Daily Briefing: KrisEnergy divests 30% stake in Indonesia O&G block; Reefknot makes maiden investment in AI-firm PROWLER.io

And India-based startup Livspace invests $40.82m to expand in Singapore and APAC.

From DealStreetAsia:

KrisEnergy plans to divest 30% ownership in Indonesian oil and gas block Andaman II Production Sharing Contract (PSC), the company announced.

The divestment is part of KrisEnergy’s strategy to focus its limited financial resources on other existing assets in Bangladesh and the Gulf of Thailand, as well as the development of Apsara Oilfield in Cambodia block A.

An international oil and gas (O&G) company offered a binding letter of offer for KrisEnergy’s non-operated working interest in the block, with undisclosed valuation.

A report by UOB Kay Hian noted that Kris’ gross margin has contracted sharply since 2012, attributed mainly to weak O&G production. A decline in Brent oil price also dragged down its net cash in 2013 to a net debt of 1678% by end-2018.

Read more here.

From e27:

Reefknot Investments, a joint venture between Temasek and Swiss transport and logistics company Kuehne + Nagel, has made its maiden investment in PROWLER.io.

Based in the UK, PROWLER utilises Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help turn dynamic, real-time data into optimal decisions about business problems.

This strategic investment follows the launch of Reefknot’s $68.04m (US$50m) global fund and the think-tank The Centre of Excellence for Global Emerging Supply Chain Technologies.

Founded in 2016, PROWLER’s AI engine VUKU can process moving data in real-time, adapt to uncertainty, act on sparse information and learn from experience. It is data-efficient, not data-hungry, so it does not need Big Data sets to be effective and it's designed for broad application across multiple sectors.

Read more here.

From DealStreetAsia:

Indian-based home interiors and renovation startup Livspace is investing $40.82m (US$30m) to expand its operations in Singapore and the Asia Pacific (APAC).

According to a statement, the funds will be used to hire talent, build design experience centres and develop a regional supply chain.

The company, backed by American investment company TPG Growth, plans to employ over 250 people in Singapore over the next two years. It will also work towards onboarding freelance designers, contract manufacturers, OEMs and brands to build an e-commerce supply chain in the local home improvement industry.

“Over the next 30 months, we aim to build Livspace into a $680.40m (US$500m) business operating across APAC and solve the renovation problem for tens of thousands of homeowners,” said Livspace CEO and co-founder Anuj Srivastava.

Read more here.

Image from KrisEnergy's website