MOX reveals 8th cohort of global startups innovating govtech, publishing tech, edtech, D2C retail, and logistics

Today, MOX, SOSV-backed accelerator for mobile-only users, has unveiled the eighth cohort of international startup teams in govtech, publishing tech, edtech, D2C retail, and logistics.

One after another, they pitched their ideas to an audience of regional investors, entrepreneurs, and media outlets on the demo day in Taipei; the same event will take place in Singapore later this week.

Based in India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Malaysia, the ten startups from this cohort target mobile-only users in emerging markets who primarily use their smartphones to carry out daily tasks. Collectively, they have over 10 million users and US$1 million in revenue.

“The first billion internet users accessed the Internet using their PCs, but the next four billion users — Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and South America — are mobile-only," explained William Bao Bean, Managing Director of MOX and General Partner of SOSV. "Hundreds of millions of users are getting on the Internet with smartphones."

With global mentors and partners including smartphone brands, telecom companies, and mobile content providers, MOX helps startups acquire users for free and drive higher lifetime value. Therefore, instead of selling equity to buy online ads, startups in the accelerator program are able to focus on building unit economics before raising additional capital.

SOSV, the US-based VC firm behind MOX and an active early-stage investor, has invested $100K-120K in each company in this batch.

“MOX has been focusing on building real businesses with revenue and even profit. Now that ‘growth at any cost’ is out of style, our startups are specifically positioned to excel because of the focus on positive unit economics from day one,” said Mr. Bao Bean.

Launched in 2015, MOX leads consumer mobile startups in India, Indonesia, and the rest of Southeast Asia and South Asia to take advantage of the massive opportunity created by cheap internet and smartphones. It has famously backed AI-enabled English pronunciation coach ELSA and price-compare and cash-back platform BigGo.

Meet the startups

Arkademi (Indonesia): Vocational training platform helping 185 million working-age Indonesians upskill and increase monthly earnings by 20%.

Civilcops (India): Personalized communications platform bridging governments and citizens, making smart cities possible.

Eat Mubarak (Pakistan): The UberEats of Pakistan, connecting 3,500 restaurants with their 1 million users.

Giladiskon (Indonesia): Social buying club where 1.5m Indonesian members get exclusive discounts at restaurants and lifestyle retailers.

Kravve (Malaysia): The Etsy of Food. A social commerce platform powering small businesses.

Moodah (Indonesia): Helping mom-and-pop shops digitize their sales, inventory, and cash management.

Pencil (India): Turning books and other publishing into living content using data, analytics and dynamic editing.

Supplynote (India): Procurement management platform that cuts out the middlemen and automates purchasing for restaurants.

Verismart (India): Identity and personal data management platform leveraging blockchain to drive KYC, risk profiling and fraud management.

Yuna&Co. (Indonesia): Giving young professionals confidence through personalized clothing boxes using AI-based fashion matching.

〔Original :Meet Startup @ TW〕
https://meet.bnext.com.tw/intl/articles/view/46123