Yimie Yong

ByteDance’s TikTok lays off hundreds of employees in Malaysia – report

A source close to the Malaysian branch of the company told The Malaysian Reserve (TMR) that more than 500 employees were terminated.

Singapore’s Farquhar VC & South Korea’s Twin Ventures join hands to strengthen cross-border startup ecosystem relations

Several MOUs and partnerships between South Korea and Singapore are inked at the Global Investment Capacity Building Program Demo Day.

Alipay+ transactions triple in 2024 as travel industry embraces cross-border digital payment & marketing technology

In the first nine months of 2024, the number of people using Alipay+ payment partner apps while abroad increased by three times, and the number of transactions increased by more than three times.

Indonesia government bans Chinese e-commerce app TEMU – report

The decision to block TEMU was driven by the increasingly massive threats posed by foreign products on domestic MSMEs online and offline.

Singapore’s fintech firm Surfin raises $12.5M from Insignia Ventures Partners

This funding comes as Surfin serves 60 million lives across eight countries in three continents, with roughly $2.7 billion in cumulative transactions.

Japan’s estie, inc. raises $20M in Series B led by Vertex Growth & DBJ

The latest round was led by Vertex Growth, a growth-stage venture capital fund anchored by Vertex Holdings, a subsidiary of global investment company Temasek, and Development Bank of Japan (DBJ).

Malaysia’s JAZRO bags investment from Gobi Partners to make robotics education accessible to all children

This strategic investment will enable JAZRO to expand its educational offerings and reach more young learners, nurturing a new generation of tech-savvy innovators.

MDEC & martech web3 firm Emerge Group form strategic partnership to propel Malaysia as a Web3 gaming hub in SE Asia

EMERGE Group will leverage its extensive network of Web3 gaming partnerships, including collaborations with Gala Games, Immutable X, TZ APAC, Sei and other leading Web3 gaming projects, to identify synergies and advance Web3 game publishing.

Filipino fintech firm Salmon completes $30M Series A-2 financing round

Salmon intends to allocate a portion of the proceeds to strengthen the capital base of the Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa (Laguna), with plans to increase the bank's total capital to PHP 1.2 billion by the end of 2025.

Filipino AI startup Clout Kitchen raises $4.45M from a16z SPEEDRUN, Peak XV’s Surge & AppWorks

The round was co-led by a16z SPEEDRUN and Peak XV’s Surge – with participation from Taiwan’s AppWorks, Antler, Hustle Fund, Founders Launchpad, Orvel Ventures, and founders & creators like Gabby Dizon (YGG), Kun Gao (Crunchyroll), Voyboy, Jankos and Perkz.