SEA
Indonesia’s Venturra Capital spins off a smaller fund to invest in startups at pre-seed and seed stages. Other venture capitals in the region include the likes of SeedPlus, GREE Ventures, Cocoon Capital, and KK Fund. (Deal Street Asia)
Launching a medtech in Singapore is ‘insane’. Most investors in the Southeast Asia region only invest in medtech startups when they are generating revenue. Investors may express interest but it is still very risky at the pre-revenue stage. (Tech In Asia)
Tin Men Capital is looking to invest in startups in the verticals such as smart cities, security, enterprise, travel, logistics, and even transport amongst others. The VC fund was launched in March 2018 and will lead all follow-on financing rounds till the point of exit. (e27)
China
China’s most popular news app Toutiao looks to raise $3b ahead of 2019 IPO. The startup is looking to raise between US$2.5 and 3 billion. This latest funding will be used to further the company’s international expansion and investments in frontier technologies. (KrASIA)
Ofo quits Seattle by end of the month and the Seattle users will receive funds within 45 days of Ofo’s official departure. Seattle was actually the first North America city Ofo rode into. (KrASIA)
China’s ride-hailing resurgence is just another step into the future of mobility. Companies are reinventing themselves into mobility platforms. All of this signals the trouble traditional car manufacturers are in.(Technode)
Should China’s AI upstarts fear or love the giants? It is no secret that Alibaba and Tencent are spending millions in the race to dominate artificial intelligence. (Tech In Asia)
JD.com’s increase in tech investments and soft sales were said to have lead to its net loss of $334.4 million in Q2 2018. The sales in its annual shopping festival in June dropped unexpectedly towards the end of the festival. (Technode)
World
Tech firms say AI can transform healthcare. Many believe that the technology will provide a host of benefits to such as early diagnosis and faster overall experience. Yet there are also those who fear that patients safety could be at risk when AI is still in its early stages. (CNBC)
Coinbase is starting to facilitate Ethereum Classic transactions. This particular cryptocurrency was created in June 2016 following a major hack on the DAO, a fundraising vehicle for the project. (TechCrunch)
Rovio Entertainment posted an increase in second-quarter sales at its games business. The number of active players for its game rose more than analysts’ expectations. (Reuters)
Google employees unhappy with the company’s plan to launch a search engine for the Chinese market. Reports from The Intercept have shown that the project has been carried out as a ‘’joint venture’’ with a company that’s likely based in China. (Technode)
Musk’s SpaceX could aid fund take-private deal for Tesla, according to an account by the New York Times. Musk’s sudden consideration to take the automotive company private came as a shock to Wall Street last week. (Reuters)