TechNode Global Staff

Grab Financial Group partners Sedania to provide Shariah-compliant financing to Malaysian drivers

Grab financial arm Grab Financial Group (GFG) Malaysia and Sedania Innovator Bhd’s fintech subsidiary Sedania As Salam Capital Sdn Bhd (SASC) announced Friday they are partnering to officially offer Grab Cash Financing-i, a Shariah compliant* financing product, to eligible Grab driver- and delivery-partners in Malaysia. Grab Cash Financing-i aims to provide…

Singapore’s Digital Treasures Center gets regulatory nod to provide digital payment token

Singapore payment firm Digital Treasures Center (DTC) said Wednesday the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has awarded the company In-Principle Approval (IPA) to provide digital payment token service together with other payment services. Digital payment tokens are commonly known as cryptocurrency. DTC is among the first few applicants to receive the…

Singapore’s Rainforest acquires baby care brand NatureBond

Rainforest, a Singapore-based eCommerce buy and build player, announced Thursday that it has completed the acquisition of Millenium Enterprises including its flagship brand Naturebond, Singapore’s fastest-growing baby care brand.

Australia’s Linktree raises $110M funding led by Index Ventures and Coatue at a valuation of $1.3 billion

Linktree has raised $110 million funding led by Index Ventures and Coatue at a valuation of $1.3 billion. The company's fast-paced growth trajectory to 24 million users in the past year ensured follow-on from previous investors AirTree Ventures and Insight Partners, and new participation from Greenoaks Capital. Linktree will use its new funding to focus on…

Airwallex partners with Choco Up to empower cross-border e-commerce

Airwallex, announced Thursday its partnership with Choco Up to support the future growth of cross-border ecommerce. By combining Airwallex’s proprietary global payments infrastructure with Choco Up’s flexible recurring funding solutions, the partnership enables a comprehensive and integrated finance solution for e-commerce companies across Asia.

Malaysia’s Carsome acquires majority stake in Singapore integrated automotive firm CarTimes Automobile

Malaysia-based integrated car e-commerce platform Carsome Group Pte Ltd (Carsome) announced Thursday the acquisition of 51 percent stake in Singapore integrated automotive firm CarTimes Automobile Pte Ltd (CarTimes). Carsome said the acquisition is an important move that further strengthens its market leadership in the region, and reinforces its commitment…

Malaysia’s MRANTI to open new learning and development centre to ramp up technology-savvy talent pool and innovation portfolio

The Malaysia Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI) will be opening a 2,000 square feet MakersLab in May, to ramp up its technology-savvy talent pool and its innovation portfolio, putting Malaysia further along the path to achieve a high-income country status. The new learning and development centre will offer a spectrum of 4IR focused…

Starbucks partners with Grab to enhance Starbucks experience for customers in Southeast Asia

Starbucks announced Wednesday an integrated partnership with Grab across six markets, including the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The partnership will provide customers across Southeast Asia with a seamless Starbucks Experience, allowing them to earn Starbucks Rewards benefits on purchases through Grab, have more ways…

Singapore machine learning firm Datature raises $2.7M from Openspace

Datature has raised $2.7 million from Openspace. January Capital also participated in the round. The latest funding will enable Datature to expand its platform offering in order to support more widespread use cases including video analytics, medical and point-cloud data ingestions, and a neural network cloud API for users to deploy artificial intelligence…

86 percent of investors plan to invest the same or more in private capital over next 12 months, says Preqin

While competition for assets, valuations, and rising interest rates top the list of investor concerns, more than a third (35 percent) plan to invest more in private capital over the next 12 months, with a further 51 percent expecting to invest the same amount, and just 14 percent planning to invest less, a survey from Preqin showed Wednesday.