5 in 5 minutes - Jun 02

Bambu.Life, Lattice and FundPark wins the ticket to Alibaba Fund's Jumpstarter Final Pitch

Bambu, Lattice and FunPark are the finalist for the Jumpstarter 2017. Powered by the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, Jumpstarter 2017 is not-for-a profit initiative co-organized by the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, Cyberport and Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation. Jumpstarter will organize 8 pitch events tapping into different startup sectors including FinTech, Robotics, Wearables, IoT, EduTech, E-commerce, Smart City, Big Data and AI etc.

The Fintech Semi Pitch of Jumpstarter 2017 came to an end on May 31st, 2017. The three finalists will join the Final Pitch on November 21st, 2107, with the chance of winning US$3 million investment commitment.

Brinc's global IoT Accelerator program opens for application

Brinc's global IoT Accelerator program is open for the Fall 2017 program. The program has a multi-disciplinary approach to product development with an emphasis on user-testing. Teams applying to Brinc should ideally have at least 6 months of runway from the start of the program.

The application for the global IoT Accelerator program closes on July 16, 2017. Apply here!

FinChat becomes the top winner at Seedstars Singapore

FinChat, a mobile compliance monitoring service provider based in Singapore, won in Seedstars Singapore.

The mobile compliance platform ensures that all business chats are captured and monitored while ensuring they are secure and safe from being leaked in the event the phone goes missing.

Being the top winner at Seedstars Singapore, FinChat will be able to participate in a 3-day bootcamp with international mentors and investors, with the hope of winning  US$500,000 in equity investments.

Gobi Partners sells stake in Malaysian startup Hermo to Japan's Istyle

Venture capital firm Gobi Partners has sold its stake in Malaysian e-commerce startup Hermo to Istyle, a Japanese company that is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, runs cosmetics portal, Cosme. Hermo works directly with brand owners and distributors to sell affordable cosmetics and skincare products.

Gobi was the sole investor in the startup's US$2 million Series A round in October 2015. Hermo has achieved a 300 percent year-on-year growth in 2016 revenue with Gobi on board.

Alibaba to lead US$1B round into China's Ele.me

According to Bloomberg, Alibaba and Ant Financial, the tech giant's finance affiliate, will lead a round of at least US$1 billion into Ele.me, a food delivery startup in China.

The upcoming funding will value Ele.me at US5.5 billion to 6 billion. By investing in Ele.me, Alibaba can embed their digital wallet inside the food delivery app and gather transaction data about customers. Tencent has backed a similar startup, Meituan Dianping.