Funding rounds, founders and the next generation of Asian retail bets.
In a move aimed at getting the next 200 million online shoppers to its platform, e-commerce major Flipkart has acquired Liv.ai, an artificial intelligence-led speech recognition startup. The company, however, did not disclose the deal amount. Post the…
The Fung family has invested US$35 million in Indian technology platform ShopX. The funds came from Fung Strategic Holdings a member of Fung Investments, the private investment vehicle of the families of Dr Victor Fung and Dr William Fung. ShopX is described…
Bekraf, the Indonesian Creative Economy Agency, has joined with the Indonesian embassy in Singapore to open a pop-up store showcasing Indonesian fashion startups. Joshua Puji Mulia Simanjuntak, Bekraf’s marketing division deputy head, described Singapore as…
A Vietnamese startup has won the top prize at a regional contest with a win-win business model for vendors and customers. EzQ won the Best Startup award at the IDEAS Show APEC 2018 held in Taiwan last week. Demonstrating a good understanding of user’s needs…
The Association of Vietnam Retailers says that there has been an exponential increase in the number of people ordering food online in Hanoi and HCMC in the last few years, and it is foreign firms that are cashing in on delivering it. The food delivery market…
In an effort to scale up its expansion plans, SmartQ, a Bengaluru-based leading online food tech platform has announced that the company has acquired the Digital Cafeteria business of Goodbox which provides mini apps to businesses. The acquisition is a part…
Japanese startup Paidy has received US$55 million to build a scheme allowing online shoppers to buys goods without a credit card. The series-C funding was led by Goldman Sachs and Japanese trading house Itochu Corporation Paidy was created because even though…
The trend of investing in Southeast Asia start-ups gained momentum in 2016-17, including in Vietnam, though the country has yet to get its “unicorn,” or a privately held start-up with a valuation of $1 billion or more. “I think one of the reasons start-ups in…
The Melbourne-based startup announced today a US$80 million series B led by Tencent and Sequoia China and joined by Asia-Pacific investors Hillhouse Capital, Horizons Ventures, Central Capital Ventura, and Square Peg Capital. The deal is believed to be the…
Chinese e-commerce startup Pinduoduo is seeking US$1 billion in a US IPO, going head to head with industry giants such as Alibaba. The company’s business model, in which users recruit friends via social media to enjoy group-discount offers direct from…
A 24-hour Chinese convenience-store chain has closed a US$10 million series pre-A funding round led by Sequoia Capital China. The chain, Bianli24, is a 2017 startup known for its self-service vending machines which shop owners can use to automate sales of…
Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten is to buy Curbside, an app which offers shoppers mobile ordering from brick-and-mortar stores for outside pickup. Curbside says after the acquisition it will continue to operate as an independent company, with its products,…
A total of 92 Vietnamese startups raised $291 million in funding last year, said Mai Duy Quang of the Vietnam Software and IT Services Association at the opening of K-Startup Grand Challenge on Thursday. That’s a 45 percent increase in number of startups from…
Indonesian ride-hailing and online payment firm Go-Jek on Thursday said it would enter Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines in the next few months, investing $500 million in its international push. The move will start with ride-hailing services…
Singapore classifieds marketplace Carousell has raised US$85 million in series-C funding. The round was co-led by Rakuten Ventures and EDBI, with participation from existing investors 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures and Sequoia India, as well as new…
eHarmony’s former managing director, Nicole McInnes, has taken up the inaugural marketing leader’s chair at media telco startup, OVO. OVO provides a range of mobile phone plans to Australian consumers matched with data-free allowances across its own digital…
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