Hi there, it’s Khamila from Jakarta.
This week we saw many exciting updates from Tencent. The company’s hit game PUBG Mobile hit a new grossing record of USD 65 million in March, an 83% monthly revenue growth. The game, released in February 2018, has earned over USD 320 million outside China so far. PUBG is incredibly popular across Asia. The game currently has 200 million registered players and 30 million daily active users outside China ans is considered the most popular smartphone game in India.
Tencent, through one of its subsidiaries, is also said to be buying more than one billion shares in e-commerce SaaS vendor Youzan. The investment gives Tencent a 6.7% stake in Youzan., a firm that helps merchants establish, operate, and promote WeChat business profiles – which benefits Tencent in the long run.
Tencent Holdings further announced that it has raised USD 6 billion in a bond sale which was one of the largest in Asia this year. The company has been investing in various businesses, including e-commerce companies, to stay competitive. In addition to its Youzan stake, Tencent has also increased its stake in Weimob, a B2B SaaS vendor that helps companies advertise to their target consumers on WeChat.
Not only Tencent took bold strides; several of China’s largest internet firms had big news of their own. Hello Chuxing, which is backed by Ant Financial reportedly plans up to USD 1 billion as it pivots from bike-sharing to a broader set of ride-sharing options. China’s popular mobile content aggregator Qutoutiaou raises another USD 33 million via a public offering. This fundraising comes shortly after cash-hungry Qutoutiao received a USD 171 million convertible note from Alibaba.
Meanwhile, in Southeast Asia, Indonesian e-commerce players can relax as the country’s finance ministry decided to retract a set of e-commerce tax regulation that was supposed to take effect on April 1st. The minister felt that better coordination with all related stakeholders is necessary to make sure the new rule is efficient and able to boost the growth of the digital economy in Indonesia.
Towards Indonesia’s general election on April 17, the timelines of social media platforms in the country are increasingly becoming inundated with political content. In order to demonstrate its willingness to counter the spread of fake news on its platform, Facebook released a new feature that allows users to get to know the election candidates of executive, legislative, and judicial government bodies. It’s expected to help users make a better-informed decision for the election.
Here are more stories you shouldn’t miss:
Southeast Asia
Aaron Tan of Carro, First-degree connections: Startup Stories
The uniqueness of startup founders in Southeast Asia: Venture Voices
Indonesian unicorn Go-Jek said to be in talks to invest in two Indian startups
Vietnam’s Jio Health nabs $5m in Series A round
Fintech startup Koku secures $2m in pre-Series A funding
Malaysian logistics startup TheLorry raised USD 5.85 million Series B funding
Is Singapore’s tech sector being held back by tight immigration laws?
China
Taobao’s ‘e-commerce via live broadcast’ empire aims higher as annual turnover exceeds USD 15b
JD.com expands ‘green packaging’ to nearly 30 cities
Chinese unicorn Luckin mortgages its coffeemakers for a $6.7 million loan (updated)
China’s industrial internet pioneer Zhongneng United raises USD 50 million in Series B round
Altaba (formerly known as Yahoo) to sell its Alibaba stake