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Sequoia Capital India on its early investment in Appier, the fund’s latest exit

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Chih-Han Yu, chief executive officer and co-founder of Appier Group Inc., right, holds a hammer next to a bell during an event marking the listing of the company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, at the company’s office in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Photographer: Billy H.C. Kwok/Bloomberg via Getty Images Appier ’s initial public offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday was a milestone not only for the company, but also Sequoia Capital India, one of its earliest investors. Founded in Taiwan, Appier was the fund’s first investment outside of India, and is now also the first company in its portfolio outside of India to go public. In an interview with TechCrunch, Sequoia Capital managing director Abheek Anand talked about what drew the firm to Appier , which develops AI-based marketing software. Before shifting its focus to marketing, Appier’s founders—chief executive officer Chih-Han Yu, chief operating officer Winnie Lee and chief technology officer Joe Su— worked...

Uganda’s Tugende closes $3.6M Series A extension to meet the demand for its asset finance products

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Ugandan technology-enabled asset finance company Tugende today announced that it has closed $3.6 million in a Series A extension round . The investment, which, according to the company, was agreed on and structured in 2020, follows the $6.3 million raised in November 2020 and led by Toyota Tsusho investment fund Mobility 54 . This brings Tugende’s total Series A financing to $9.9 million. San Francisco and Paris-based VC firm, Partech led the round. Enza Capital participated, alongside some unnamed angel investors. Michael Wilkerson founded Tugende in 2012. The company uses asset finance, technology and a customer support model to help micro, small and medium-sized enterprises own income-generating assets . While primarily based in East Africa, the company wants to tackle the $331 billion credit gap facing these businesses across Africa. Its core product is for motorcycle riders in Kenya and Uganda, with a lease-to-own or hire-purchase package. These riders get some trai...

Deliveroo IPO raises $2.1B, after pricing shares at 390 pence per share, amid rider and investor revolt (Swetha Gopinath/Bloomberg)

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Swetha Gopinath / Bloomberg : Deliveroo IPO raises $2.1B, after pricing shares at 390 pence per share, amid rider and investor revolt   —  - Shares price at 390 pence apiece, bottom end of initial range  — Food-delivery startup's IPO was beset by investor revolt  —  Food-delivery startup Deliveroo Holdings Plc sank … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2QTeXIp

Google Maps to start showing eco-friendly routes

The driving app will highlight journeys with lowest emissions based on factors such as traffic. from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8290670 https://ift.tt/3sESPzl

Otrium raises $120 million for its end-of-season fashion marketplace

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Otrium has raised a $120 million round just a year after raising its $26 million Series B round. BOND and returning investor Index Ventures are leading the round. Existing investor Eight Roads Ventures is also participating. The concept behind Otrium is quite simple. When items reach the end-of-season status, brands can list those items on Otrium and keep selling them. Otrium is currently available in Europe. Right now, many brands have their own end-of-season sales. But there are some limits to this model. Those companies often can’t sell their entire back inventory this way. Moreover, the most luxurious fashion brands don’t necessarily want to put a cheaper price tag on their items in their own stores. That’s why a lot of clothing produced stays unsold — and by unsold, it means that those items often get destroyed. With Otrium, brands can add another sales channel for those specific items. And selling those items online makes a ton of sense as you don’t want to manage small end...

Monk’s Hill Ventures and Glints on how Southeast Asian startups can cope with the region’s talent crunch

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A lot has changed since Monk’s Hill Ventures released its first report on tech compensation in Southeast Asia five years ago, with base salaries and competition for top talent jumping dramatically. But one thing has remained the same since 2016: startup compensation data, including information about base pay, bonuses and stock options, is still hard to find. To get more data for its latest Southeast Asia Tech Talent Compensation report, which covers startup hiring in Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, Monk’s Hill Ventures teamed up with Glints , one of its portfolio companies. Glints is a recruitment platform that claims 4 million users each month and is used by 30,000 organizations. The report analyzed more than 1,000 data points from Glints’ proprietary database, including job advertisements and placements made through 2020, and surveyed 175 employees in both technical and non-technical roles. It also includes interviews with more than 20 founders, including from Bot MD, Carousell, ...

Coursera prices its shares at the top of the IPO range, at $33, raising $519M and giving it a market value of ~$4.3B (Bloomberg)

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Bloomberg : Coursera prices its shares at the top of the IPO range, at $33, raising $519M and giving it a market value of ~$4.3B   —  Online education provider Coursera Inc. priced its shares at the top of a marketed range in an initial public offering to raise $519 million. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3w89huh