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… was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3343414827630981">article</a> was written by Lan Jie for 36Kr.

Too big to ban? TikTok keeps expanding as Trump grants third ban reprieve

TikTok

East Asia

TikTok Shop

China

On-demand Services

E-commerce

Short Video

Live Streaming

Video

Creative

Content

Consumer Economy

… aria-level="1"><a href="http://haawking.com/">Haawking</a>, a digital signal processor (DSP) maker, has completed a pre-Series B+ funding round with backing from Huajin Capital and Megmeet. The company said it will use the capital to support product promotion and client acquisition. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3339903734036233">36Kr</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://kr-asia.com/most-surface-grinding-is-still-done-by-hand-and-tosso-wants-to-change-that">Tosso</a>, an industrial automation startup based in Shanghai, has raised an eight-figure RMB sum in a Series A funding round led by Seas Capital, with Mount Capital advising. The funds will be used for R&amp;D, hiring, and operational scaling. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3338703019946505">36Kr</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Light Element Technology, a company developing inkjet printing equipment for tandem solar cells, has secured an eight-figure RMB sum in an angel round of financing led by Vision Knight Capital. Zhongsu Capital and the Suzhou High-tech Zone Science and Technology Angel Fund also joined. The capital will go toward tech upgrades and development. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3339250496190213">36Kr</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://kr-asia.com/can-ai-handle-your-next-sales-call-whobot-says-yes">Whobot</a>, a voice AI agent developer, has raised an eight-figure RMB sum in a Series A funding round led by GSR Ventures. Xiangyang Capital Management acted as the financial advisor. The funds will be deployed for tech development and go-to-market efforts. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3324470532188680">36Kr</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">NeuralFin, a Hong Kong-based financial services platform, has completed a Series A funding round worth an eight-figure HKD sum. GPTX, C Capital, and Shuren Education participated. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3332309911021833">36Kr</a></li>
</ul>
whereRelatedArticle
<h3>Atome, Coco Robotics, Allay Therapeutics, and more made recent headlines:</h3>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Atome, a buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform under Advance Intelligence Group, secured a USD 75 million asset-backed financing facility from Lending Ark.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Coco Robotics, an autonomous vehicle company focused on last-mile logistics, raised USD 80 million from a slate of investors including returning backers Sam and Max Altman, Pelion, Outlander, and SNR, along with new participants Offline, DeepWater, and Ryan Graves.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Allay Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company, raised USD 57.5 million in a Series D funding round co-led by Lightstone Ventures and ClavystBio, with support from NEA, Vertex Growth, EDBI, SGInnovate, Maruishi Pharmaceutical, and other investors. HSBC Innovation Banking provided venture debt.</li>
</ul>
If there are any news or updates you'd like us to feature, get in touch with us at: <a href="mailto:hello@kr-asia.com">hello@kr-asia.com</a>.
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Deals in brief: Salmon raises USD 88 million, InstaPay closes Series A2 round, ten China deals, and more

