Issue #078: VC in Vietnam, Australian sports-tech, India’s teens bank, DLT in education…

Asia’s tech, startup and funding news in brief, drawn from South & SE Asia, Australia & NZ, with wider-world items for reference. Get the app here

Indonesia: Verihubs raises $2.8M with tech cutting KYC time, using AI-driven authentication and APIs — techcrunch.com

The startup cuts that time down to as little as five seconds, using AI-based identity authentication technology and APIs that let companies continue verifying returning customers through SMS…

Vietnam: Touchstone Partners launches ‘no-frills’ incubation, investing with ‘founders-friendly’ terms — e27.co

Touchstone Fellowship Program (TFP) is open on a rolling basis. As per a press release, TFP aligns with the VC firm’s sectors of interest, including fintech, real estate, healthcare, edutech, and technology…

ICYMI: Mastercard steps into buy-now-pay-later space with Mastercard Installments service in Aus, US, UK — ow.ly

The new solution will enable consumers to digitally access the BNPL offers, either pre-approved through their lender’s mobile banking app or via an instant approval during checkout.

Australia: GamefaceAI acquired in $33M deal with AI-driven analysis of sports footage and performance — www.smartcompany.com.au
Aussie analyst startup Gameface.AI has been acquired by listed sports equipment company Slinger Bags in a deal worth almost $33 million.

India: The Money Club gains $1.7M with AI-backed P2P group savings — yourstory.com

The Money Club platform has acquired over 200,000 users and claims to have grown 500 percent in the last 12 months. The platform has seen users pooling around Rs 40 crore by forming 17,000 money clubs to date. The Money Club will use the funds to…

Future Finance: The World Of Open & Decentralised Finance

Cambodia: An overview of government moves to both limit and surveil digital communications — www.rappler.com

The events that followed were equally disorienting. A longtime spokesman for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, Senator Sok Eysan, initially attempted to explain that the clip was manipulated from old…

India: Central Board of Secondary Education intro’s blockchain tech on last 3 years’ data in step towards… — gadgets.ndtv.com

“Earlier we introduced Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine learning (ML) for affiliation systems. Here, the data is linked and stored with cryptographic security so that it is immutable and traceable.”

India: Gov’t launches Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission nationwide, aiming to issue digital health ID to each citizen — www.hindustantimes.com

The key components of the project include a health ID for every citizen that will also work as their health account, to which personal health records can be linked and viewed with the help of a mobile…

India: Akudo raises $4.2M seed round led by Y Combinator with learning-focused neobank for teenagers — yourstory.com
The young startup aims to utilize the funds to expand its team and further refine its product offering to reach millions of financially under-prepared and under-served teenagers in India.

Philippines: PearlPay takes 3rd prize in Visa Everywhere Initiative with focus on financial inclusion in rural areas — www.bworldonline.com

PearlPay, an all Filipino-led fintech company, took home the third prize during the global finals of the Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI) last Sept. 15. Started in 2015, the initiative is an open innovation…