Hi there, it’s Robin.
This week we saw two tech behemoths fighting back against one stumbling block for online businesses – fraud. Scammers have demonstrated time and again their innate ability to game systems when there’s money to be made.
Grab is one of them, announcing the launch of a new anti-fraud technology suite in Indonesia this week. Grab and other ride-sharing platforms have struggled with instances of fake bookings and other fraud schemes with which some drivers try to skim off bonuses.
Chinese social commerce company Pinduoduo is fighting another type of crime: fake goods sold as the real deal on its platform. The company is now reportedly set to hire another 500 more staffers to tackle the problem of counterfeits.
Meanwhile, the bike-sharing industry is still in growing pains. After Ofo sacked its operations team in Singapore just before the Lunar New Year, more than 15 others from Mobike lost their jobs this week as the Chinese bike-sharing company pulls back to China. Some good news for a change from Hello Chuxing, previously HelloBike. The firm reports that its social credit scheme has helped significantly reduce the number of damaged bikes. Careless parking and vandalism are some of the problems the bike-sharing sector haven’t been fully solved.
For Mobike, its acquisition by the Hong Kong-listed Meituan-Dianping last year failed to turn the tides. Losses kept growing and ended up accounting for more than half of the US$1.27 billion of Meituan’s total losses in 2018.
Closer to home in Southeast Asia, things are picking up steam in Vietnam. The booming e-commerce market and rising middle class are luring e-commerce giants in. After Amazon, Alibaba has joined in the game with a strategy designed to help Vietnamese companies export their products globally.
Read on to find out more interesting stories from last week, and feel free to tip us if you have news clue or you just want to talk with us, email us at hello@kr-asia.com and we are looking forward to hearing from you.
Here are some stories you shouldn’t miss.
Southeast Asia
Alipay-NUS Enterprise Social Innovation Challenge, Jakarta: recap
Sea rakes in over $1.5b to boost its cash position
Live-video app Bigo already had to block 200,000 pieces of content in Indonesia
Vietnamese conglomerate VinGroup opens IoT research facility in South Korea
Alipay-NUS Enterprise Social Innovation Challenge, Kuala Lumpur: recap
RedDoorz on funding spree as it launches massive expansion plans
The Philippines’ largest telco takes a  multi-vendor approach to hedge ‘Huawei risk’
Singapore health service startup CXA Group seizes $25m in bridging round
Singaporean government begins granting e-money licenses to digital payment providers
Line drops $20m to produce first Thai unicorn
Indonesia’s Ovo acquires Taralite to step up lending services
Singapore invests close to $15m in world’s first e-waste recycling lab
China
Tencent Live tests live-streaming in WeChat
Alibaba augments its logistics arm by buying stake in STO Express
No class action against Tesla over drastic price cut yet, says Chinese Model X owner
New energy vehicles sales doubled in China in first two months of this year
Despite calls for Apple to shift production to US the firm’s Chinese supplier list keeps growing
Baidu’s mini programmes now have more than 150 million users Â
Luckin Coffee’s $7.5 million bet to boost sales ahead of rumored IPO
SF Holding Shunfeng DHL Venture
Chinese smartphone shipments continue to dwindle, down 20% in February
Xiaomi-backed online broker Up Fintech significantly scales back IPO target
Tencent augments its retail arm with investment in neighbourhood fresh-food stores
Tencent-backed second-hand goods app gains traction with 50 million monthly active users in 2018
SoftBank will invest another $1.6b in Didi Chuxing
China’s leading wedding services app announces  $70 million Series D1 funding
Chinese consumers losing interest in iPhone, research shows
The Chinese education ministry wants to clampdown on the proliferation of campus apps
Chinese fintech giant LuFax raises $1.3b, valued at over $39b
Momo predicts big growth in Eastern markets for its dating app Tantan
Despite vaulting growth in 2018, Pinduoduo books $1.5b net loss
Pinduoduo is setting up a new tech advisory board led by Baidu’s vice chairman Lu Qi
Huawei thinks it can beat Samsung and Apple to lead global smartphone shipments this year
Chinese Premier doubles down on the message that China won’t use Huawei to spy on other countries
Huawei prepares for possible US ban with in-house alternatives to Android and Windows
Downloads of Tencent game Honour of Kings down 55% in February
US security reviews holding back Chinese investment, says Baidu’s Robin Li
Insights/ Interviews
Community Group Buy – the next billion-dollar e-commerce industry
Edtech firms are filling crucial gaps in Southeast Asia
Oyo China CFO: We’ll have clear models for hotel operation and profitability
TNG Digital CEO Syahrunizam Samsudin: Understanding social impact
Vietnamese SMEs and startups are on track to make it big this year