Daily Briefing: Tribe Accelerator raises $21.5m for portfolio firms; Cosmetics retailer Sasa exits Singapore

And agri trade platform DiMuto clinches funding from SGInnovate.

From e27:

Government-supported blockchain accelerator Tribe Accelerator has facilitated the fundraising of $21.5m for its participating companies through its ecosystem of corporate and investor partners.

The fund was announced on the first Demo Day of the Tribe Global Demo Tour for its second batch of participating companies in Singapore. Enterprise Singapore also supports the fundraising.

At the Singapore Fintech Festival X SWITCH 2019, Tribe also signed MoU with Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) FinTech Hive, the largest financial technology accelerator in the Middle East. The move gives Tribe access to a new pool of innovators, investors, and corporate partners.

Read more here.

From CNA:

Cosmetics retailer Sasa International will close all 22 stores in Singapore, the company announced. About 170 employees will be affected by the decision, the company said, adding that they will be "fully compensated" according to local employment laws and regulations.

"The Group's performance in Singapore has been less than satisfactory for many years, and has recorded losses for six consecutive years," Sasa said. In the six months ended Sep 30, the Group’s turnover for the Singapore operations was S$17.36 million, a decline of 4.6 per cent.

Sasa said it has decided to concentrate its resources on the markets in Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China and Malaysia, as well as its e-commerce business.

Read more here.

From DealStreetAsia:

Agri-food trade tech solutions platform DiMuto has raised an undisclosed sum from the government-owned SGInnovate, according to an announcement.

The firm will use the new funding to expand to markets such as Europe and Latin America in the next few months. Currently, DiMuto has presence in 7 countries including US, China, Indonesia, Australia and Mexico.

Founded by Gary Loh, DiMuto creates traceability for every single fruit as they move through the supply chain – from farms, factories, cold chains to distribution channels and end consumers. Using blockchain, IoT and AI in its trade solutions, it digitalises the agri-food supply chain for data visibility and trade transparency.

Read more here.

Photo from Tribe's website