Venture Capital

Private Equity

Investment

Merger &amp; Acquisition

… FlowState stabilization, and <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence-driven</a> image processing.
According to Huaan Securities, Insta360 is positioning AI at the core of its next phase of technology development. Its proprietary features include keyframe tagging, deep tracking, motion lapse, and “bullet time.” The company has also begun investing in high-performance chips and AI infrastructure.
Many of these features serve one goal: helping users generate cinematic, shareable content more easily. That has been key to moving panoramic cameras from niche to mainstream.
Compared to standard action cameras, panoramic lenses are harder to use. But Insta360 recognized that most users don’t just want a camera. They want great content, and fast.
One standout feature is the invisible selfie stick, which takes advantage of 360-degree video to erase the stick from the final image, making the footage look like it was captured by a drone or another person. The same applies to visual effects like bullet time or “tiny planet perspective.”
<figure id="attachment_154789" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-154789" style="width: 1920px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-154789" src="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Insta360-One-X-Skateboarder.jpg" alt="Photo of a skateboarder using a selfie stick-mounted One X." width="1920" height="1080" srcset="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Insta360-One-X-Skateboarder.jpg 1920w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Insta360-One-X-Skateboarder-720x405.jpg 720w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Insta360-One-X-Skateboarder-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Insta360-One-X-Skateboarder-768x432.jpg 768w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Insta360-One-X-Skateboarder-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Insta360-One-X-Skateboarder-480x270.jpg 480w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-154789" class="wp-caption-text">Photo of a skateboarder using a selfie stick-mounted One X. Photo and header image source: Insta360.</figcaption></figure>
Insta360’s innovation lay in turning a new viewing angle into new creative possibilities. This helped flatten the learning curve for users, and broaden the market.
But in recent years, product innovation at the feature level began to stall.
Liu explained why: “For a long time, we focused on creative features. But we realized many users were getting stuck on basic functionality even before they could explore the cool stuff. So for the past two years, we invested in solving foundational pain points in specific usage scenarios.”
These included better sound capture at high speeds and underwater reliability. “Now that those issues are mostly resolved, we’re shifting resources back to creative features, and hiring more designers,” Liu told 36Kr.
In the past, Insta360 avoided direct confrontation with DJI and GoPro by leaning into panoramic tech. It then leapfrogged them by building AI-powered tools like FlashCut to make video editing easier.
That head start and technical foresight have kept it ahead—until now.
With DJI and newcomers like Dreame entering the space, competition is heating up, and users now have more options. The field is no longer dominated by a single brand.
Liu sees GoPro’s early success as proof that demand for action cameras is real and lasting. But looking ahead, he believes the toughest competition won’t come from overseas rivals, but from domestic challengers.
The real test? Competing in a category as nuanced and creative as imaging, without resorting to price wars.
“I think that’s what makes this worth doing,” Liu said. “It’s a challenge that matters.”
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3337899315456262">article</a> was written by Leslie Zhang for 36Kr.

Insta360’s IPO pop signals confidence, but the real challenge lies ahead

Insta360

Entertainment

Hardware

Tosso, an industrial automation startup based in Shanghai, has closed a Series A funding round, raising an eight-figure RMB sum. Seas Capital led the round, with Mount Capital advising the deal. The company said it will use the funds to support R&amp;D, grow its team, and scale operations. It previously received angel backing from SenseTime.
Founded in 2016, Tosso focuses on automating one of the more persistent manual processes in industrial manufacturing: grinding. The company designs and builds robotic systems for grinding and provides end-to-end automation solutions. Its core technologies include a flexible force-control grinder, a multi-head adaptive grinding tool, an automated abrasive replacement system, an artificial intelligence-powered grinding module, and an optical inspection platform. These components form the foundation of Tosso’s robots, which are deployed across industries such as rail transit, aerospace, wind power, and automotive.
