SEA
Indonesian on-demand services firm Go-Jek is on track to raise over US$2 billion in financing, according to an anonymous source. This new capital will aid the firm to better compete regionally amidst a face-off between Go-Jek and Grab set to escalate. (KrASIA)
Jakarta-based loyalty services company Member.id has raised a Pre-Series A round of funds led by East Ventures, with participation from Ace Capital and a number of angel investors. It boasts clients from various industries, including F&B, hospitality, retail and travel (Garuda Indonesia). The funds will be used to develop new products. (Deal Street Asia)
Grab Ventures has acquired a minority stake grocery delivery startup HappyFresh. The plan is to support these early-stage companies via Grab’s platform, networks, and capital. The firm has been aggressively securing many partnerships over the past few months into services like online healthcare, news content, and payment. (Deal Street Asia)
BigDish, a Philippines-based startup, went straight to list on the London Stock Exchange, without raising any money from the venture capitals. This is how the firm is looking to stand out in a highly competitive space to offer ‘yield management’ to help restaurants across the globe to deal with the problem of empty tables. (Tech In Asia)
Come and get inspired by Singapore’s SWITCH Conference! This annual conference features exhibitions, panel discussions, workshops, and startup competitions. It is also a place where business luminaries, industry insiders, startup founders and venture capitalists across the globe get to meet and share out-of-the-box insights. (KrASIA)
China
Alibaba-backed bike-sharing company Hellobike (哈罗) today announced the upgrade of its brand to Hello Chuxing (哈啰出行) in a move to extend its tentacles from a bike-sharing pure play to more transportation services including e-scooter, bus, and potentially ride-sharing. Internal memo enclosed here. (KrASIA)
Export e-commerce retail is a fast-growing trillion dollar industry. In the past five years, Computer, Communication, and Consumer Electronics (3C) and an unending list of ‘’Made in China’’ goods have been flourishing across the globe. Nonetheless, assessing e-commerce opportunities in different markets is a complex process. The four core criteria to consider are market size, infrastructure, trade conditions, and competition. (KrASIA)
Tencent-backed news app Qutoutiao soared 128% in its US market debut last week. While this Shanghai-based firm priced its shares at the bottom of an indicative range, it saw its share price surge upwards and triggering as much as five circuit breakers, giving it a market capitalization of US$4.5 billion by the end of the trading day. (SCMP)
Tencent has revamped its gaming system. Players of its mobile multiplayer hit will have to have their real name verified. Those who do not verify their identity in time will not be allowed to log in. This upgrade will connect games to China’s security database to aid enforcement of rules like limit the time minor spend on gaming. (Technode)
Elsewhere
Robots and artificial intelligence can still create a net increase of nearly 60 million jobs despite the ongoing fears that machines are going to overtake humans. New jobs will be made even as some jobs get displaced. And ultimately, these latest technologies can bring about an increase in productivity, make better goods and services. (CNBC)
Salesforce.com co-founder Marc Benioff and his wife have bought Time Inc, a major news outlet, from Meredith Corporation. The seller is looking to sell Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune, and Money to focus on increasing the profitability of its remaining portfolio of publications. (TechCrunch)
Tesla’s problems have now shifted from production delays to delivery logistics. The silver lining, in this case, is that this issue is easier to deal with when comparing with the problem of production delays and will be solved shortly, according to CEO Elon Musk. (Reuters)