Carsome Co-Founder and Group CEO Eric Cheng on addressing pain points in a decades-old industry
Anyone who is looking for a good deal on a used car knows the pain points. Unless you have considerable knowledge or expertise in automobiles, chances are you will have difficulty finding a good car that fits your budget. You might be getting a car that has hidden issues that could be expensive to repair or maintain in the long run, for example.
For a seller, finding the right buyer can also…
Australian VC Square Peg eyes SEA expansion with close of 4th fund at $450M
Square Peg has just announced the close of its fourth pool of venture capital with an impressive US$450 million (A$594 million). This brings its total venture capital chest to over $1 billion. The bulk of their fourth pool was led by local Australian institutions AustralianSuper and HostPlus. Other notable companies that supported this round were the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Roc…
SWITCH 2020 recap: Up close with tech veteran Lei Ming – The Baidu and Kuwo Music Founder on the next breakthrough
What are some best practices for companies to overcome adversity as they seek to expand into China? This session looked back at the tech veteran’s entrepreneurship journey: co-founding Baidu and KuWo Music, before switching gears to the angel investment and artificial intelligence sector.
We have seen multiple advancements in technology and innovations that can change the way we live our…
CIC announces its Digital Silk Road initiative to help boost commercial activity during the pandemic
Commodities Intelligence Centre (CIC) launches its Digital Silk Road Initiative in an effort to support Singaporean businesses amid the downturn brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. With this, CIC aims to optimize the $42.2 billion worth of cooperation agreements signed by more than 300 small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) on the digital trading platform Zallgo during the 2020 Global Digital…
SWITCH 2020 recap: China’s shoppertainment craze – Is the social commerce livestream hitting its ceiling?
Livestream e-commerce has reached dizzying sales figures, and optimism is rife. However, the sector may have hit its limit. The hype around livestreamed e-commerce is threatening its sustainability, especially as regulators set their sights on the sector.
We have seen e-commerce grow and reach places and heights that we would never have imagined. One of the more recent strategies that…
Sea Group set to secure up to $2.6B through American depositary share offering
Sea Group announced on December 10, 2020 its intention to offer 11 million American depositary shares (ADS), which can raise $2.2 billion for the company. Each ADS represents a single Class A ordinary Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) share. All of the depositary shares are solely being offered by Sea Limited in an underwritten public offering.
Aside from the ADS offering, Sea Group also announced the…
Booming Australian logistics startup Shippit secures $22.3M Series B for Southeast Asia Expansion
Businesses worldwide have been forced to adapt to the new normal due to the coronavirus pandemic. Retail was facing a big problem earlier this year, except for e-commerce, which was given the perfect opportunity to shine. With the sudden demand for online sales and logistics, e-commerce fulfillment company Shippit saw its business grow as transactions started increasing by more than double…
Fatima Gobi Ventures’ Techxila Fund I invests in experienced startup teams that deal with post-pandemic concerns
Fatima Gobi Ventures, which brings together Pakistan conglomerate Fatima Group and Gobi Ventures, has announced its initial round of investment in five startups for its maiden Techxila Fund I, which was announced late 2019. The startups in the initial round all feature experienced founders in their management teams. The companies operate in e-commerce, travel, fintech, SaaS and logistics--and…
With $1M seed round, Philippine startup Resellee plans to capitalize on the social commerce trend
Resellee, a social commerce platform launched in the Philippines, looks to replicate the success of China’s Pinduoduo after securing $1 million in seed funding from Singapore-based digital banking platform Mintech Enterprises and Chinese investment firm Hofan Capital, as announced in November 2020. The startup plans to use this investment to build its technology and fund its expansion to other…
Becoming Indonesia’s social commerce leader: Lessons from Pinduoduo
When it comes to social commerce, Pinduoduo is easily one of the first names that come to mind with the pioneering work they did in China, now with 700 million annual active buyers and nearly 100 billion market cap. Pinduoduo came into an e-commerce landscape with already two dominant and established first-wave or traditional eCommerce players and the space was ripe for a new e-commerce…