“Grinding is a core step in manufacturing, and it’s needed across a wide range of downstream sectors,” founder Ge Xugang told 36Kr. The company estimates that market demand for grinding robots across rail, automotive, aviation, and wind energy sectors exceeds RMB 35 billion (USD 4.9 billion), with further growth expected.
While automation in areas like welding has advanced significantly, surface grinding remains mostly manual. Fewer than 10% of processes are automated. Human-led grinding is still common, despite being inefficient, inconsistent, and risky in terms of worker safety. Traditional grinding robots, meanwhile, often struggle with programming complexity, force precision, and real-time responsiveness.
Tosso addresses these issues with a full-stack solution that combines proprietary hardware and software. It currently offers two core products: a compound grinding robot mounted on an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) base for handling large, contoured surfaces like aircraft fuselages and wind turbine blades; and a stationary workstation for components such as railcar bodies and aerospace composites.
Technically, Tosso has built capabilities in AI-driven defect detection, real-time path planning, and adaptive force control. It also maintains a broad library of grinding protocols tailored to different sectors. These features enable its systems to handle various materials, including metal, composites, and painted surfaces.
Its flexible force-control grinder adjusts grinding pressure automatically using a single input value. The multi-head adaptive tool responds to curved surfaces ranging from 0 to 5 degrees and supports one, two, or three grinding heads. The abrasive replacement system automates sandpaper alignment and includes built-in inspection, positioning, and data tracking.
“Our optical module is a major differentiator,” Ge said. “It excels in detecting flaws on high-gloss or reflective surfaces.” The system can detect surface flaws like pinholes, paint clumps, shrinkage, and fibers, even on reflective materials with over 98% accuracy, less than 2% false positives, and precision up to 0.15 millimeters. Coupled with optical data, the robots generate optimized grinding paths for complex, curved surfaces.
To illustrate the robot’s impact, Ge cited the example of stripping paint from a small aircraft. Normally, this task requires 14 workers over two full days. With four Tosso grinding robots working in tandem, the job can be completed within the same timeframe.
<figure id="attachment_154793" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-154793" style="width: 480px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-154793" src="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tosso-Grinding-Robot.jpg" alt="Photo of a Tosso-developed grinding robot." width="480" height="480" srcset="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tosso-Grinding-Robot.jpg 1920w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tosso-Grinding-Robot-720x720.jpg 720w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tosso-Grinding-Robot-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tosso-Grinding-Robot-360x360.jpg 360w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tosso-Grinding-Robot-768x768.jpg 768w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tosso-Grinding-Robot-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tosso-Grinding-Robot-600x600.jpg 600w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tosso-Grinding-Robot-300x300.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-154793" class="wp-caption-text">Photo of a Tosso-developed grinding robot. Photo and header photo source: Tosso via 36Kr.</figcaption></figure>
“AI and embodied intelligence are increasingly integrated in this space,” Ge said. “Our goal is to keep advancing our systems so they can operate with greater environmental awareness and make autonomous decisions. That’s what enables stable, repeatable results.”
Tosso’s clients include CRRC, Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC), Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), and China National Building Material Group (CNBM). It is also working with automakers, shipbuilders, and metal fabricators. The company is aiming to secure RMB 100 million (USD 14 million) in orders for 2025.
Tosso employs over 30 people, more than 70% of whom are in R&amp;D roles. The team originates from a former unit of German toolmaker Festool and brings long-standing expertise in grinding technologies. Its core technical staff includes alumni from Technische Universitat Berlin, Beijing Jiaotong University, Northwestern Polytechnical University, and Tsinghua University, with specialties spanning robotics, AI, and computer vision.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3338703019946505">article</a> was written by Zhang Zhuoqian for 36Kr.

