Singapore-based user interface (UI) test automation platform UI-licious announced raising $1.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by venture capital firm Monk’s Hill Ventures.
The startup, co-founded in 2016 by She Ling Tai and Eugene Cheah, offers a proprietary smart testing engine that allows one to automate UI testing without the need to know coding. This process reduces the time needed to write a test by up to 80 per cent, UI-licious said.
“Currently, 90 per cent of software teams worldwide rely on manual testing which is laborious, intensive and costly. We created UI-licious because the software industry needs a UI test automation solution that is robust, scalable, and cost-effective – while being as simple as possible,” said CEO and co-founder Tai Shi Ling.
The new funds will be used to expand its product development, widen its customer base of small and large enterprises, and grow its sales and market teams. UI-licious raised an undisclosed amount in its seed funding in 2017, backed by Entrepreneur First and SparkLabs Global Ventures.
PH fintech startup NextPay bags $125k from Y Combinator
Philippine-based fintech startup NextPay announced raising $125,000 in pre-seed funding from Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator to expand its digital banking services for small businesses in the country.
Launched in 2020 by co-founders Don Pansacola (CEO) and Aldrich Tan (Chief Experience Officer), NextPay provides a banking platform that gives growing firms access to financial services such as digital invoicing, cash management, and batch payments to any bank or e-wallet in the Philippines.
The pre-seed investment makes NextPay one of the first five Filipino tech startups to be backed by and selected by Y Combinator, joining software firm Kalibrr, payments provider PayMongo, edtech firm Avion School, and healthtech startup Dashlabs.ai.
NextPay said it has processed over $2.5 million in digital transactions for more than 100 businesses since its launch last year. It aims to enable more businesses, entrepreneurs, and freelancers to centralise their financial requirements through its platform.
With the fresh funding, Pansacola said the startup seeks to introduce more payment acceptance methods, virtual credit cards, and other digital solutions for businesses to manage their cash flow better.
SOUTHEAST ASIA DEAL MONITOR
DealStreetAsia has also put together a table listing out prominent venture capital transactions in Southeast Asia in the week beginning March 22.
