SEA
Axiata and Sinar Mas secure shareholders approval for XLSMART merger
Malaysian telecommunications firm Axiata Group Berhad and Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas said shareholders of PT XL Axiata Tbk, PT Smartfren Telecom Tbk, and PT Smart Telcom have formally approved the merger of the three companies into XLSMART.
Lenovo study: ASEAN+ leads in hybrid AI adoption at 68 percent
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN+), which includes Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong and Taiwan, leads in hybrid artificial intelligence (AI) adoption at 68 percent, surpassing global and Asia Pacific (AP), Lenovo study showed Wednesday.
Alibaba’s Tsai warns of a ‘bubble’ in AI data center build-out – report
Many of those projects are built without clear customers in mind, Tsai told the HSBC Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
Malaysia’s Deemples launches in Thailand after $2M funding
Deemples, a Malaysia-based golf platform and mobile app, has officially launched in Thailand - the region’s golf tourism hub that is dubbed the Golf Capital of Asia, after raising its $2 million funding last year.
MoneyHero launches AI Agent through strategic partnership with Ada
MoneyHero Limited, a personal finance aggregation and comparison platform in Greater Southeast Asia, has partnered with global AI consumer service firm Ada to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) Agent for customer service, aiming to transform customer experience while driving operational efficiency.
Maybank partners TikTok Shop to drive digitalization of ASEAN SMEs
Malaysian lender Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) has announced the first multi-market small and medium enterprises (SME) upskilling and digitalization collaboration between a financial institution and TikTok Shop in the ASEAN region.
Tracxn: SEA tech startups funding up 30 percent quarter on quarter to $909M in Q1 of 2025
South East Asia (SEA) tech startups raised $909 million in the first quarter of 2025, 30 percent higher than the fourth quarter of 2024, Tracxn said Thursday.
Gobi Partners backs Funding Societies to advance SME financing, fintech innovation across SEA
Funding Societies | Modalku, the largest small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) digital finance platform in Southeast Asia, has announced a strategic equity investment from Gobi Partners, an Asia-focused venture capital firm.
Singapore’s Venturi Partners launches $225M second fund
Venturi Partners, a Singapore based growth-stage consumer-focused investor in India and Southeast Asia, has announced the launch of its second fund, targeting $225 million, with a hard cap of $250 million.
HK’s Watawaste to raise funds in 2025 as its sustainable food app Yindii eyes expansion across Asia [Q&A]
We talked to Louis-Alban Batard, Co-founder & CEO, Watawaste HK Ltd (a Cyberport incubatee) which develops sustainable food app – Yindii, to learn more about the company’s achievements in 2024, its plans and priorities in 2025. He also shared his views on the outlook of the tech ecosystem in Hong Kong for the new year and how he sees Southeast Asia.
