Alibaba halts talks to raise $1B before Lazada IPO – report
China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba Group discussed raising at least $1 billion for its Southeast Asian arm Lazada before calling off negotiations with potential investors when talks bogged down over Lazada’s valuation, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, quoting people familiar with the matter.
Alibaba had aimed to secure financing for Lazada as a precursor of a spin-off of the Singapore-based…
Singapore FinTech firm Thunes expands further into Latin America
Thunes, a Singapore-based fintech company, said Tuesday it is speeding up its global expansion with the setting up of a regional hub in Miami to expand into new Latin American markets.
This development follows the company’s recent announcement ramping up its presence in Greater China.
"Thunes is actively expanding into new markets and regions and becoming a truly global player. Given the…
Carsome plans to build more used car refurbishment centers in Malaysia, Indonesia & Thailand
Malaysia-headquartered used car e-commerce platform Carsome Group plans to build more used car refurbishment centers in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand as the company expects the demand for pre-owned cars to continue growing in the next few years.
“We are expanding in the three countries together, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand. Our target is to have more footprints in three countries to cover…
Finding a niche in the Philippines’ Iron Triangle
TechNode Global’s series on the Philippines delves into why Filipino startups are attracting venture capital (VC) money in droves. In this third part, we explore how much Covid-accelerated digitization boosted the country’s ‘Iron Triangle’ – e-commerce, logistics, and fintech – startups, and how the startup Davids are battling the Goliath super apps to carve out their own niches. Catch up with…
Philippine payments platform PayMongo raises $31M in Series B funding
Philippine FinTech and online payments company PayMongo said Monday it has secured $31 million in Series B funding to scale its operations.
Participating in the round are Justin Mateen’s JAM Fund, Philippine VC firms ICCP-SBI Venture Partners and Lisa Gokongwei’s Kaya Founders, together with existing investors Global Founders Capital and SOMA Capital, PayMongo said in a statement.
Also…
Malaysia’s drone tech hub ambition: Opportunities & Challenges [Part 1]
Editor's note: In this first part, we briefly look into the opportunities awaiting Malaysia drone tech startups. We talked to drone startups, MDEC, MRANTI and Gobi Partners, which invested in Aerodyne.
The groundwork for Malaysia to become a drone tech hub in the region can be traced back to as far as 2017 when government agency Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) kicked off…
Singapore foodtech firm Next Gen Foods raises a record-breaking $100M Series A funding round
Next Gen Foods, makers of TiNDLE, the popular chicken made from plants, said Tuesday it has raised a $100 million Series A funding round – the largest Series A to date for a plant-based meat company.
Participating in the Series A round are new international investors Alpha JWC, the Southeast Asian venture capital firm; the Singapore-based global investment fund, EDBI; and UK-based MPL…
Indian healthcare platform GOQii raises $50M Series C funding from Sumeru Ventures, Modality and others
Indian healthcare platform GOQii Inc announced Wednesday its Series C funding round of $50 million led by Sumeru Ventures, a global fund with a focus on next generation technology areas.
GOQii said in a statement that the company has raised funding across equity, preference shares, notes and debt. Modality (Digality), a provider of primary health care and community services across the United…
Vietnam’s Society Pass completes acquisition of Philippines online grocery delivery service Pushkart.ph
Vietnam-based loyalty platform Society Pass Incorporated (SoPa) announced Tuesday that it has acquired Pushkart.ph, an online grocery delivery service in Philippines.
As a result of the acquisition, Pushkart.ph becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of SoPa, SoPa said in a statement.
The move kicks-off SoPa’s expansion into the Philippines market. Leveraging on SoPa’s capital, Pushkart.ph will…
Singapore insurtech provider Cyber Sierra raises $4.3M seed fund led by Leo Capital
Cyber Sierra, a Singapore-based technology-enabled cyber insurtech provide, announced Tuesday the completion of a $4.3 million seed round of financing led by Leo Capital, with participation from AppWorks, Credit Saison, as well as angel investors including prominent founders and leaders in the cloud and insurance sectors.
With this round of financing, Cyber Sierra said in a statement that it…