Bukalapak raises US$1.5B on the first day of its IDX debut, shares jump 25%
The Jakarta-based firm is the first tech unicorn from the country to go public, both domestically and abroad; Bukalapak wants to use the proceeds from the IPO to support the operations of its holding company and its subsidiaries.
Is AirAsia a toxic workplace? Current and ex-employees tell Tech In Asia
The casual F-word that AirAsia Thailand CEO Tassapon Bijleveld directed at an employee wasn’t an isolated incident either; “What you saw that day [in the town hall] – about bringing a girl to [AirAsia’s head of ecommerce] Ben Jie – that happens all the time. It wasn’t one-off behaviour,” says a former staff member.
Blibli is the latest Indonesian tech company to confirm unicorn status
CEO Kusumo Martanto confirmed this to Daily Social; The e-commerce company is reportedly mulling the possibility to go public through a SPAC merger with COVA Acquisition Corp with an estimated US$2B valuation.
AirAsia’s fintech unit BigPay raises up to US$100M from Korea’s SK Group
BigPay offers a prepaid debit card, local and international money transfers, micro-insurance, bill payments, and a budgeting tool; BigPay has applied for a digital banking license in Malaysia as part of a consortium with Malaysian Industrial Development Finance and Ikhlas Capital.
REA Group build a US$147M stake in PropertyGuru, completes 99 Group divestment
REA Group, which is majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., will also commit US$52M to PropertyGuru as the latter carves out its plans to list on the NYSE through a US$1.8B merger with Bridgetown 2.
Finch Capital-MDI Ventures JV ‘Arise’ hits first close of US$40M fund, to back 25 ASEAN startups
With ticket sizes ranging from US$250K to US$3M, Arise can invest in startups even before the founders fully solidify their ideas and teams; Arise is currently in the process of executing new investments. The fund targets at least five closed deals by the end of 2021.
It’s raining unicorns in India. Here is why
Just in the first seven months of 2021, India has produced 16 unicorns; Interestingly, India isn’t just one of the biggest markets out there, it is also, for the most part, untapped.
Yummy Corp raises Series B+ from Sembrani Nusantara
This round comes less than a year after Yummykitchen bagged US$12M in Series B, led by Softbank Ventures Asia, in September 2020; The startup will use the fresh capital for expansion into 50 new locations across Indonesia.
Razer to suspend e-wallet services by September 30
It includes all wallet top-up, payment, and transfer features on Razer Pay; The gaming tech firm’s exclusive 10% cashback on Razer Store and Razer Gold purchases were reportedly not enough to incentivise its target millennial clientele.
Forbes listee accuses Nas Daily founder of rude and exploitative behaviour
Mabulo, founder of The Cacao Project, says Nuseir Yassin repeatedly labelled the people of her hometown of San Fernando, Camarines Sur as being poor; “He didn’t care about making a change or shedding light on real issues. He only wanted content – a good, easy story to tell that would get him more Filipino views.”
China’s tech crackdown widens to Tencent from Alibaba
Ostensibly, regulators are focused on anti-competitive practices and protecting customers’ personal information; But many observers believe the move is motivated by a desire to keep mighty IT companies in check.
Singaporean neobank focused on women entrepreneurs Lucy bags seed funding from EmergeVest
Lucy helps women entrepreneurs set up, run and grow their businesses, with affordable financial services including no-interest salary advances; Before this round, Lucy secured US$450K in a women-only round of 21 diverse women.
Vietnam aims to become AI hub in ASEAN by 2030
The government has issued a national strategy on the R&D, and application of AI till 2030; It intends for Vietnam to be among four leading countries in ASEAN and 50 nations globally in terms of AI R&D, and application over the next few years.
5 promising adtech startups in Indonesia
Adtech startups are making the most of the country’s growing population and the rising use of the internet and mobile phones to market products and services; By 2022, the total advertising market size in Indonesia will be over US$4B; Technology is changing the landscape by bringing greater efficiency to how companies use their ad spend.
How logistics firm Lalamove powers same-day deliveries for over 5K businesses in SG
With the expansion of its delivery fleet, Lalamove now has a fleet of over 50K local drivers and over 700K drivers worldwide; Beyond getting Lalamove to fulfill their delivery needs, businesses will have a personal account executive to help them with their operations.
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Image Credit: AirAsia
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