Most surface grinding is still done by hand, and Tosso wants to change that

Artificial Intelligence

Deep Tech

Haomo.AI, the assisted driving company incubated by Great Wall Motor (GWM), is undergoing a wave of senior management departures. Multiple mid- and senior-level executives have left the company, signaling internal turbulence.
According to sources familiar with the matter, chairman Zhang Kai has tendered his resignation, though his next move remains unknown. Vice president of technology Ai Rui and vice president of product Cai Na also exited the company in April.
Founded in 2019, Haomo.AI was spun out from GWM’s assisted driving division under its technology center. In terms of corporate structure, GWM’s largest shareholder is Baoding Great Wall Holdings Group, which is ultimately controlled by GWM chairman Wei Jianjun.
Haomo.AI’s core business is concentrated in two areas: assisted driving systems for passenger vehicles and low-speed autonomous delivery vehicles for last-mile logistics.
However, some employees told 36Kr that both business lines have made minimal progress toward commercialization. In its passenger vehicle segment, Haomo.AI has only secured projects with two Hyundai models, offering features like memory-based driving and automated parking. Delivery for these features is scheduled for August, but development delays have cast doubt on whether that timeline is achievable.
“The sales target for our low-speed delivery vehicle this year is only about 50 units,” one employee said. “The company isn’t developing new models or planning to scale sales. It’s basically trying to clear out existing inventory.”
With weak momentum in commercialization, internal voices are speculating that Haomo.AI might follow the same path as Chery subsidiary ZDrive.ai, which was recently folded back into its corporate R&amp;D structure.
This year has seen aggressive restructuring moves by major Chinese automakers. Subsidiaries that lack competitive edge are being prioritized for consolidation. In late May, Chery merged ZDrive.ai and Lion Tech into its main headquarters, unifying them under a centralized intelligent tech hub to streamline operations. ZDrive.ai’s former general manager Gu Junli is expected to leave, while the R&amp;D team is now led by Wu Xuebin, general manager of Lion Tech.
Haomo.AI’s fate remains unclear, but whatever happens next will likely be a pivotal turning point for the company.
As a spinoff backed by GWM, Haomo.AI was once flush with talent and resources, rivaling many of its startup peers. Chairman Zhang, who previously served as deputy chief engineer at GWM and led its assisted driving programs, was deeply embedded in the company’s key projects, working mostly out of GWM’s office in Baoding, Hebei.
In 2021, Gu Weihao, former general manager of Baidu’s smart vehicle business, joined Haomo.AI as CEO. He was part of a more than 600-person team built from talent drawn from GWM, Baidu, Huawei, and other major tech firms.
Haomo.AI was once a darling of the capital market. In late 2021, the company raised nearly RMB 1 billion (USD 140 million) in a Series A funding round, which pushed its post-money valuation past USD 1 billion, granting it unicorn status. Investors included Meituan, GL Ventures, and Qualcomm.
GWM had allocated significant resources to Haomo.AI, which served as the main supplier for the automaker’s entry- and mid-level assisted driving systems. Over four years, Haomo.AI launched two production-ready advanced driver assistance solutions: map-free navigate-on-autopilot (NOA) for highway scenarios and memory-based driving and parking features. More than 20 vehicle models, including the older Mocha from Wey, the Tank 300 (city edition), and the Haval Shenshou were equipped with these systems.
In September 2022, Zhang announced during a company event that Haomo.AI had been tasked with developing high-level assisted driving features for 34 upcoming GWM models that year, covering nearly 80% of its pipeline.
But Haomo.AI struggled when it came to developing more advanced systems like city-level NOA. Under the original roadmap, the Wey Mocha was expected to debut with Haomo’s city NOA in 2023, becoming the first production model to integrate Qualcomm’s 8650 autonomous driving chip.
The rollout didn’t go as planned. “It was initially scheduled for mid-2023, but got delayed to December—and even then, it wasn’t delivered. That pushed back GWM’s broader high-end assisted driving rollout by a full year,” one source said.
Despite the setbacks, GWM at one point still considered doubling down on Haomo.AI. But the company also diversified its bets. In 2024, Pony.ai impressed GWM with its approach to assisted driving and end-to-end foundation models. Pony.ai’s solution has since been implemented in several Wey-branded models, including the Lanshan. On the capital side, GWM led Pony.ai’s Series C round with a USD 100 million investment.
GWM has also been building out its own in-house capabilities. Its intelligent tech team now exceeds 5,000 people, with software developers accounting for 70% of the workforce. The Wey brand has established an independent smart R&amp;D platform staffed by over 600 top-tier technical experts.
To support the massive compute needs of next-gen assisted driving, Great Wall also launched its Jiuzhou supercomputing center, boasting cloud computing power of 1.64 exaflops. Backed by these internal resources, GWM debuted its end-to-end assisted driving foundation model in April 2023. By November, the company had reportedly achieved nationwide rollout of city-level NOA.
As an externally incubated unit, Haomo.AI has operated with relative independence from its parent. And so far, the turmoil at Haomo hasn’t visibly disrupted GWM’s overarching smart driving ambitions.
But the competition among top-tier assisted driving suppliers has reached fever pitch, matching the intensity of China’s EV price wars. The industry is showing increasingly clear signs of a winner-takes-all dynamic.
As Momenta founder Cao Xudong once put it: “By 2026, we’ll know who the winners are.”
For startups that fall behind in technology iteration and fail to make meaningful commercial breakthroughs, survival itself becomes the real challenge.
For Haomo.AI, a unicorn born from GWM’s ecosystem, the glow of its early promise has dimmed. Now, survival may prove to be a far tougher test than becoming a unicorn ever was.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3340180077115144">article</a> was written by Li Anqi for 36Kr.

