Daily Briefing: Cycle & Carriage begins car leasing in Singapore; Influencer commerce platform RAENA secures $1.82m in funding round

And AI-powered retinal diagnostics company Leben Care Technologies raises undisclosed amount from IP Ventures.

From Channel News Asia:

Cycle & Carriage Singapore said on Thursday that it has expanded into the car leasing segment, in response to changing market demands and competition.

Cycle & Carriage's new leasing arm will provide a range of options from daily rentals to long-term car rentals of up to three years, the automotive group said in a press release.

The leasing arm will carry brands represented by Cycle & Carriage in Singapore, including Kia Cerato, Kia Stonic, Kia Niro Hybrid and Mitsubishi Attrage. Rentals start at S$57 a day.

As part of its expansion plans, Cycle & Carriage will lease the cars to private-hire drivers. It will also lease and manage fleets of cars for corporate clients and ride-sharing industry players, starting with a partnership with ride-hailing operator Go-Jek, it said.

Read more here.

From DealStreetAsia:

Singapore-based influencer commerce platform RAENA has closed a $1.82m funding round led by Beenext and joined by Beenos and Strive, the company said in a statement.

The round also saw the participation of non-institutional investors such as Blume Ventures managing partner Sanjay Nath, and Shailesh Rao, a partner at TPG Growth and Rise Fund – ASEAN and India.

Founded by former Google and Amazon executive Sreejita Deb, RAENA was launched in early April as a destination for Indonesian customers to purchase niche beauty brands from Japan and Korea. However, it later turned its focus towards the influencer marketing industry after partnering with two leading Indonesian beauty influencers to promote two products.

Read more here.

From e27:

Singapore-based Leben Care Technologies, which provides AI-powered retinal diagnostics and screening solutions, has secured an undisclosed amount in funding from India-based IP Ventures.

The startup will use the funds to strengthen its product, sales and marketing teams. Leben Care is focused on improving the quality of diagnosis across the areas of life sciences.

Its flagship Netra.AI enables automated and point of care retinal image analysis by reducing the incidence of blindness by timely identification of patients at risk and offering insights to medical practitioners, thus enabling improved diagnostic outcome.

Read more here.