Editor’s note:
Uber’s autonomous car pilots in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Phoenix and Toronto will be suspended. When the accident happened in Arizona, there weren’t passengers but a vehicle operator in the car.
Another Uber self-driving car accident happened a year ago also in Arizona, without causing serious injuries.
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:
SE Asia: Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba is adding another USD 2 billion capital injection to Southeast Asian online shopping startup Lazada, bringing its total investment in the e-commerce upstart to a whopping 4 billion, Alibaba said Monday. (KrASIA)
Indonesia: Indonesian ride-hailing giant Go-Jek is mulling over the possibility of spinning off its lifestyle and professional arm, Go-Life, into a separate business entity and raise its own funds, according to senior vice president Dayu Dara Permata. (Deal Street Asia)
Indonesia: Indonesia is carrying out a global roadshow to pitch for investment in the roads, airports and power plants it needs to overhaul Southeast Asia’s largest economy. (Deal Street Asia)
Thailand: Gogoprint, a Bangkok-based online printing service, announced today it has launched in Indonesia and will be serving Jakarta. (e27)
China:
Chinese e-commerce Alibaba just kicked off a dedicated app dubbed Taobao Tejia, meaning Taobao Discounts, in what seems to be a hasty move to fend off a fast-growing challenger to its Taobao Marketplace. (KrASIA)
Chinese ride-hailing company DiDi announced on March 19th that the company will raise $1.5 billion in funding using asset-backed securities (ABS), after getting approval from the Shanghai Stock Exchange. ABS is a financial security collateralized by a pool of assets such as loans, leases, credit card debt, royalties or receivables. (Technode)
China’s largest car-hailing firm Didi Chuxing has invested in Shenzhen-based Yestock Car Rental Company Limited to become an “important shareholder,” according to Yestock’s announcement. (China Money Network)
Tencent Holdings’s online publishing spin-off will invest in book adaptations as part of a strategy to achieve its aim of becoming “China’s Marvel”. On Monday, China Literature reported a 15-fold increase in net profit last year on the back of a surge in number of paying subscribers. (scmp)
China’s video streaming platform iQiyi is going to list on Nasdaq next week under the ticker IQ, issuing ADRs worth USD 125 million. The Initial Public Offering price will be USD 17-19. (36Kr)
Bilibili, China’s video streaming platform, plans to raise USD 441-525 million through a Nasdaq listing. The Initial Public Offering price will be USD 10.5-12.5 per ADS. (36Kr)
Guangzhou and Shenzhen, both in China’s populous southern Guangdong province, have rebuffed attempts by Didi Chuxing’s Didi Bikes service to start services in their cities, citing saturation and ill-management of existing bicycles, according to Guangdong News, citing regulators. (scmp)
Meituan-Dianping is likely to kick off its ride-hailing service in early April, when Didi-Chuxing is going to roll out its food delivery service in Wuxi. (36Kr)
Alibaba Group Holding’s plan to launch a version of the Alipay mobile payment service in Japan has hit a snag, as banks withhold cooperation out of concern over potential data leaks into China. (Nikkei Asian Review)
Automaker BYTON announced ex-MD of Goldman Sachs CHENG Changqing has officially joined the company as co-chairman and will be responsible for investment market and investor relations. (iyiou)
Shanghai Stock Exchange give its nod to Didi Chuxing to issue Asset-Backed Security to support the company’s expansion. The shelf registration provision is worth RMB 10 billion (approx. $1.58 billion) while the first provision stands at RMB 300 million (approx. $ 47.4 million). (caijing)
Hema Xiansheng, Alibaba’s new retail store, rolled out a service in Shanghai that allows users to buy adult products and receive purchases within 30 minutes. (36Kr)
Geely unveiled its internet of vehicle system GKUI on March 15. (36Kr)
Tencent is working on AI-powered hardware and services that allow aged people to better use the internet. (36Kr)
Beverage chain Naixue’s tea closed a Series A+ round and is valued RMB 6 billion post financing, marking it becomes a unicorn startup. (36Kr)
Xiaomi‘s latest value is likely to be over USD 80 billion and its market capitalization is expected to cross USD 100 billion after floatation, according to Leidiwang. (36Kr)
US-listed Auto information portal Yiche Wang plans to buy back its stock worth USD 150 million. (Tech.Sina)
World:
Uber is temporarily halting self-driving car tests in all locations after a deadly accident, in what is likely the first pedestrian fatality caused by a self-driving car. (CNBC)
Drivers for app-based cab aggregators Uber and Ola started an indefinite strike across India on Monday, demanding extra pay as a surge in the number of cabs on the two platforms, coupled with cutbacks in incentive payments, have stung drivers. (Reuters)
Uber Technologies Inc. is borrowing more than it originally planned in the U.S. leveraged loan market, where a decision by the ride-hailing company to halt autonomous vehicle tests following a fatality isn’t deterring investor demand. (Bloomberg)
Oracle Corp. reported quarterly sales from cloud-computing products and new software licenses that underwhelmed investors, dragging shares down as much as 4.2 percent in extended trading. (Bloomberg)
Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune dropped $4.9 billion Monday as investors weighed reports that a political advertising firm retained information on millions of Facebook Inc. users without their consent. (Bloomberg)
Apple Inc. is designing and producing its own device displays for the first time, using a secret manufacturing facility near its California headquarters to make small numbers of the screens for testing purposes, according to people familiar with the situation. (Bloomberg)