China’s biggest ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing has raised $4 Billion Investment, raising its cash reserves up to $12 billion. This move comes as the ride-hailing behemoth seeks to expand its presence in the global market.
Kr-ASIA 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: Asia’s biggest warehouse operator, Global Logistic Properties (GLP), claimed that it had established two new European funds. This move comes as it seeks to foray into the European market. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore: JustCo, city-state’s co-working space provider, has formed a joint venture company with Gunung Sewu, as part of its plan to expand its presence in Indonesia.(Deal Street Asia)
Singapore: The first cryptocurrency café in the city-state launches, promoting the use of its virtual currency called Ducatus. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore: Mapletree Industrial Trust, the real estate investment company, has jointly purchased 14 data centers in the U.S. (Deal Street Asia)
The Philippines: The private equity investment ecosystem is still in its nascent stage, while the number of companies worth investing keeps growing, according to Alasdair Thomson, a partner and co-founder of the PE firm Sierra Madre Philippines. (Deal Street Asia)
Thailand: SET-listed media company Nation Multimedia Group is set to sell its assets including shares in digital TV channel Now26. (Deal Street Asia)
Malaysia: In 2017, Lazada and Shopee are the first two most searched e-commerce in Malaysia. The Single’s Day shopping festival, 12.12 sale and Black Friday garnered the highest interest. (e27)
Singapore: Grab launched a pop-up store, allowing customers to redeem goods using their GrabReward points. (e27)
Malaysia: Online good trading platform HelloGold announced a partnership with mobile wallet Boost, integrating HelloGold’s offer in the e-wallet. (HelloGold)
Singapore: The City-state simplifies immigration scheme for entrepreneurs, removing the threshold of paying at least $37,000. (e27)
Singapore: Hong Kong-based and Singapore-listed Noble Group, the troubled commodity trader, received an extension on a loan, giving it time to negotiate over debt restructuring. (Deal Street Asia)
China:
Didi Chuxing, Uber’s biggest rival in China, has mopped up $4 Billion Investment to expand in AI, global market presence, and EVs. (Kr-ASIA)
JD launches second-hand goods marketplace, expanding JD’s e-commerce ecosystem. (36Kr)
Huawei’s mobile brand Honor has surpassed Xiaomi, holding most market shares in the internet phone market in China. (Tencent)
China Customer Association has reported a case to the police as the bike-sharing startup Kuqi bike failed to refund customers deposit back. (36Kr)
Carrefour is studying a plan to divest its business in China, after experiencing a 4.6% fall in sales revenue compared to the same period of last year. (36Kr)
China Telecom has become a wholly state-funded company. (China Telecom)
Meituan launches smart voice assistant in cooperation with iFLYTEK and LKK, allowing couriers to interact with the food delivery platform by voice. (Sina)
Baidu and Huawei reached strategic partnership to cooperate in several verticals including AI open platform, human-computer interaction, content and services. (36Kr)
Alibaba reached a partnership with China Eastern Airlines, merging the membership data of its affiliate Flypiggy with the one of the airline company. (Sina)
Mobike reached a partnership with China Meteorological Administration’s public service center. The two is to cooperate in the development of IoT incorporated with weather factors. (36Kr)
Tencent QQ and Toutiao’s short video app Microlive Vision have both launched dancing games. (36Kr)
Bubble in an industry sometimes is good, as it can boost developments, said 36Kr founder Liu Chengcheng. (36Kr)
There are 120 unicorn companies in Greater China, among which, 21 are backed by Tencent and 11 backed by Alibaba. Xiaomi, Meituan-Dianping, and Toutiao are among the top ten, according to Hurun Report. (36Kr)
WeChat’s work version claimed to have 3000 DAU and 150 registered company users to date. It plans to roll out funding project to attract more users. (Sina)
Internet financing firm Lexin listed on Nasdaq. The opening price was $11.8, rising 31% compared to its offering price. (Sina)
Apple’s shares are expected to have good performance thanks to the success of its iPhoneX in the Chinese market, according to JP Morgan. (iFeng)
World:
Y Combinator participated in a $16 million Series A round of SendBird, a company that provides chat API. (Venture Beat)
New York Stock Exchange’s NYSE Arca, has resubmitted an application with the SEC to list a pair of Bitcoin-backed ETF that would track newly-introduced Bitcoin futures contracts. (Fortune)
Sequoia is planning its third global growth fund worth $6 billion, putting pressure on VCs to raise more funds to remain competitive. (Recode)
U.S.’s bike sharing company Limebike expects to make $100 million in revenue. (36Kr)
Samsung holds half of India’s mobile market share despite Xiaomi keeps expending its presence in the local market.(36Kr)
Subscription-based e-commerce platform Daily Harvest has closed a Series B funding round worth $43 million led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Daily Harvest claims to provide healthy snaks. (36Kr)
Magic Leap unveiled its first head-mounted virtual retinal display, Magic Leap One. (36Kr)
Apple is likely to pay more tax to align with the new U.S. tax law. (Sina)
Low-resolution photos can fool the facial recognition feature in Windows 10 PC. (iFeng)
Alphabet’s Eric Emerson Schmidt is to step down from the Executive Chairman and serve as technical advisor. (Sina)
Prada is set to roll out its first e-commerce platform in China, allowing customers to shop online while incorporating networking and digital payment features. (36Kr)