SEA
Ambi Labs, a HK startup, is the company behind the smart air-conditioner controller Ambi Climate. Its flagship product auto adjusts air-conditioning units to match users’ preferences and comfort levels. There is no need to fiddle with the remote constantly with this smart device. (KrASIA)
Travelstop, a Singapore travel startup secures $1.2m in a SeedPlus-led seed funding round. The company is an AI-powered software-as-a-service platforms seeking to make corporate business travel in Asia a seamless affair. (Deal Street Asia)
Go-Jek, Indonesia’s ride-hailing unicorn, is said to be in talks to buy JD Indonesia’s finance, e-commerce ops. Fintech is not a new territory for Go-Jek and offers mobile payment services. (Deal Street Asia)
China
Everything you need to know about Pinduoduo users. The company that went through their IPO a month ago, has been under the spotlight ever since. By June 2018, its monthly active users (MAU) reached 195 million and that is 31% of Alibaba’s MAU. In terms of annual merchandise sold, it just takes 2 years to achieve JD.com’s 10-year feat. (KrASIA)
The driver of on-demand van service Lalamove was accused of sexually harassing a female passenger. The incident first broke out with a post on a popular local forum. (Technode)
Rest of Asia
World’s first autonomous taxi begins its operations on the public roads of central Tokyo today. The vehicle is made by Tokyo-based robot maker ZMP and operated by Hinomaru Kotsu, a taxi company. (Business Review)
World
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is said to be in talks to buy a stake in India’s Paytm. This could be Buffet’s the first direct investment in India if clinched. Paytm’s other major backers include Japan’s SoftBank and China’s Alibaba Group. (Reuters)
The gaming community is responding to the mass shooting at a Madden 19 competition in Jacksonville, Florida. This shooting is at least the seventh mass shooting to occur in the US this year. (TechCrunch)
CEO Musk called off his bid to take the company private and Tesla’s German shares fell by more than 3% on the Tradegate Exchange on Monday. Musk and Tesla face a series of investor lawsuits and a U.S Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the factual accuracy of Musk’s tweet. (Reuters)
Australia’s new foreign minister Marise Payne has defended a decision that shut Chinese telecommunications giants out of Australia’s 5G network. This was done primarily to protect the country’s national interests. (SCMP)
Facebook bans 20 Burmese individuals and organisations. This is the social media giant’s latest move to prevent the spread of ‘hate and misinformation’ after reviewing the content. (Reuters)