Haomo.AI hits crossroads amid leadership shakeup and tech setbacks

Great Wall Motor

Transportation

Autonomous Vehicles

Mobility

Chinese <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence</a> company Whobot, which develops AI voice agents for enterprise clients, has raised Series A funding in the eight-figure RMB range. GSR Ventures led the round, with Xiangyang Capital Management serving as the financial advisor. The funds will be used for technology development and market expansion, according to the company.
Founded in 2023, Whobot describes itself as a digital employee platform designed for enterprise communication. It uses proprietary large language models, voice interaction systems, and real-time operating systems to build AI agents that integrate conversational and task-execution capabilities, aiming to improve lead conversion efficiency for its clients.
In the year since launching its first product, Whobot has grown to a 13-person team and said it has signed more than 100 clients. The company reported a 100% renewal rate among paying users.
Whobot's platform sets itself apart from traditional call centers and enterprise software by reducing labor costs, operating continuously, and adapting to specific business needs. Its AI agents handle lead qualification, customer engagement via WeChat, product sales, hotline response, and customer service.
Founder Dong Lianping characterized Whobot’s key differentiator in one word: humanlike.
<figure id="attachment_154790" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-154790" style="width: 480px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-154790" src="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Whobot-Dong-Lianping.jpg" alt="Photo of Dong Lianping, founder of Whobot." width="480" height="480" srcset="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Whobot-Dong-Lianping.jpg 1920w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Whobot-Dong-Lianping-720x720.jpg 720w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Whobot-Dong-Lianping-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Whobot-Dong-Lianping-360x360.jpg 360w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Whobot-Dong-Lianping-768x768.jpg 768w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Whobot-Dong-Lianping-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Whobot-Dong-Lianping-600x600.jpg 600w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Whobot-Dong-Lianping-300x300.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-154790" class="wp-caption-text">Photo of Dong Lianping, founder of Whobot. Photo and header image source: Whobot via 36Kr.</figcaption></figure>
Speed and accuracy are strengths of AI, but meaningful communication is shaped by tone, word choice, and context, Dong said in an interview with 36Kr. “Whobot’s AI voice agents are trained to simulate real-time, interactive behavior, like talking while taking action,” he said.
He illustrated this with a scenario: if a user cuts a call short because of a meeting, a basic AI agent might call back too soon and repeat its message. Whobot’s system, by contrast, records the exchange, waits for an appropriate window, and resumes the conversation with a more natural opener like, “Hi, I called you earlier…”
Flat intonation, canned scripts, and poorly timed callbacks are dead giveaways that the speaker is an AI. “People can tell right away when they are not talking to a person,” Dong said. “And when that happens, they feel disrespected.”
Whobot addresses this by combining dialogue modeling with a multimodal decision engine. Its agents can now manage conversations that are reportedly up to three times longer than earlier versions. They are trained to insert pauses, use filler words, adjust their tone, and react to interruptions or hesitation.
The company said internal data shows 65% of users mistake its AI for human customer service.
A key part of this realism comes from training data. Whobot has developed more than 100 proprietary corpora based on real scripts from top-performing sales agents. These datasets allow its AI to learn new industry scenarios rapidly.
“Anywhere there’s a phone-based job, Whobot can fill it,” Dong said.
So far, the company has worked in sectors including education, automotive, customer service, and telecommunications. In one telecom project, Whobot completed 1,000 conversions for RMB 30,000 (USD 4,200), about one-tenth the cost of a human team.
Another standout feature is multitasking. Traditional AI phone bots often stop after qualifying leads or sending follow-ups. Whobot’s agents, by contrast, can perform operations mid-call.
For example, in education campaigns, getting users to add service reps on WeChat is key to conversion. Text-based prompts can lead to user dropoff. Whobot’s agents initiate the WeChat friend request during the call, either adding the user directly or prompting them to add the rep.
In trials for RMB 19.9 (USD 2.8) demo classes, Whobot reported a conversion rate of up to 95%, compared to 87% for human agents.
Dong also noted applications in fraud prevention. During lead generation campaigns, the system tracks user behavior to flag dropped deals or suspicious activity.
Whobot’s founding team brings experience from major Chinese internet firms. Dong was previously a senior executive at edtech company Zuoyebang and held technical leadership roles at Baidu. CTO Liang Bin has nearly 20 years of engineering experience, including senior positions at Alibaba Cloud and Baidu.
“Whobot delivers productivity, not control,” Dong said. He sees the company’s value not in replacing people, but in redefining service workflows. By taking over repetitive, high-volume tasks, the AI allows human employees to focus on work that requires creativity and judgment.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3324470532188680">article</a> was written by Zhong Yixuan for 36Kr.

