Editor’s note:
Pony Ma, Tencent founder and CEO, is the richest Chinese according to Hurun Global Rich List 2018 while Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world.
KrASIA Daily is a five-minute read to brief you everything you need to know to start your day. We only choose the latest tech & startup news that is worth your time, with a focus on Southeast Asia and China.
Southeast Asia:
Singapore: Online gaming and e-commerce firm Sea Ltd reported a larger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss and the departure of its president, who was the public face of the company during its listing in the United States last year. The Singapore-based firm, which counts China’s Tencent Holdings as its biggest shareholder, saw its losses magnified by marketing expenses for its new e-commerce division, which more than tripled to $135 million in the quarter as the firm rolled out shipping and other promotions to snag new users. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore: Following a failed reverse takeover (RTO) involving Starland Holdings last year, European social-trading broker Ayondo Ltd is set to become the first financial technology (fintech) enterprise to list on the Catalist growth board of the Singapore Exchange (SGX). (Deal Street Asia)
Indonesia: Indonesian peer-to-peer lending platform UangTeman said it is set to raise a Series B financing round by mid-2018, claiming it would be one of the largest such rounds for a fintech firm in Southeast Asia. (Deal Street Asia)
China:
Pony Ma, Tencent founder and CEO, is the richest Chinese according to Hurun Global Rich List 2018 while Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world. (36Kr)
Source: Chinese electric vehicle startup NIO has hired eight banks including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to work on a planned U.S. stock market listing this year worth up to $2 billion. (Reuters)
Tencent is catching up quickly in Indian market with investments, the Chinese social networking giant is reportedly grabbing a sizable stake in Gaana, a New Delhi, India-based music streaming service, says Bloomberg citing sources familiar with the matter. (KrASIA)
Electronics recycler Shanhs.com (闪回收) has recently raised nearly 100 million yuan (approx. USD 15.8 million) in a Series A financing round from Xiaomi and Shunwei Capital. (KrASIA)
IQiyi, Baidu’s answer to Netflix, filed on Tuesday for an IPO on Nasdaq to raise USD 1.5 billion under the ticker IQ. Robin Li’s search engine giant Baidu expects to remain the largest shareholder of iQiyi after the float. (KrASIA)
Aldwx.com (阿拉丁), China’s third-party statistics platform for WeChat mini-programs, announced last night that it has closed an RMB 60 million (approx. USD9.5 million) Series A round led by GSJ Ventures, with participation from existing investors including Ameba Capital. (KrASIA)
MIT reached a partnership with China’s AI company Sense Time to explore the field of AI together. (tech.qq)
China plans to shorten the queue time for unicorn startups in the field of biology, cloud computing, AI and high-end manufacture. (36Kr)
Source: Grail Inc., a cancer detection firm backed by Tencent, Bill Gates and the personal venture fund of Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, is planning a Hong Kong initial public offering in a win for the city’s attempts to draw biotech listings. (Deal Street Asia)
Security service startup Qingteng Cloud Security has raised CNY200 million ($32 million) in its Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital China, internet media Lieyunwang reported. (Deal Street Asia)
Li Shufu and his Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. held informal talks about a potential takeover of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV before China’s biggest private automaker turned its attention toward Daimler AG, according to people familiar with the matter. (Deal Street Asia)
Fourier Intelligence Co., which provides physical rehabilitation via robotic exoskeletons, has secured CNY30 million (USD4.8 million) in A-round funding as it looks to further develop and commercialize its medical robots while forming a sector ecosystem. (Yicai Global)
FENG Yi, president at JD.com responsible for consumer businesses: JD.com is targeting to raise it transaction volume to RMB 500 million (approx. USD 79 million) by 2020 cooperating with brands. (36Kr)
WeChat Pay and Alipay now operate in 40 countries and regions globally. WeChat Pay is now available in 20 countries and regions including Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea. (Xinhua)
NetEase Cloud Music has inked a partnership with music label HIM International Music to acquire the copyright of the latter’s music. (36Kr)
Alibaba‘s new retail store Hema rolled out an express delivery service that delivers urgent purchases such as medicine, battery, and condoms to shoppers within 30 minutes. (tech.huanqiu)
Tencent and Legend Capital participated in an RMB120 million (approx. USD 19 million) round in online education startup Yangcong345.com (洋葱数学). (36Kr)
Hipac (海拍客), an online B2B platform for maternal and infant products founded in 2015, has closed a USD 50 million Series C round of financing. (iyiou)
World:
Frances Frei, who was hired to fix what ailed Uber’s broken culture and put its controversial CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick on the right path, is leaving the company. (Recode)
Amazon.com is embracing open-source software in the race to get its voice-based Alexa digital assistant into cars ahead of Google. (Bloomberg)
India’s Online lending platform Credy which facilitates small-ticket, online personal loans and school fee financing loans has raised $1.4 Mn in Seed funding from prominent investors including Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures, Vy Capital, and a bunch of Silicon Valley-based angel investors. (Inc42)
The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued scores of subpoenas and information requests to technology companies and advisers involved in the red-hot market for digital tokens, according to people familiar with the matter. (WSJ)
After a lengthy buildup, Spotify has finally filed for its direct public listing— the unorthodox process that circumvents the traditional Wall Street initial public offering process wherein banks are hired to find buyers for the shares. (Business Insider)
Spotify, which is already heavily reliant on Google‘s public cloud infrastructure, said on Wednesday that it plans to go deeper, eventually moving remaining computing and storage workloads in its data centers over to Google. (CNBC)
Hangouts Chat, Google’s take on modern workplace communication, is now generally available and is becoming a core part of G Suite. (Tech Crunch)
