India’s Zoomcar to start operations in Vietnam

Zoomcar, an India-based car sharing marketplace, announced Wednesday that it will be launching its operations in Vietnam. The company, which dominates the self-drive car rental market in India, has expanded to Southeast Asia and appointed Kiet Pham as country head in Vietnam to help scale its business, Zoomcar said in a statement. This broader geographic expansion is in line with Zoomcar’s…

Thailand NFT platform GuildFi raises $6M seed financing from DeFiance, Capital and Hashed to create an interoperable Metaverse

GuildFi, a Thailand-based interconnected Web3 ecosystem of games, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and communities, said Wednesday it has raised $6 million in a seed round co-led by DeFiance Capital and Hashed. Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research, Animoca Brands, Dapper Labs, Play Ventures, SkyVision Capital, Coin98 Ventures, and other notable investors, also joined the round.…

Indonesian boutique hotelier ARTOTEL Group raises Series B financing to fuel expansion

ARTOTEL Group, Indonesia’s boutique hospitality and lifestyle group, announced Friday the completion of an undisclosed Series B round of financing. The group said in a statement, the round was led by Indies Capital Partners, a leading Southeast Asian alternative asset manager, with participation from creative industry-focused Benson Capital. ARTOTEL Group will utilize the proceeds of this…

Standard Chartered to provide $500M financing to BNPL firm Atome for its expansion

UK multinational banking group Standard Chartered announced on Wednesday it plans to provide financing of $500 million in Singapore FinTech firm Atome Financial, as part of a 10-year multi-product strategic partnership of the two companies have forged. The strategic partnership combines the two companies' strengths in finance and technology to deliver a wide range of financial services to…

Bank of China, DBS & HSBC join GSBN to form Trade Finance Advisory Group to transform global trade

Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN), an independent, not-for-profit technology consortium to build a blockchain-enabled operating system designed to redefine global trade, welcomes Bank of China (BOC), Singapore multinational banking group DBS Bank (DBS), and British multinational banking group The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd (HSBC), to form the consortium’s Trade Finance…

How Carsome became Malaysia’s largest tech unicorn – with a little help from a friend

Gobi Partners’ continued faith and multiple investments into Carsome paved the way for the e-commerce platform to dominate Southeast Asia’s used car scene, en route to becoming Malaysia’s first and largest unicorn. TechNode Global spoke to Carsome Co-Founder and Group CEO Eric Cheng and Gobi Founding Partner Thomas G. Tsao to get the back story. Think used cars, think dingy dealerships,…

Filipino BioTech founder is changing the game in the global fight against cancer with AI, machine learning & ‘glycan’ research

While Filipino athletes are making accomplishments in the international arena, a proud Filipino has also been making waves on the international stage--this time, in innovation, healthcare, and entrepreneurship. For several years now, Aldo Carrascoso, who was raised in San Juan, Metro Manila, has been leaving a mark in the startup scene in the United States. Following his string of successful…

Challenges and opportunities as Buy Now, Pay Later shopping gains traction in Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur-based Lau Chi Yan, 33, bought an oven online using Grab’s Pay Later services when the ride-hailing and payment firm ran a cash rebate promotion in Malaysia in June. As a new user, she received a rebate of 65 MYR ($15.34) with minimum spending of 150 MYR ($35.40), equivalent to a 43.33 percent discount on the product. This was her first time using Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) service,…

Where are we headed in this brave new world? Here’s a look into BCE (Before COVID Era) and CE (COVID Era)

We are close to 1.5 years into living with COVID-19, reacting to its multiple variants (alpha, beta, gamma, delta). The shifts in and out of lockdown across the world have been, at the very least, frustrating to individuals, communities, and businesses. But the whole point is probably for the global population to be able to toggle smoothly and efficiently between the two states - lockdown and…