🚸🤳 Social Media for Kids so They Don't End Up Like Us

Today's Thursday aka Monday Part 4. Coffee and micro digest, please.

Let's get to it.

Here's what we got for you:

• 🌊 The SEA - myFirst Circle - The Social Media for Kids

• ⛵ SEAppets - Tiger Global and Sequioa India-backed GoMechanic slashes 70% of staff

• 💰 SEA Deals 

• 🖼️ AI Image of the day

• 🐣 Tweet of the day

Markets 📈

What's the one business every founder tries to avoid?

Social media. It's incredibly difficult to create the next Facebook or Twitter.

Well not if you're building one for children and branding it as a "safe digital space for kids". That's exactly what this Singaporean startup is building.

Today we'll be talking about myFirst Circle launched by myFirst.

🤷‍♂️ Who is myFirst? 

• myFirst is a hardware tech company focusing on products designed specifically for kids

• Their products range from watch phones (a wearable tech that monitors your heart rate and also acts as a phone) to mini cameras 

• Ngl I browsed through their website and they sell the cutest items. Just look at this cute kids camera 🥺

🛣️ Social Media for Kids

• During CES 2023, myFirst annouched the global launch of myFirst Circle, he world’s first call, messaging and social sharing ecosystem specially designed for kids, their friends and the family to stay connected

• Their reason for building myFirst Circle is that all of the incumbents are built for teenagers and grown-ups and their sole purpose is to let you get hooked on it. Plus there are a lot of creepy people on those platforms

• Not exactly ideal for kids so the team decided to build a safer alternative that let kids stay connected with their friends while still having supervision from their parents

• The app's current users are 5 to 12-year-olds who still require their parents to onboard them

🤔 Thoughts

• I don't know about you but I think people should really just let kids be kids

• If they want to "stay connected" with their friends, they could always meet outside, on the playground or at the school

• You know what's a better idea?? An app that let kids stay connected with their grandparents who only get to see them once a year

SEAppets ⛵

1. GoMechanic, a Gurgaon-based startup has laid off 70% of its workforce because they have burnt through all its cash and VCs are reluctant to pump in more capital. They found out that GoMechanic has reported inflated revenue and that some of the repair workshops were fake. The Sequoia India-backed startup has also told the rest of their employee they will gonna have to work without pay for three months.

Looks like VCs are finally scared and are taking due diligence more seriously. PS LinkedIn bros > Thread boys. If he posted this on Twitter, he'd probably been eaten alive.

2. Good meat announced yesterday that they've gotten regulatory approval from Singapore Food Agency. Good meat is the cultivated meat division of US-based startup Eat Just. The approval means Good meat gets to sell chicken meat cultivated without using animal serums to consumers. They are currently working on their production facility which when in operation, is capable of producing tens of thousands of pounds of meat.

I only have one word: YUCK! That said, I applaud the Singapore government on its initiative for food sovereignty

3. P2P lender, Funding Societies or Modalku in Indonesia are aiming for profitability this year after 7 years of being in business. The company said it has disbursed more than $2.7 billion in loans through 5.1 million transactions with small businesses in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam since 2015.

But before that, maybe you guys could look into my delayed repayments and defaults.

4. Investcorp is betting on Indonesia. The Bahrain-based PE firm currently has two initiatives in Indonesia and is in works with a partnership with the local sovereign wealth fund. "The macro momentum is terrific and the Indonesian government has been doing a good job of making it a very investment and development-focused country"- Co-CEO Ben-Gacem said.

SEA Deals 💰

1. Singapore-based cybersecurity firm Blackpanda has secured USD $15 million in its Series A funding round led by Primavera Venture Partners and Gaw Capital Partners. They specialised in digital forensics and incident response service in SEA.

2. Biogenes, a molecular diagnostics and genomics startup based in Malaysia has secured USD $5.7 million in a Series A round from local VC firm Pembangunan Ekuiti. Biogenes designs and supplies specialized equipment used in genomics and molecular work.

3. Thailand's first-ever unicorn, Flash Express has closed 15 billion baht ($447 million) in a Series F round from an undisclosed investor. The fresh capital will be used for operation over the next 2 to 3 years with a focus on warehouse projects.

AI images of the day 🖼️

Cartoonist from 1923 predicts automated artwork in 2023

Tweet of the day 🐣

micro digest is the shit

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