Deals of the week: StashAway buys back stock options, Halodoc secures Astra funding

THESE South-east Asian tech deals made headlines in the past week:

1. StashAway offers to buy back employee stock options

Digital wealth management platform StashAway will offer to buy back up to S$4 million in its employee stock options. Its co-founder said the buyback will attract talent and "shows that startups can succeed and be extremely financially rewarding".

This comes as the company is set to close a US$25 million Series D funding round in the next few months, led by Sequoia Capital India.

2. Halodoc bags US$80 million led by Astra International

The Indonesia-based healthtech startup's Series C funding was led by Astra Digital Internasional, a subsidiary of Indonesian conglomerate Astra International. Other new investors in the financing round include Temasek, Telkomsel's TMI, Novo Holdings, Acrew Diversify Capital Fund and Bangkok Bank.

The startup's digital health-care platform facilitates live consultations with more than 20,000 licensed doctors in the country.

Indonesia's Ministry of Health has appointed Halodoc to help roll out the national vaccination programme. The startup said it helped with the vaccination of over 50,000 citizens across two islands in the first 23 days of the programme.

3. Qapita raises US$5 million led by MassMutual Ventures

Singapore-based Qapita, which provides software to manage a company's equity, has raised US$5 million in a pre-Series A round led by MassMutual Ventures.

Other investors include India-based Endiya Partners and angel investors such as Anjali Bansal, the founder of India-based venture capital firm Avaana Capital, and Sujeet Kumar, the co-founder of India e-commerce platform Udaan.

Over the last six months, "more than 100 startups have agreed to manage their equity ownership on Qapita", said the startup's chief operating officer.

4. GlobalTix gets US$3 million boost

Tour and attractions ticketing platform GlobalTix has received a S$3 million injection from Tin Men Capital and SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore.

The firm will continue investing in developing technological capabilities suited for the post-pandemic "new normal", such as contactless entry into attractions and capacity management.

GlobalTix is one of the five booking platforms engaged by the Singapore Tourism Board to handle redemptions under the S$320 million SingapoRediscovers Vouchers scheme to boost domestic tourism.

5. STACS snags S$4.8 million

Fintech startup Hashstacs (STACS) has secured S$4.8 million in a pre-Series A funding round. New investors include Wavemaker Partners and blockchain accelerator Tribe. They were joined by existing investor Stellar Partners.

The startup will launch a Series A funding round "on a larger scale" later this year.

STACS offers live distributed ledger technology that supports the lifecycle management of securities, ESG (environment, social and corporate governance) financing dimensions, encompassing green and sustainability-linked bonds and loans.