Can AI handle your next sales call? Whobot says yes

Japan's Kao is making a renewed marketing push for cosmetics brand Kate across Asia, quintupling promotional expenses there and underlining its Japanese identity on social media to try to fend off rapidly rising Chinese and South Korean competitors.
The health and beauty company announced a new overseas strategy for low-priced brand Kate on June 4 that focuses on becoming a leading Tokyo-based brand in Asia and spreading a worldview that expresses individuality.
Kate specializes in makeup such as lipstick and eye shadow. Rather than relying on face-to-face sales by beauty consultants at department stores, it is sold off the shelf primarily at drugstores and other retail outlets. Prices are around JPY 1,000–2,000 (USD 7–14).
A new sales promotion strategy is intended to spread the brand in Asia and cultivate long-term fans. The first round involves a limited-edition product with packaging featuring a character from "Jujutsu Kaisen," an anime series popular throughout Asia, which will go on sale June 21.
The company is using around 10 influencers from Japan and elsewhere in Asia to market the project through social media, videos and other online and offline forms. This will mark Kate's largest social media marketing campaign.
In addition, a limited-time attraction opens at Osaka's Universal Studios Japan in September where customers can step inside the world of Kate. Taking advantage of the theme park's popularity with foreign visitors, Kao hopes people will become fans of Kate even after returning home.
Though no specific cost has been disclosed, the company said it is boosting promotional expenses for this effort fivefold.
Kate has expanded into nine Asian markets including Thailand, Taiwan, and Malaysia, but until now the finances involving promotions have been managed separately by location.
Promotions were carried out locally, two to three months later than in Japan, resulting in low brand consistency and synergy.
"We aim to be number one in Asia with a consistent brand message led by Japan," said Arihiro Iwata, Kate's brand manager. "We will continuously develop ideas that won't end as a passing fad."
The impetus for new promotions in Asia involves the rise of Chinese and South Korea brands. Kate currently ranks second only to France's L'Oreal in Asia, but its share of low-priced cosmetics in the region has remained mostly flat for the past five years, per UK research company Euromonitor. Newer brands like South Korea's Clio are on the rise, and they have closed the gap with some top Asian brands to less than one percentage point.
China's Florasis, known for packaging made to resemble Chinese traditional sculpted art, sells mid- to high-range cosmetics priced JPY 5,000 (USD 35) and up.
Florasis opened its first overseas flagship store in Tokyo in January and is developing Asian markets including Japan using real-world and digital efforts. It has surpassed Kate in overall Asian market share at times in the past five years, according to Euromonitor.
Asia's market for low-priced cosmetics is expected to expand by about 30% to USD 15.8 billion in 2029 from USD 12.4 billion in 2024.
Kao regards cosmetics as a pillar of its overseas growth and plans to increase foreign sales by 13% from 2024 to over JPY 800 billion (USD 5.6 billion) by 2027.
Oasis Management, a Hong Kong activist investor that holds 5.23% of Kao shares as of December 2024, has criticized Kao for not fully tapping its growth potential overseas.
Kao does not disclose sales by cosmetics brand, but Kate is thought to account for over JPY 30 billion (USD 210 million), or about 10% of the company's total cosmetics sales. Kao plans to boost that figure to JPY 50 billion (USD 350 million) by fiscal 2030, and double the proportion of overseas sales compared with 2023.
Yet Kao's cosmetics business posted JPY 3.7 billion (USD 25.9 million) in operating losses for 2024 despite accounting for 15% of total sales. Sluggish consumption in China played a role.
"Makeup is easy to communicate effectiveness and appeals to the digital generation, but that alone does not translate into profits," said Akiko Kuwahara, a senior analyst at JPMorgan Securities. "After expanding awareness in Asia, the key to growth is whether Kate can differentiate itself by leveraging its functionality and technical capabilities, such as its long-lasting lipstick and three-dimensional eye shadow."
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Consumer/Japan-s-Kao-ramps-up-Asia-makeup-push-as-China-South-Korea-brands-rise">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.

Japan's Kao ramps up Asia makeup push as China, South Korea brands rise

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… influenced you most?</h3>
CT: Elon Musk. He takes hit after hit and never falls.
The other day, I was eating at McDonald’s when Tesla’s stock had just dropped. A group nearby started trashing Musk, questioning why he always puts himself in risky positions. One of them said, “A wise man avoids the edge of the cliff.” I didn’t bother responding. People like that will never understand.
If you want to reshape the world in a meaningful way, you can’t be afraid to get your feet dirty. If losing USD 1 trillion brought the world one step closer to his vision, Musk would do it without hesitation.
I’m that kind of person too. I started my first venture in college. I never cared about grades, never thought about money, or what would happen if I failed. Even now, I’ve never paid myself a salary. During the hardest times, I poured everything I made trading crypto back into the project.
I work out of a free coworking space. At lunch, I check to see if other teams left any boxed meals, and I take them.
When you truly want to build something, you don’t weigh the pros and cons. You just go. If the world is run by people who always choose the safest option, it’ll never move forward.
<h3>AN: What are three books you’d recommend?</h3>
CT: My favorite author is Wang Xiaobo. I recommend starting with “The Silver Age.”
Second is “Zizhi Tongjian,” a study of Chinese history that helps distinguish enduring values from outdated or harmful ideas.
Third is “The Story of Romans” (published by CITIC Press Corporation). It’s incredibly fun and readable, and that’s important to me. If a book isn’t readable, I won’t finish it.
<a href="/collections/100-ai-creators">100 AI Creators</a> is a collaborative project between AI Now! and KrASIA, highlighting trailblazers in AI. Know an AI talent we should feature? <a href="mailto:ainow@kr-asia.com">Reach out to us.</a>

