2021 Year in Review
It was a busy and productive year at Amasia! Here are some of the 2021 highlights for our firm and our portfolio.
Our team grew, we launched a new program and made the current ones better, we got more visible, and we continued to write (and write and write!):
Julie Jung, Mary Marsh and Hui Shi Neo joined us in 2021. Our team is now spread across four countries (and sometimes five, since we also went 100% remote!).
We launched the MVP of AxBC, our cohort-based course on behavior change tools and principles for climate founders.
We formalized our expert interview series and spoke with a host of leading behavioral science and climate researchers, including Katy Milkman, Juliet Schor, and Leidy Klotz.
We celebrated the second anniversary of our fellowship for university students — we now have 21 alumni.
Our firm was featured in EcoBusiness and DealStreetAsia.
We continued to hone our thesis, which produced a whole book!
We loved how our companies continued to evolve. High points include (but are not limited to!):
Clarity debuted its Node S-2, enabling a wider range of measurements.
Dialpad reached a major AI milestone after analyzing more than 1B minutes of voice.
Go1 added 7,660 new courses to its library.
Hive Health won the Harvard Business School New Venture Competition.
Joro launched its Net Zero Membership program.
Inbenta rolled out conversational AI search.
Living Food Company committed to using electric vehicles for 30% of its delivery fleet.
Renaissance Learning acquired Nearpod, the leader in teacher-facilitated instructional delivery.
Ripio acquired BitcoinTrade, the second-largest crypto exchange in Brazil.
Skillshare launched Chroma Courses, a series of immersive, cohort-based courses.
Tokopedia merged with Gojek to create The GoTo Group.
Treedots grew its gross merchandise value by 4x.
Xendit invested in Philippines-based payment platform DragonPay.
Financing events can overshadow more fundamental developments but are one marker of progress. Here are some of the public announcements:
The GoTo Group raised $1.3B in pre-IPO funding, led by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Renaissance Learning announced a significant growth investment, led by Blackstone.
Dialpad raised a $170M Series F at a $2.2B valuation, led by Iconiq Capital.
Go1 raised a $200M Series D at a $1B+ valuation, co-led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, AirTree Ventures and Salesforce Ventures.
Xendit announced a $150M Series C at a $1B valuation, led by Tiger Global Management.
Lob raised $50M in Series C funding, led by Y Combinator Continuity.
Platzi closed a $62M Series B, led by Prosus.
Ripio raised $50M in Series B funding, led by Digital Currency Group.
Super raised a $28M Series B round, led by SoftBank Ventures Asia.
TreeDots announced a $11M Series A, co-led by Amasia and East Ventures.
We march to our own drummer, and so we are especially thankful for the support of all our friends. To stay updated on our activities, keep an eye out for our monthly newsletter and follow us at the accounts below.
Best wishes for the new year!