Catherine Shu, Author at TechCrunch

Avarni gets backing to help large enterprises hit their net-zero goals

Catherine Shu — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 21:00:26 +0000

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, however, it is crucial for them to do so. That’s where Avarni comes into the frame. The Sydney-based startup helps companies […]

Composable CDP startup Hightouch acquires HeadsUp

Catherine Shu — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 14:00:36 +0000

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 and machine learning to help clients manage and collaborate on customer data. Terms of the deal were undisclosed. Before its acquisition, HeadsUp raised backing […]

Refilled wants to save 100 million plastic bottles from the landfill

Catherine Shu — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 01:30:52 +0000

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-based startup, wants to help with its smart drink dispensers, which are meant to be used with reusable bottles. Its mission is to save […]

etaily is a ‘one-stop solution’ for consumer brands that want to enter Southeast Asia

Catherine Shu — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 01:00:30 +0000

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 rate of 22%, hitting $230 billion in gross merchandise volume. Not surprisingly, global brands are eager to enter Southeast Asia. E-commerce enablement […]

Blackbird invests in Carepatron’s ‘radically accessible’ healthcare management platform

Catherine Shu — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 08:51:29 +0000

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 its clients, and works with medical practices that range in size from five to 100 practitioners. The platform is now used in about 50 countries and recently […]

Dashtoon uses AI to turn storytellers into comics artists

Catherine Shu — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 10:00:02 +0000

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 that releases new episodes daily for impatient readers. To seed the platform, called Dashtoon Comic Reader, Dashtoon commissioned about 30 comics […]

Southeast Asia funding at its lowest level in six years

Catherine Shu — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 07:22:37 +0000

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, underscores what many startups and investors already know — the region’s funding landscape is currently challenging to navigate. On the bright side, there’s still plenty […]

Korea Investment Partners is the latest Korean VC firm to launch a Southeast Asia fund

Catherine Shu — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 22:00:54 +0000

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 Partners Southeast Asia, KIPSEA has a Singapore-based team and just announced its first fund close of $60 million. Limited partners come from South Korea, Hong Kong and […]

Singapore-based fintech YouTrip picks up $50M led by Lightspeed

Catherine Shu — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 21:00:17 +0000

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 Series B led by Lightspeed. The round was $50 million, and brings YouTrip’s total raised to $100 million since it launched in 2018. The new funding […]

Blackbird backs Heidi Health’s AI platform for overworked doctors

Catherine Shu — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 13:01:33 +0000

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 of administrative tasks by using AI to turn consultation transcripts into case histories, referral letters, financial forms and other documents. It also […]

Triple-A gets funding from Peak XV to help more businesses use crypto

Catherine Shu — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 01:30:38 +0000

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 for businesses. It enables clients to pay in or accept crypto and get fiat money in their bank accounts the next day. Triple-A announced today it has raised […]

Temasek’s Xora backs Cosmos Innovation’s next-generation solar cell technology

Catherine Shu — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 20:00:44 +0000

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 than traditional silicon cells, creating powerful solar panels. That sounds simple enough, but designing an efficient perovskite silicon tandem solar cell isn’t easy because of its […]

Tofu automates content creation for massive omnichannel B2B marketing campaigns

Catherine Shu — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 17:00:28 +0000

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, landing pages and other materials, say the founders of Tofu. The startup wants to solve that problem, especially for small marketing teams, with a generative […]

Leucine makes drug manufacturing compliance less onerous

Catherine Shu — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 11:00:51 +0000

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 ensure that guidelines were followed, but they are prone to errors, often leading to warnings. This results in higher costs and slower manufacturing. Leucine wants to make the […]

EU turns up the heat on X over illegal content in wake of Israel-Hamas war

Catherine Shu — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 00:38:56 +0000

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 about reports that illegal content and disinformation targeting the Israel-Hamas war is circulating on the platform, and Twitter’s CEO sending a high-level (non specific) […]

10 Minute School aims to democratize education for Bangladeshi students

Catherine Shu — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 03:00:44 +0000

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 capital Dhaka to prepare for their university admission exams. That option, however, is only available to families who have the financial means. Originally […]

Phasio helps local manufacturers manage their customer relationships

Catherine Shu — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 18:00:48 +0000

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: generating quotes, sending screenshots back and forth about design requests, analyzing parts in a CAD platform and using Excel to calculate pricing before putting it in accounting […]

SuperOps.ai streamlines the work of managed service providers

Catherine Shu — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 11:00:51 +0000

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 clients, but deal with many problems of their own, including fragmented tech tools that result in complicated workflows that cut into time spent serving customers and […]

ALIAVIA Ventures fights gender funding inequalities in the US and Australia

Catherine Shu — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 13:00:38 +0000

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. The venture firm announced today the close of its first fund, totaling $13.5 million AUD ($8.7 million USD). Investors include Trawalla Group founder Carol […]

Singapore’s tech subscription service Circular wants to keep devices out of the landfill

Catherine Shu — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 06:00:02 +0000

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 only does it want help people get devices at lower prices, but also keep them in circulation for as long as possible and out of the […]