🚀👩‍🚀 This Self-Taught Rocket Scientist Launched a Rocket Company

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• 🌊 The SEA - Equatorial Space - The Singaporean Rocket Company

• ⛵ SEAppets

• 💰 SEA Deals

• 🖼️ AI Image of the day

• 🐣 Tweet of the day

Markets 📈

The SEA 🌊

Singapore is emerging as the space technology hub of Southeast Asia and a growing tribe of entrepreneurs have their sights firmly on the star.

Today I will be talking about one of those space startups.

I’m talking about Equatorial Space.

🤷‍♂️ Who is Equatorial Space?

• Founded in 2017 by Simon Gwozdz, Equatorial Space is Singapore-based rocket propulsion and launcher startup that aspires to make space accessible at a greatly reduced cost, risk and environmental impact

• They are basically a logistics company, just that they are transporting satellites into space

• The most impressive thing is Gwozdz didn’t study rocket science in university, it was his hobby during his time at NUS

🚀 How it works?

• I’m no rocket scientist and in this case, it’s actual rocket science but here’s the layman's explanation of the technology works:

• There are 3 types of rockets:

  • Solid rocket - simple, easily activated, cannot be throttled or shut down, pose a high explosive hazard

  • Liquid rocket - can be throttled and shut down but remain complex and prone to failure

  • Hybrid rocket - non-explosive and can be throttled and shut down at a fraction of the cost and complexity of liquid systems

• Equatorial Space is building the hybrid rocket type with their patent-pending fuel formulation which they claimed is non-toxic and low in greenhouse gas

💰 Funding

• The company has raised USD 1.5 million in a seed round led by Elev8.VC to develop its Dorado commercial-sounding rocket family, which will provide low-cost space access for science experiments and other payloads

• The funding will also be used to develop a hybrid rocket motor, which will be non-toxic and low in greenhouse gas emissions

The keyword here is “aspire”. The team is still building out the prototype and getting the technology to work but wasn’t that where SpaceX was a few years ago?

SEAppets ⛵

1. Indonesian e-commerce company Bukalapak reported a net profit of 1.97 trillion rupiah (USD 130 million) in 2022, compared with a net loss of 1.67 trillion rupiah (USD 116 million) in 2021. The company saw a 94% increase in revenue, with Mitra Bukalapak contributing 54%. Q4 2022 saw a net loss of 1.64 trillion rupiah, with a 20% YoY increase in total processing value. The company had 16.1 million registered Mitras at the end of 2022 and aims to reach positive adjusted EBITDA in Q4 of 2023. Revenue for 2023 is estimated to reach between 4.25-4.75 trillion rupiah, up 17-31% from 2022.

2. Vingroup, Vietnam's largest conglomerate is in talks to sell a stake in its shopping mall arm, Vincom Retail, to Thailand's Central Group and other companies. If a deal is made, it would be one of the largest M&A transactions in Vietnam in recent years. Vingroup is also in talks to sell property assets worth roughly USD 1.5 billion to Asian real estate giant CapitaLand Group. Vincom Retail has 83 shopping malls in Vietnam and its shares have gained 11% so far this year.

3. Social Bread, an Indonesia-based digital marketing marketplace for business owners has raised USD 400,000 in seed funding to develop a technology platform to increase merchant sales. The company connects SMEs with content creators and has supported over 500 SMBs since 2020, managing 5,000 creator partners. East Ventures and Living Lab Ventures have both contributed to the round of funding.

SEA Deals 💰

1. Indonesian tech company Baskit has raised USD 1.5m in pre-seed funding to help strengthen traditional supply chains in the country. The funds will be used to expand its geographical reach, enhance technology, and establish brand and distributor partnerships. Baskit's mission is to positively impact communities and unlock new opportunities for all stakeholders in the distribution ecosystem.

2. Advance, a Filipino fintech company has raised USD 16 million in a pre-Series A round led by Do Ventures and Lendable, with participation from other investors. The startup provides salary advances and other financial services to underserved employees in the Philippines and Vietnam, with over 200 companies already trusting the platform. Advance plans to use the funding to introduce more innovative financial products, acquire BravoHr (a Vietnam-based platform for employee engagement, benefits, and rewards) and offer its services to more partners.

3. B Capital, a venture capital firm based in Singapore and San Francisco, recently invested USD 20 million into Labviva, an American life-science digital marketplace. Labviva's platform uses AI to simplify and scale purchase processes for life science and research institutions. The investment brings Labviva's total funds raised to date to USD 30 million and will be used to expand its global presence and introduce new product lines. B Capital oversees USD 6.3 billion in assets and has 101 portfolio companies, including 8 from Southeast Asia, 15 from India and 6 from China.

4. Right-Hand Cybersecurity, a Singapore-based startup has received USD 5 million Series A funding to expand its human risk management platform. It aims to integrate commonly adopted technologies to improve employee behaviours and lower the risk of cybersecurity breaches. The platform will assign risk scores and generate interactive and adaptive training tailored to individual behaviours. Founder and CEO Theo Nasser believes the platform is better than the "one size fits all" security model.

AI Image of The Day 🖼️

Onward to Mallhalla!!!!

Tweet of The Day 🐣

About time they find a job that doesn’t pay more than what they’re worth like the rest of us.

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

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