🐟 July 

New unicorn alert! Aquaculture startup eFishery joined Indonesia’s growing list of unicorns when the firm reeled in a total of $200M in Series D funding. They’ve since expanded to India. 

Bain & Company also caught a fresh deal. They announced that they will acquire Rainmaking’s APAC business.

Speaking of catching $$$, early-stage climate-focused VC firm Radical Fund also closed the first stage of their $40M fund.   

‍

🪙 August

As if SEA didn’t have enough shopping platforms, China’s Temu quietly launched in the region.

TikTok and Indonesia also cozied up to each other, with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew even pledging to pour billions into Indonesia and SEA. In BackScoop news, we partnered with Lazada Philippines to spotlight women leaders in the company. 

Not to be forgotten, eSIM marketplace Airalo also raised a $60M Series B to expand, while two-wheeled EV maker ALVA charged ahead with a $50M Series B.

‍

🌊 September 

Sam Altman secured Indonesia’s first-ever golden visa, which grants him VIP treatment at the airport and longer periods of stay. We’ll chalk this up to AI’s rizz on the world this year.  

Speaking of rizz, FunNow is your must-have app if you’re always on the lookout for cute date spots. They’re an instant booking app that lets you book hotel stays, massages, and table reservations on short notice. They merged with Thailand-based Eatigo in September.

GGV Capital, a Silicon Valley VC firm that has invested in Grab, ByteDance, and Airbnb, also split. Breakup season much?

‍

🫖 October

Indonesia shuttered the TikTok Shop feature to protect local SMEs and regulate social commerce, affecting around 6M local online vendors who sell their wares on the platform. Current status: ???.  

The ByteDance-owned firm reportedly agreed to invest in an e-commerce unit within GoTo Group, but it’s not a done deal yet.

After their initial IPO plans went bust in 2021, Indonesian logistics firm J&T Express finally IPO-ed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. 

Su Zhu, a co-founder of the bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, was apprehended at Changi Airport, Singapore. He and his cofounder Kyle Davies have been prohibited from moving or selling their over $1B in assets, according to Teneo. 

‍

👻 November

Remember when OpenAI had three CEO changes in a week? 

To jog your memory, Sam Altman was ousted by OpenAI’s board, replaced by Mira Murati, then Emmett Shear, and then brought back thanks to clamor from the firm’s engineers. And if you think that’s crazy, all of this happened in a week!

Troubled coworking startup WeWork also declared bankruptcy this month, while media startup Tech in Asia announced that they were getting acquired by SPH Media. 

‍

🎄 December

As the holiday rush settled in, the global ride-hailing platform inDrive received approval to launch in the Philippines. (The official launch date is still hush-hush.)

Travel and leisure booking app Klook got $210M in an extended Series E round, achieving “overall profitability”.