New territory
- 500-backed financial settlement startup EMQ announced it has expanded into Thailand by adding PromptPay to its network of cross-border payment services.
- “Southeast Asia is one of the fastest-growing business ecosystems in the world,” said Max Liu, co-founder, and CEO of EMQ. “Enterprises will require new levels of support and access to a high-performing network infrastructure like EMQ.”
- The startup’s API-powered solutions enable customers to access its full suite of services through a single integration. Customers can manage cross-border transactions and compliance without the need to manage complex network infrastructure.
- “Our continued expansion across Southeast Asia is an important milestone in our wider growth strategy,” he added.
- Read the full article on Business Wire here.
A new way
- CEO of 500-backed robotics startup OhmniLabs, Thuc Vu, was interviewed by Forbes on the startup’s latest offering — a development platform for modular robots.
- “Traditionally an approach will take two to three years [and] tens of millions to get to the market with a robot,” he shared. OhmniLabs’ approach uses 3D printing technology.
- The result? Build a robot 10x faster and 10x cheaper. To bring a new robot to market with the startup, the timeline is reduced to three to six months and takes under $1 million of investment to bring a new robot to market. According to Thuc Vu, it is unheard of.
- “What we wanted to really do is to democratize robotics technology, basically open it up so that many people can work together [and] build different types of robots,” he said. “We want to be an ecosystem that can use our modular platform, and you can build your own flavor of robots for your own customers.”
- Read the full interview on Forbes here.
Setting the wheels in motion
- Alvia Ea, CEO and co-founder of 500-backed logistics startup Haulio penned a piece about his journey in the industry, which began at his father’s logistics company.
- One year in, he started his own business to move containers to and from ports — a job that his father used to outsource. This venture eventually grew into Haulio.
- “Our team grew very quickly from four to 20 with an average age of only 28, catching the industry and media’s attention as a group of 21st century “kids” injecting new hope in a traditional business where operators and drivers average 50 years of age,” he wrote.
- Alvin shared that their network of hauliers grew from 30 to 200 in the next few years, with the startup taking more than 95% market access with over 50% active hauliers taking jobs on Haulio’s platform on a month-on-month basis.
- Read the full article on Today Online here.
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500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, 500 Startups invests through the pioneering 500 Southeast Asia family of funds. The 500 Southeast Asia funds have backed over 240 companies across multiple sectors from internet to consumer to deep technology. It continues to connect founders with capital, expertise and powerful regional and global networks to help them succeed.
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