Catherine Shu
Senior Reporter
The Latest from Catherine Shu
Avarni gets backing to help large enterprises hit their net-zero goals
For a lot of companies, Scope 3 emissions make up the bulk of their carbon footprint, but are time-consuming and expensive for them to track. As more regulation mandating Scope 3 reporting is passed,
Composable CDP startup Hightouch acquires HeadsUp
Customer data-syncing startup Hightouch announced today it has acquired HeadsUp. As part of the deal, HeadsUp co-founder Earl Lee will join Hightouch, working on Customer 360, a product that uses AI a
Refilled wants to save 100 million plastic bottles from the landfill
The Australian government recently set new packaging regulations after an official review found just 18% of plastic packaging is recycled, falling far short of a 70% target by 2025. Refilled, a Sydney
etaily is a ‘one-stop solution’ for consumer brands that want to enter Southeast Asia
E-commerce in Southeast Asia grew rapidly during the pandemic, and that momentum is continuing. A McKinsey report found that between now and 2026, the market is expected to triple at a compound growth
Blackbird invests in Carepatron’s ‘radically accessible’ healthcare management platform
When TechCrunch covered Carepatron’s pre-seed last year, the startup was focused on serving solo practitioners and small health practices. Now the healthcare management system has scaled along with
Dashtoon uses AI to turn storytellers into comics artists
Dashtoon wants to make anyone with a story to tell into a comic-artist, even if they can’t draw. It provides aspiring comics creator with a suite of generative AI tools, and a publishing platform th
Southeast Asia funding at its lowest level in six years
Every year, Temasek teams up with Bain & Company on the e-Conomy SEA report. It covers Southeast Asia’s digital economy and is published by Google. This year’s report, published today, undersc
Korea Investment Partners is the latest Korean VC firm to launch a Southeast Asia fund
More South Korean investors are putting money into Southeast Korea startups, creating an “investment corridor” between the two regions. The latest one is KIPSEA. Short for Korea Investment Partner
Singapore-based fintech YouTrip picks up $50M led by Lightspeed
YouTrip, a Singapore-based fintech that offers multicurrency wallet for consumers and business accounts with corporate cards for SMEs, has its eyes on growth throughout Southeast Asia after landing a
Blackbird backs Heidi Health’s AI platform for overworked doctors
Many doctors are overwhelmed by paperwork, leaving them stretched thin, with less time to see patients. Based in Melbourne with plans to expand around the world, Heidi Health wants to ease the burden
Triple-A gets funding from Peak XV to help more businesses use crypto
Created by the founder of Thunes, global digital currency payments institution Triple-A wants to close the gap between traditional finance and blockchain-based payments with its white-label solutions
Temasek’s Xora backs Cosmos Innovation’s next-generation solar cell technology
Perovskite silicon tandem solar cell technology is a mouthful, but it’s basically perovskite crystals layered on top of silicon cells. The combination captures energy from the sun more efficiently t
Tofu automates content creation for massive omnichannel B2B marketing campaigns
Creating the many types of content needed for large-scale B2B campaigns often results in marketers juggling dozens of tools. This makes it difficult to ensure cohesive messaging across their emails, l
Leucine makes drug manufacturing compliance less onerous
The compliance process at pharmaceutical manufacturers is complicated because many still use paper-based systems to record manufacturing steps. These paper records are reviewed by FDA auditors to ensu
EU turns up the heat on X over illegal content in wake of Israel-Hamas war
The European Union is cranking up the heat on Elon Musk-owned X. Late Thursday, the Commission sent the company a formal request for more information — after issuing a public warning Wednesday
10 Minute School aims to democratize education for Bangladeshi students
Access to education in Bangladesh is filled with inequalities, say the founders of edtech 10 Minute School. Many rural areas don’t have good learning centers and as a result, students travel to capi
Phasio helps local manufacturers manage their customer relationships
For small- to medium-sized local manufacturers, cultivating their network of customers is key to scaling up. But maintaining customer relationships means a lot of tasks that quickly snowball: generati
SuperOps.ai streamlines the work of managed service providers
To ease the burden of maintaining their IT infrastructure, many companies, especially SMBs, turn to third-party IT providers. Called managed service providers (MSPs), they make life easier for their c
ALIAVIA Ventures fights gender funding inequalities in the US and Australia
Founded by two tech veterans, ALIAVIA wants to close the funding gap for female founders. It invests in female-led startups, especially those that want to bridge the Australian and American markets. T
Singapore’s tech subscription service Circular wants to keep devices out of the landfill
Circular, backed by Y Combinator, is a service that offers consumers in Singapore and Australia subscriptions to high-end electronics, like iPhones, Samsung Galaxy, iPad Pros and MacBook Pros. Not onl