SEA
SMRT-backed startup MobilityX raises Series A led by Toyota. It has raised an undisclosed Series A round led by Toyota Tsusho Corporation. Adding Toyota Tsusho as an investor will also help MobilityX to drive its offerings beyond Singapore. (KrASIA)
Tokopedia, Indonesia’s e-commerce marketplace, launches its own financing tool in beta. The new feature will allow its users to buy goods on Tokopedia on credit and pay a minimum of 10% every month at no interest. (KrASIA)
Facebook launches Startup Station Singapore, a data innovation program for growth-stage startups. This is the second such program by Facebook in Singapore and is part of a collaboration with the Infocomm Media Development Authority. (KrASIA)
Decentralised travel networks are now changing the dynamics of Southeast Asia’s tourism market. These latest networks that is built on blockchain technology are looking at the provision of smart contacts, and token incentives to revolutionize the sector. (e27)
China
Tencent announces restructure plan amidst declining share prices. It announced on Sunday morning that it will restructure its business lines, the third time in 20 years, in a bid to contain ByteDance’s prolific growth. (KrASIA)
China’s OTA Tongcheng-Elong proceeds on with its pre-IPO hearings with the HKEx. It is now set to join the ranks of other Chinese tech giants in the public markets, having produced stellar growth numbers by leveraging on the WeChat online traffic. (KrASIA)
China’s CooTek secures $52m at its NYSE debut. It saw its shares tumbled by as much as 21% to close at $9.44 per share, despite already pricing its opening share price at the lower-end range. (KrASIA)
SoftBank’s Vision Fund eyes Chinese education startup Zuoyebang, seeking to get stake in China’s education market. While the terms of the deal could still change, this indicates the Japanese firm’s ambitions in China’s education tech industry. (KrASIA)
Cooperation is necessary for China’s ambitious AI game plan. But the move to lift China’s industry up the value chain and launch of the ‘Made in China 2025’ program has become the catalyst for the escalating Sino-US trade war. (SCMP)
Elsewhere
The wealthy Asian clients of Credit Suisse will now get to use Apple Business Chat. Whatsapp and WeChat will also be added on the bank’s internal platform. And all of these developments will make it easier for the bank’s rich clients to contact their private bankers. (Bloomberg)
Amazon’s subsidiary IMDb will soon be offering free and ad-supported video service for Amazon Fire TV users, according to people close to the matter. This could potentially help to increase Amazon’s revenue by close to $70 billion. (CNBC)
Foxconn, an iPhone assembler, will be building a 8.5-generation factory in Wisconsin for small and mid sized displays. This project will create 13,000 jobs with an average annual salary of $54,000. (Nikkei Asian Review)
Ripple, the startup that uses cryptocurrency XRP to speed up transactions, has three new payment firms as its clients. These projects, if they go live, will become the first use cases of virtual currencies used in commercial products of financial institutions. (Reuters)
Lime’s e-scooters is now set to launch in Waterloo, Ontario. This scooter-share pilot program will be the startup’s first in Canada and is also the first of any startup-owned e-scooters to hit the pavement of Canada. (TechCrunch)
Liquidnet, a dark pool operator, is now relying on artificial intelligence to better trading decisions of its traders. Their customers are increasingly looking to such technologies to manage their portfolios. (SCMP)