Asia

AirAsia aims to become Asia’s largest food delivery, ride hailing company – report

AirAsia has been aggressively building its digital businesses and its Asean Super App over the last two years as most of its planes were grounded due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Taiwan sustainable fashion community-based marketplace PopChill raises $2.2M Pre-Series A funding led by AppWorks

PopChill announced Monday the completion of a $2.2 million Pre-Series A round of financing. The round was led by AppWorks, with participation from CTBC Venture Capital, B Current Impact Investment, and Taiwan Culture and Creative Angels Investment. With this round of financing, PopChill will reinforce its core business model to meet the needs of fashion…

UK-based Global Processing Services upsizes funding round, with participation of Temasek & MissionOG

Global Processing Services (GPS) has upsized funding round by approximately $100 million with participation of Temasek and MissionOG. This brings the total amount raised in its latest round to $400 million. Advent International and Viking Global co-led the previous $300 million round.

Validus, TTC Group and Do Ventures form joint venture to expand access to credit for SMEs in Vietnam

Validus Vietnam, the Vietnam entity of Singapore-based small and medium enterprises (SME) growth financing platform Validus, TTC Group, a multi-industry conglomerate in Vietnam and Indochina, and Do Ventures, an early-stage venture investment fund in Vietnam announced Friday a joint venture (JV) to drive financial inclusion and empower the growth of…

Japan’s JCB injects $5M in Malaysian fintech firm Soft Space in strategic partnership

Soft Space Sdn Bhd announced a new strategic partnership with Japanese international payment brand, JCB Co. Ltd. This strategic partnership is the first of its kind in Malaysia for the payment gian. It involves a combination of $5 million investment in Soft Space and a series of business collaborations that are aimed at capitalising on Soft Space's…

Startup accelerator F10 to incubate early-stage blockchain startups in Singapore with Klaytn Foundation

F10 will partner with Klaytn Foundation to launch an Incubation Program in Singapore. The program will support early-stage startups built on Klaytn, a blockchain platform developed by internet giant Kakao Corp. The 3-month program kicks off in April 2022 and will enable entrepreneurs to develop ideas or minimal viable products (MVPs) into scalable…

Singapore cross-border payment firm Thunes kicks off expansion into Greater China

Thunes plans to significantly accelerate the expansion of its operations in Greater China, spanning mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau. This news follows the recent appointment of Daphne Huang, Senior Vice President (SVP) for Greater China, who will leverage her deep market expertise to spearhead Thunes' growth strategy.

Australian fintech startup Airwallex launches global payment services in Singapore

Airwallex announced Thursday its official launch in Singapore, following its grant of a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and a beta launch in November last year. Singapore businesses can now benefit from Airwallex’s suite of global payments services including global account issuance, domestic and cross-border…

Fintech startup Paywatch raises $5.23M in seed funding round led by Third Prime and others

Paywatch has raised MYR21.9 million ($5.23 million) in a seed funding round led by US venture capital firm Third Prime and prominent family offices in Singapore and Hong Kong. SparkLabs, Won & Partners and CTK Investments also participated in this round. Operating in South Korea, Malaysia and Hong Kong, the company plans to use the fresh funds to…

Israel’s MeMed raises $93M to accelerate commercialization of its host immune-response product portfolio

MeMed announced Monday a $93 million private financing round, bringing total funding in the company to over $200 million, including support from the U.S. Department of Defense and EU Commission. The funds will be used to scale up manufacturing, accelerate commercialization and expand MeMed’s pioneering host immune response product portfolio, The latest…