Startup Funding Weekly Brief (1 - 7 July 2024)

ESQA (https://esqacosmetics.com/)

Indonesia-based first vegan cosmetics company, ESQA, has raised an extra $4 million from Unilever Ventures, in Series B fundraising round.

ESQA is a reasonably priced luxury. This aspirational brand provides a luxurious beauty experience with a sophisticated global style. Despite being more affordable than premium beauty products, their goods nonetheless exceed high standards. Each item is useful and made to make a modern woman’s beauty regimen easier. The funds will be utilized to manufacture more vegan cosmetics products with the goal of providing personal care and makeup products so that customers can enhance their natural beauty with the company’s extensive selection of vegan and chemical-free highlighters, blush, lip gloss, eyeliners, shadows, palettes, and many other products.

Source: https://startuprise.org/esqa-secures-4-million-in-series-b-funding/

Heymax.ai (https://heymax.ai/)

Singapore-based loyalty flatform, Heymax.ai, has raised $2.6 million in seed funding round led by January Capital.

Heymax.ai is a personal finance and shopping platform founded in 2023 by four former Meta engineers. Heymax.ai ?users can earn Max Miles from over 500 businesses and easily redeem them for any flight or transfer them directly to miles and points at 25 airline and hotel partners. Heymax.ai enabling users to earn Max Miles from regular transactions. Heymax.ai’s rewards ecosystem helps address the issues of consumer’s struggling to find the right platform to optimize their rewards and enables them to unlock more loyalty rewards.

With the fresh funds, Heymax.ai announced that it would be expanding into Australia, citing strong momentum in Singapore. According to the company, it will keep expanding in order to enter new markets in the Asia Pacific (APAC) area in the upcoming months.

Source: https://incubees.com/heymax-ai-raised-2-6-m-seed-funding-from-january-capital/

Volta (https://www.voltaindonesia.com/)

Jakarta Indonesia - PT Energi Selalu Baru (ESB), a subsidiary of PT NFC Indonesia Tbk (IDX: NFCX), which is part of MCASH Group, today announced that it has raised “substantial investments” from LX Ventures and SAIC Capital in its pre-Series A funding round.

ESB is a clean energy company focused on providing infrastructure for electric vehicle (EV) players in Indonesia. Through its subsidiary PT Volta Indonesia Semesta, ESB manufactures electric motorcycles under the brand name Volta. ESB provides a Battery Swap System which allows electric motorcycle users to swap their batteries easily, enhancing user convenience. Its battery swap stations and Volta dealerships are currently located throughout Indonesia.

The infusion of capital will be instrumental in accelerating product development, expanding market reach, and enhancing technological capabilities. ESB plans to leverage these investments to spread its Volta electric fleet, expand its battery swapping infrastructure, and explore innovative solutions in electric vehicle technologies.? The funds will also be used to enhance the company’s infrastructure development and market expansion, aligning with the shared vision of a sustainable future.

Source: https://e27.co/esb-nabs-funding-from-lx-ventures-saic-capital-to-develop-ev-infrastructure-20240704/

Elevarm (https://elevarm.com/)

Bandung, Jawa Barat, Indonesia-based integrated farming productivity platform Elevarm has secured $1 million investment from Dutch financial services firm Rabobank and Japanese information technology firm Scala and Indonesian fintech firm Amartha.

Elevarm is an upstream agricultural tech company offering a platform of interconnected horticulture solutions and services. As 96 percent of Indonesia’s smallholder farmers having completed only basic education, many still grapple with difficulty accessing safe and reliable financing, as well as a lack of knowledge regarding agricultural best practices. Elevarm’s financing product directly addresses this gap through tech-driven cultivation, which includes remote monitoring, as well as a reliable credit ecosystem designed to be scalable and flexible for smallholder farmer needs. Compared to traditional financiers who largely offer funding through cash, Elevarm provides quality agri-inputs that are ready for cultivation. The firm will also drive efforts to increase land productivity and uplift farmers financially through applied technology, namely through scientific soil testing and remote farm monitoring services. The effective utilization of data will maximize returns while reducing financial and occupational risks. The financing product will also enroll farmers in a free advisory program on good agricultural practices -covering the complete farming process from pre-cultivation to post-harvest. This ensures small holder farmers consistently benefit from a stable and secure stream of income every season.

The funds will be used to enable smallholder farmers to acquire agricultural input on a secure credit basis, streamline cultivation practices to enhance productivity, and increase their overall financial literacy.

Source: https://technode.global/2024/07/03/indonesias-elevarm-secures-1m-investment-from-amartha-rabobank-and-scala/