On location

As we usher into 2024, with the hope for a better year, here are some of the top tech news in 2023.

China boasts the world’s largest EV market and a 2000 km EV road trip across the country by Bloomberg News offered a glimpse of the end of the age of oil.

Indonesian quick commerce startup Dropezy has expanded into the poultry downstream industry and rebranded to Sekilo. The firm said that motivated by a commitment to address evolving market demands and capitalize on emerging opportunities, Sekilo stands poised to revolutionize the meat processing and distribution space through innovative solutions.

Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL), India’s largest renewable energy developer, said its shareholders will invest INR 9,350 crore ($1.13 billion) in the company to boost its capacity. The funds will be utilized for deleveraging and accelerated capital expenditure.

LiveIn, a Malaysia-based proptech firm, has successfully secured $8.3 million in its pre-Series B funding round. The round was led by Wavemaker Partners and InterVest, with participation from Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad (MDV), Jungle Ventures, and CAC Capital.

In response to the escalating mental health crisis in Malaysia, tech firms Corrective Aesthetics Sdn Bhd and Teda Technology Sdn Bhd have announced a groundbreaking collaboration to expand the Remind program, a mobile application that is designed to diagnose users' mental states through voice recordings.

Golden Gate Ventures, a Singapore-based venture capital fund founded by Silicon Valley natives, has on Monday announced the establishment of their first Middle East and North Africa (MENA) office in Saudi Arabia to strengthen ties between Singapore and MENA, and accelerate the development of the MENA startup ecosystem.

Kitchens@, an India-based cloud kitchen startup, has raised $65 million in Series C funding from Finnest, an emerging growth investment firm headquartered in London. The raised funds will be used for expanding the firm's hybrid model, Dinerium.

Whampoa Digital, the digital assets investment arm of Singapore-based Whampoa group, has partnered with South Korean gaming company Wemade for $100 million Web3 Fund and digital asset initiatives in the Middle East. The duo have entered into a strategic partnership to collaborate on the fund, which is to be established by Wemade.

Japan-based Sumitomo Life Insurance Company has entered into an agreement with TPG Inc. to acquire TPG’s 35.48 percent stake in Singapore Life Holdings Pte. Ltd. (Singlife) for SGD 1.6 billion ($1.21 billion). Together with the acquisition of additional stake in Singlife from Aviva Group, Singlife is expected to become a subsidiary of Sumitomo Life.