengthen business intelligence

  • Delivery and collections systems to simplify operations

  • Promotions and Loyalty Tracking

• Last year, Packwork announced the launch of its business intelligence tool Sari IQ 

• The Sari IQ provides retailers and brands with real-time data on consumer spending, allowing them to understand and predict demand in their area and boost sales for sari-sari store owners

💰 Funding

• The company has just raised $2 million from investors such as Fast Group and CVC Capital Partners to develop a mobile ERP platform for 150,000+ sari-sari store-partners

• The platform will provide additional services for store owners, such as inventory financing, e-payments and micro-insurance

• With the funding, the company aims to become a platform for other institutions to address the sari-sari store challenge and help the base of the pyramid

SEAppets ⛵

1. Tessa Therapeutics, a Temasek-backed clinical-stage biotech company, is set to enter liquidation after failing to raise further funding for their cancer treatment cell therapies or find a strategic buyer. Despite raising $126 million through a Series A funding round and $130 million from investors, the company has not been able to successfully develop its autologous and allogeneic treatments and will be liquidated.

2. Investment in lending products in Southeast Asia (SEA) has risen 15% since 2020, with online loans seeing the biggest growth (96.4%). Robocash Group data shows that the number of requests for all types of loans has increased by 14.6%, and their own corporate data shows loans issued have grown significantly in the Philippines and Vietnam. Robocash is a FinTech group that provides services in Asia and Europe.

3. The World Bank has approved a $1.14 billion project to expand access to cleaner electricity in eastern Indonesia, providing $500 million in financial support. The programme will connect 2 million people to the electrical grid, increase solar power investment, and help Indonesia’s state utility manage the energy transition. It is co-funded by the World Bank and the private sector and aims to help Indonesia reach net-zero emissions by 2060.

4. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $1 billion loan to establish a city-wide public transport project in Davao City, Philippines. The project includes 1,100 electric and Euro 5-standard diesel-fueled buses, new bus stops with shelters and lighting, 5 depots, 3 terminals, and a social development program for affected drivers and their families. Additional financing is being provided by the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund and the Green Climate Fund. ADB is committed to supporting the efforts of the Philippines to reduce greenhouse gases and promote climate action.

SEA Deals 💰

1. Kuala Lumpur-based private equity firm Creador has taken a 40% stake in Malaysian pet food brand owner Pet World International from COPE Private Equity and Pet World’s founding family. Creador plans to help Pet World expand and may eventually assist in an IPO. COPE invested in Pet World in 2021 and is planning to raise its fifth fund. The pet care industry in the Asia Pacific has seen a lot of interest from private equity investors.

2. Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker and assembler, has received approval to invest $246 million in two new projects in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province. This will bring their total investment in Vietnam to $3 billion. The projects will involve the production and assembly of telecom and EV parts, with production beginning in October 2024 and January 2025, respectively. Foxconn also plans to set up a new factory in Nghe An province with an initial investment of $100 million.

3. SUNRATE, a Singapore-based intelligent global payment and treasury management platform, has announced that Prosperity7 Ventures and Softbank Ventures Asia have invested in the company in its latest D-1 funding round. SUNRATE is well-positioned to take advantage of the expected $56.1 trillion global B2B cross-border payments market by 2030 and will use the funds to expand and invest in cutting-edge products and services. The company has also obtained a Capital Markets Services license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and is a Principal Member of Mastercard and Visa.

4. HSBC Bank (Vietnam) Ltd. and Dat Bike Vietnam Ltd. have signed a strategic agreement to back Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) firms. HSBC Vietnam will help Dat Bike digitalize its financial operations and access foreign investment. The agreement between the two will also allow Dat Bike to centrally manage its treasury and expand to other Southeast Asian markets. The agreement is part of HSBC's new economic strategy, which supports businesses that produce and distribute goods and services in new ways. Dat Bike is a Vietnamese electric bike manufacturing company that was founded in 2019 and has raised $16.5 million. They have also partnered with Gojek to roll out electric motorbike ride-hailing services in Vietnam.

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AI Images of The Day 🖼️

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Tweet of The Day 🐣

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

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