This 26-year-old built a social app where fighting is not a bug, but a feature

… PhilSA has already made significant progress in catalyzing the country’s space economy. Besides signing 11 agreements to establish relations with various space-related organizations, PhilSA plans to launch 11 satellites over the next decade, aligning with national development goals and opening doors to a wealth of commercial and research partnerships.
Additionally, Vietnam’s startup ecosystem, ranked 56th globally in 2023, is expected to serve as a key enabler of space sector development. It benefits from supportive government policies, such as the “Digital Infrastructure Master Plan” and “National Green Growth Strategy.” Space applications are expected to play a key role in these targets, especially in environmental monitoring and data analysis.
<h3>How startups can “step into” space</h3>
Space technologies are becoming integral to modern information infrastructure. Startups that use space-derived data to generate insights and create value are best positioned to tap into a growing range of commercial opportunities.
In Southeast Asia, EO technologies are expected to have the greatest impact on agriculture, mining, and the oil and gas sectors. These fields could account for nearly 80% of the additional USD 100 billion in GDP projected from EO adoption in the region.
With opportunities to integrate space-based tools into existing business processes, startups in these sectors can explore space innovations to solve local challenges and unlock growth potential.
For instance, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/asean-space-trade-billion-dollar-playbook-casie-lane-millhouse-fdo5c/">satellite data</a> is already being used to predict oil price movements, track global shipping, and forecast agricultural output. Companies in the region are increasingly employing satellite imaging to optimize trade routes, reduce inefficiencies, and mitigate disruptions in global trade.
Malaysia has integrated EO data into supply chain risk analysis, helping industries track logistics efficiency and mitigate asset risk across its USD 372 billion trade network. For example, Malaysian startup <a href="https://www.urbanmetry.com/">UrbanMetry</a> utilizes geospatial data and novel indicators to provide market intelligence to real estate investors across asset classes. By mapping areas prone to landslides and floods and overlaying this information with loan data, the company enables more comprehensive and informed climate risk evaluations. This is particularly significant for logistics assets, whose exposure to extreme weather can significantly disrupt supply chains and economic activity.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, EO data is supporting precision agriculture, enabling better crop management and resource allocation. The <a href="https://rspo.org/">Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)</a> uses satellite monitoring to track plantation activity and ensure adherence to sustainability standards.
Thailand-based startup <a href="https://www.web.ricult.com/">Ricult</a> provides smallholder farmers with free access to localized weather data, farm advisory services, and farm health monitoring powered by satellite imagery. These tools enable farmers to time their planting, fertilising, and harvesting activities to maximize agricultural productivity, while satellite-based analysis of their crops and land provide collateral to access farm loans.
These examples show how startups can play a meaningful part in the space economy by applying satellite data to solve practical problems and differentiate their offerings. Beyond that, partnerships with government agencies, international institutions, and other stakeholders can further amplify their impact.
With the right mix of investment, policy support, and technical capacity, Southeast Asia has the potential to build a robust and inclusive space economy. For startups and businesses willing to explore space-powered innovation, the opportunity is both real and growing.
About the author: This article was authored by Michelle Khoo, leader of the Deloitte Center for The Edge Southeast Asia. With over a decade of experience in advising business and government leaders on long-term strategies, Michelle is passionate about shaping a more sustainable, fairer, and inclusive future in both physical and digital realms. Her work revolves around artificial intelligence, sustainability, the metaverse, disruption, and innovation.

Unlocking growth in orbit: How startups can harness opportunities in the booming space economy