In July 2021, India-based aquaculture platform Aquaconnect raised a USD4m pre-Series A led by Flourish Ventures and Rebright Partners, with participation from Agfunder and 6G Capital, and follow-on from Hatch and Omnivore.
GPCA spoke with Raj Somasundaram, Founder & CEO, about how Aquaconnect is using tech to increase productivity and access to formal credit for India’s fish and shrimp farmers.
GPCA: Why did you start Aquaconnect? What problem are you trying to solve?
Raj Somasundaram:…
Read Full InterviewIn July 2021, UAE-based cloud kitchen startup Kitopi raised a USD415m Series C led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, at a reported valuation over USD1b, with participation from Chimera, DisruptAD, B. Riley, Dogus Group, Next Play Capital and Nordstar.
GPCA spoke with Mohamad Ballout, CEO & Co-Founder, about scaling managed cloud kitchens across the Middle East
GPCA: Why did you start Kitopi?
Mohamad Ballout: Kitopi is a managed cloud kitchen platform that enables restaurants and…
Read Full InterviewCarro is a Singapore-based auto resale marketplace that raised a USD360m Series C led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 in May 2021, with participation from MSIG, EV Growth, Provident Growth, Indies Capital, Endeavor, Ion Pacific and many other existing shareholders. SoftBank has been backing Carro since its venture capital arm SoftBank Ventures Asia first invested in the startup in 2017.
GPCA spoke with Carro CFO Ernest Chew about the auto resale opportunity in Southeast Asia,…
Read Full InterviewLynk is a Hong Kong-based expert network that raised a USD24m Series B in January 2021 from Brewer Lane Ventures, MassMutual Ventures and the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund. Lynk connects investors and businesses with a global network of over 800,000 experts.
EMPEA spoke with CEO Peggy Choi about what kinds of investors are using the platform, how they are scaling knowledge as a service and expansion plans in China and North America.
EMPEA: Who are the founders of…
Read Full InterviewGoogle’s AI-focused Gradient Ventures kicked off 2021 by leading a USD15m Series B for ELSA, a Vietnam-based edtech focused on English learning, with participation from Vietnam Investments Group, SIG, Endeavor Catalyst, and Globant Ventures, and follow-on from Monk’s Hill Ventures and SOSV.
EMPEA interviewed ELSA co-founder and CEO Vu Van about how her experience studying at Stanford inspired her to launch a better way for people to learn the English language, why Google approached her…
Read Full InterviewEMPEA interviewed Carrie Chan, Co-Founder, and CEO of Avant Meats, an alt protein startup using cellular agriculture to grow premium fish, in addition to beef and other animal proteins. Founded in 2018 and based in Hong Kong, Avant Meats has raised early funding from a range of global investors, including China Venture Capital, AngelHub, ParticleX, Lever VC, CPT Capital, Loyal VC, Artesian, 208 Seed Ventures, PTG Food, Markus Haefeli of responsible tilapia producer Regal Springs,…
Read Full InterviewBot MD is a Singapore-based clinical assistance platform for doctors that raised a USD5m Series A in February 2021 led by Monk’s Hill Ventures, with participation from SeaX, XA Network, and SGInnovate. Bot MD participated in Y Combinator in 2018.
EMPEA spoke with Co-Founder & CEO Dorothea Koh about how her experience working for large healthcare companies informed the need to build better information tools for doctors, the strategy behind a doctor-first model, expansion plans…
Read Full InterviewArya, an India-based agtech focused on post-harvest services for farmers, just raised a USD21m Series B from EMPEA Members Quona Capital, Omnivore, and LGT Lightstone Aspada. We spoke with Co-Founder & Managing Director Prasanna Rao about how Arya is driving post-harvest efficiencies and how it relates to Indian farmers during a moment of significant farmer protests.
EMPEA: How did you explain the problem of post-harvest losses to your investors? Is this specific to India, or…
Read Full InterviewBukuWarung, an Indonesia-based bookkeeping and payments platform for micro-merchants, recently raised a reported ~USD10-15m from investors including DST Global, Soma Capital, GMO Venture Partners, and a serious roster of angels, after completing Y Combinator’s accelerator program in the summer of 2020.
Founded by Chinmay Chauhan and Abhinay Peddisetty in 2019, who come from micro-merchant families themselves, BukuWarung helps small and micro-businesses manage their cash and credit transactions through a mobile accounting app. Merchants receive repayments…
Read Full InterviewSparkMeter is a provider of energy grid management services, hardware, and software across 25 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Based in Washington, DC, with offices in Kenya and Nigeria, SparkMeter recently raised a USD12m Series A from Clean Energy Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures (co-founded by Bill Gates), and Goodwell Investments, in partnership with Alitheia Capital and Total Energy Ventures.
EMPEA spoke with SparkMeter CEO Dan Schnitzer, one of six founders of SparkMeter, which…
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