Xiaomi’s floatation on HKEX could be the world’s largest IPO this year and since 2014. The company is reportedly looking to raise US$10 billion at a valuation of US$100 billion.
KrASIA Daily is a three-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: Mobile Credit Payment Pte. Ltd (better known as MC Payment), has acquired iFashion Group for S$25 million (US$18.7 million) in a deal that will give the payments platform ownership over a few well-known brands like Megafash and Dressabelle. The company also announced it will list on the SGX Catalist via a reverse takeover by Artivision Technologies. (e27)
SE Asia: Swingvy, a SaaS startup providing an HR platform for small and medium enterprises in Southeast Asia, today announced it has closed a bridge financing round from Aviva Ventures, the corporate VC arm of international insurance company Aviva. (e27)
Singapore: Singapore-based fintech startup CredoLab today announced that it has raised a US$1 million funding from global venture capital firm Walden International. (e27)
Singapore: Singapore-based fintech startup Helicap announced that it has raised US$1.5 million in seed funding round led by the country’s former Minister of State for Manpower Teo Ser Luck. (e27)
Malaysia: The Securities Commission (SC) has called upon venture capital (VC) management companies to apply for the RM1 billion fund committed by major institutional investors, as announced in the Budget 2018. (ST)
China:
China’s Xiaomi, an all-around smart devices maker that converted from a smartphone pure play, has filed with HKEX for what could be the world’s largest IPO this year and since 2014. (KrASIA)
China’s Huobi, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, has announced it is setting up a US$1 billion fund to finance domestic blockchain-related start-ups, in a bid to bolster its operations in the country after shutting down renminbi-to-bitcoin trading last year. (SCMP)
Meituan Dianping, the internet giant backed by China’s most valuable tech corporation, has begun investigating reports of a data breach that exposed the private information of tens of thousands of users. (SCMP)
As the United States government mulls further restrictions on the activities of Chinese telecommunications equipment makers Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp, many small carriers dependent on these suppliers for low-cost gear have found themselves in limbo. (SCMP)
China’s robotics unicorn UBTECH Robotics announced on Thursday it has closed a Series C round worth US$820 million led by Tencent with participation from big-name investors including ICBC, Haier, Chia Tai Group, Credit Ease, and Easy Home, at a valuation of US$5 billion, planning to focus on commercialization which is the top priority for the company this year according to UBTECH CEO ZHOU Jian. (KrASIA)
GGV Capital has raised close to RMB 1.5 billion in its first RMB fund, the venture capital firm announced in a press release. The new RMB fund will focus on early stage and growth stage startups in areas including internet services, consumption upgrade, cutting edge technology, smart hardware, corporate services, and digital services. (Technode)
Alipay has announced the launch of its new initiative small and micro businesses growth plan dedicated to helping small and micro businesses grow. Ant Financial said that its Alipay platform is pledging RMB 1 trillion in loans over the next 3 years to help businesses overcome financing problems and difficulties. (Technode)
Alibaba announced it has fully acquired speech enhancement startup Sound Connect and is preparing to establish two acoustics labs. (36Kr)
World:
Spotify Technology SA missed the beat on Wednesday. The streaming music leader fell short of investor hopes that it could turn free music listeners into paying subscribers at a faster clip, and its shares dropped as much as 9 percent. (Reuters)
Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. is in the midst of a boardroom battle with Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and chief executive of cab-hailing firm Ola, according to two people familiar with the matter. (Live Mint)
Amazon.com Inc has made a formal offer to buy 60 percent of Flipkart, CNBC-TV18 reported on Wednesday, potentially complicating Walmart Inc’s bid for majority ownership of the Indian online retailer. (Reuters)
Telegram Group Inc., an encrypted messaging app, has reportedly scrapped plans to issue digital tokens in a public sale after raising a whopping $1.7 billion privately. (Bloomberg)
Shares in Tesla took a nosedive in after-hours trading today as Elon Musk cut off analysts during a first-quarter earnings call. He dismissed a question about gross margins from Bernstein senior analyst Toni Sacconaghi as “boring.” Instead, Musk and other executives answered multiple questions from a Tesla enthusiast and Youtuber named Gali Russell. (CNBC)