News

UOB Malaysia partners SJPP to provide $219M in green financing to SMEs

In addition to providing financing, UOB Malaysia will also be collaborating with the Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI) to establish an ESG workshop series to equip SMEs with knowledge and practical insights to embark on their ESG journeys.

Singapore’s Tower Capital Asia collects $379M in maiden fundraise

Singapore-based private equity firm Tower Capital Asia has on Tuesday concluded the final closing of its maiden blind-pool private equity vehicle, TOWER CAPITAL PE FUND I, LP. A total of $379 million has been raised from pre-eminent institutional investors and family offices globally, surpassing the Firm’s original target of $300 million.

Allianz Malaysia joins Gobi Partners’ Malaysia-focused SuperSeed II Fund

Pan-Asian venture capital (VC) firm Gobi Partners announced Tuesday the closing of its $10 million Gobi SuperSeed II (Gobi SSII) Fund following the participation of Allianz Malaysia Berhad (Allianz Malaysia) as a Limited Partner (LP).

Carro expands to Japan through partnership with Softbank

Singapore-based used car marketplace Carro on Tuesday announced its expansion into Japan through a joint venture with SoftBank Corporation (SoftBank). As part of its entry, CARRO JAPAN Co., Ltd. (CARRO JAPAN) aims to introduce its full suite of services, such as subscription-based services and car leasing.

China’s Weixin Pay offers digital payment to nearly 10,000 hawkers in Singapore

Weixin Pay, the mobile payment function of Tencent's popular social platform Weixin, has increased access for Weixin Pay travellers exploring Singapore to the nation’s unique hawker culture, offering them the ease of payment to nearly 10,000 hawker stalls across the country.

Sequoia India and Southeast Asia’s Surge back US’s TrueFoundry $2.3M seed funding

TrueFoundry, a United States-based machine learning (ML) developer platform, announced Tuesday its $2.3 million seed funding led by Sequoia India and Southeast Asia’s Surge. Other participating investors include Eniac Ventures and prominent angels like AngelList Co-Founder Naval Ravikant.

Indian EdTech firm upGrad acquires corporate training solutions provider Centum Learning

UpGrad, an India-based higher edtech company has announced the 100 percent acquisition of corporate training solutions leader Centum Learning (Centum) in a share swap deal.

WeLab and Astra complete Bank Jasa Jakarta acquisition

WeLab, a Hong Kong-based fintech platform, announced Monday the completion of the acquisition of an Indonesian commercial bank, PT Bank Jasa Jakarta (BJJ), together with PT Astra International Tbk (Astra), one of Indonesia's largest public companies.

Singapore’s Nutrition Technologies closes $20M equity round led by PTT Ventures

Singapore-based agri-biotech company Nutrition Technologies has on Monday completed an equity venture round of $20 million led by PTT Ventures. The round was supported by Sumitomo Corporation, ING Sustainable Investments, Mandala Capital.

Singapore skyline SGX SPAC

MAS and IFSCA to pursue cross-border FinTech innovations

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) on Monday signed a FinTech co-operation agreement (CA) to facilitate regulatory collaboration and partnership in FinTech. MAS and IFSCA will leverage existing regulatory sandboxes in their respective jurisdictions to support experimentation of…