Editor’s note:
Brick and motor supermarkets were popular years ago in China. People used to drive to these big stores at the weekend.
But things have been quite different, with fast fresh food delivery and convenience stores in the neighborhood.
Supermarket chains like Carrefour are prone to the change. Teaming up with established tech companies might be a good way out.
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: oBike announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Grab to deepen collaboration between the two. Following the deal, oBike will integrate GrabPay into its app. (KrASIA)
Indonesia: State-owned telecommunications company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia plans to launch its Telkom 4 satellite which is manufactured by Space Systems Loral (SSL) and will be launched by SpaceX. (seasia)
Singapore: Singapore-based decentralized database provider Bluzelle has announced that its initial coin offering (ICO) has raised $19.5 million in funding, according to a press statement. (Deal Street Asia)
Indonesia: Indonesian used car marketplace BeliMobilGue.co.id announced today that it has raised a US$3.7 million in Pre-Series A funding round led by venture capital firm Intudo Ventures. (e27)
Singapore: Four major crowdfunding platforms in Singapore, Give.asia, Giving.sg, The Ray Of Hope Initiative and SimplyGiving, will adopt a Code of Practice that will make online fundraising safer. (Yahoo)
Singapore: City-state-based Ninja Van, technology-enabled logistics platform that operates in Southeast Asia, has announced the conclusion of a Series C funding round in 2017. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore: Intermediate Capital Group (ICG), a UK-based specialist asset manager, has acquired Singapore’s private education institution PSB Academy from Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) for an undisclosed sum. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore: Electric utility FirstEnergy Corp, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has received a $2.5-billion equity investment from a group of fund managers that includes Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC as well as Elliott Management Corp. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore: AnyMind Group, the parent company of Singapore-based AdAsia Holdings, is planning to raise $40 million to $50 million in a series B round by the middle of this year. (Deal Street Asia)
The Philippines: Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) has received approval from its board to go ahead with the plan to acquire at least 66.67 per cent stake in Philippine Dealings System Holdings Corp (PDS Holdings). (Deal Street Asia)
The Philippines: Shenzhen Stock Exchange‘s investment into the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is unlikely to meet the timetable set by the local bourse. (Deal Street Asia)
Vietnam: UK-based financial services group Prudential plc has announced an agreement to sell 100 per cent of its consumer finance business in Vietnam Prudential Vietnam Finance Company Limited (PVFC) to Shinhan Card, a subsidiary of the Korean Shinhan Financial Group for a consideration of $151 million. (Deal Street Asia)
Malaysia: Asia-focused healthcare investor Quadria Capital today announced its investment in Malaysian diagnostics provider Lablink (M) Sdn Bhd. (Deal Street Asia)
China:
Tencent and supermarket chain Yonghui are set to invest in Carrefour China. (tech.sina)
LeTV is set to resume trading on Jan 24. (36Kr)
Tencent’s share price hit a record high and its market capitalization crossed HK$4500 billion (approx. US$575.7 billion). Pony Ma, Tencent founder and CEO, stands at the 11th on Forbes real-time ranking of the World’s Billionaires. (yicai)
Alibaba has paid tax worth over RMB 100 million (approx. US$15.57 million) in 2017 and has created over 33 million jobs. (tech.sina)
Baidu has launched two new artificial intelligence (AI) labs and hired three senior scientists as the Chinese Internet giant continues to bolster its AI division. (The Drum)
JD Financial has launched Jing Yin scheme, teaming up with banks in marketing. (Jiemian)
Wu Xuebin, Baidu’s VP and senior executive at Baidu IDG department, is leaving Baidu for EV maker Baoneng. (chedongxi)
Alibaba’s financial arm, Ant Financial, launched its staff-less store WithAnt powered by Alipay and smart shelves. (36Kr)
China’s video streaming website Bilibili is eyeing a US$ 400 million IPO in the U.S. in Q1 or Q2 this year. (tech.sina)
Tencent participated in a Series C round in Seeapp, a SaaS provider that enables self-media to open e-commerce store using WeChat mini program. (36Kr)
Sinovation Ventures announced to roll out a new fund dedicated to investment in blockchain-related projects. (36Kr)
Regulators in Guangzhou urged Didi to stop docking new bikes of Bluegogo as the bike-sharing startup is grappling with deposit problem. (The Beijing News)
Chinese search engine Sogou teamed up with Oxford University Press and will integrate Oxford dictionary in its search products. (tech.qq)
Xiaomi’s Mijia claimed to become the world’s largest IoT platform with more than 85 million devices connected to its platform. (tech.sina)
Senior executives from Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, and JD become independent director of China’s telecommunication operator China Unicom. (The Paper)
Luxury products e-commerce platform SECOO sealed a partnership with department store chain Parkson Retail Group to merger their online and offline sales and membership systems. (tech.sina)
World:
Netflix crossed a milestone today, crossing the $100 billion mark for its market cap as it once again surprised industry observers with better-than-expected growth in its subscribers. (TechCrunch)
South Korea will ban the use of anonymous bank accounts in cryptocurrency trading from Jan. 30, regulators said on Tuesday in a widely telegraphed move designed to stop virtual coins from being used for money laundering and other crimes. (Reuters)
Veteran anti-tracking search engine DuckDuckGo launched revamped mobile apps and browser extensions that bake in a tracker blocker for third-party sites, and include a suite of other privacy features intended to help users keep surfing privately as they navigate around the web. (TechCrunch)
BitFlyer, the Tokyo-based operator of one of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges, is expanding into Europe after receiving regulatory approval, as the infrastructure that supports cryptocurrency trading continues to grow off the back of the recent boom. (ft)
Facebook has acquired Confirm.io, a startup offered an API that let other companies quickly verify someone’s government-issued identification card, like a driver’s license, was authentic. (TechCrunch)
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board will investigate an accident involving a Tesla Model S sedan that rear-ended a firetruck on a freeway near Los Angeles on Monday. (Bloomberg)
Facebook appointed a former IBM executive to be head of its artificial intelligence group, bringing in an experienced manager to navigate the company’s broadening ambitions for how AI can shape its products. (Bloomberg)
Uber, whose losses have piled up in the quest for growth around the world, will be profitable in three years as its ride-hailing business matures and the company reaps the rewards from investments in areas such as autonomous vehicles, said Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi. (Bloomberg)