SEA
Indonesian regulator shuts down unregistered P2P startups by midnight. Company registration is the first step towards getting the permanent business license required to operate a P2P platform in Indonesia long-term. (KrASIA)
Strong VC interest in fintech could spawn Indonesia’s next unicorn, says minister Rudiantara. Indonesia has four unicorns in ride-hailing startup Go-Jek, hospitality startup Traveloka, and e-commerce companies Tokopedia and Bukalapak. He says: ‘’ Sometimes venture capitals’ criteria for investment are not based on scale, but on traction.’’ (Deal Street Asia)
Kredivo, a digital credit card for the masses, banks $30m series B funding. Kredivo allows users ‘’buy now,pay later’’ when shopping online. Users are credit-scored and approved, and are offered a variety of options to pay their debt. (Tech In Asia)
Startup accelerators and the challenge with cracking the sustainability code. The recent announcement of Telstra-backed accelerator muru-D discontinuing its Singapore operations begs a question: what went wrong? (Deal Street Asia)
China
Facebook sets up subsidiary listing in Hangzhou but later gets taken down. It went up, then down, like it was never really there. The record of Facebook filing to register its subsidiary with the local authority in Hangzhou, Zhejiang vanished, after a flood of headlines. (KrASIA)
Pinduoduo raises opening share price by 20%, ahead of imminent IPO. The company saw its share price increase up 20 per cent to $22.8 apiece from initial target range of $16-$19 per share. (KrASIA)
IoT firm Tuya raises $200m; Navigation startup Wayz.ai secures $80m. This Hangzhou-based Chinese IoT solutions provider Tuya Smart has raised $200m in a Series C funding round, while smart navigation startup Wayz.ai, which provides smart location and mapping services has raised $80m in a Series A round. (Deal Street Asia)
China startups floor the pedal in a driverless car race. Startups like Roadstar.ai and Pony.ai plan to be on the road as early as next year. The former is testing electric self-driving cars in the southern metropolis of Shenzhen. (Bloomberg)
Xiaomi pulls all P2P lending ads after accusations of promoting fraudulent financial products Xiaomi received 429 complaints relating to related risky P2P lending platforms, involving a total of RMB 40 million. (Technode)
China’s Mobike to restrict rider parking in Beijing as authorities tighten regulation on dockless bikes on streets. Riders who park outside the zone more than once will be fined an unspecified amount, deducted from the balance of money in their Mobike account. (SCMP)
Inside Tencent’s gambit to dominate a $13b esports arena. Esports is taking off globally, but nowhere more so than in China: a nation of over 400 million gamers fueling viewership comparable to U.S pro sports. The Chinese giant will invest $150 million a year in esports. (Bloomberg)
China keeps Qualcomm guessing on NXP fate as bid enters final hours. China is yet to give a response even as the deadline for offer is just hours away, raising the prospect the deal could be scuppered amid Sino-U.S trade tensions. (Reuters)
Rest of Asia
Hyundai Mobis has developed a new steering system optimized for safer autonomous driving. The company aims to commercialise the new system by 2020, adding that it will test the systems on real roads to perfect it. (The Korea Times)
World
‘Waze of Parking’ SpotAngels raises $2.3 million from a group of investors that includes Google Maps co-founder Lars Rasmussen. The startup plans to use the funding to expand to other U.S cities and improve its free mobile app, including a new ‘predicted availability’ feature. (TechCrunch)
Twitter curbs access for 143,000 apps in a new crackdown. The San Francisco-based social network said that it was tightening access to its application programming interfaces (API) that allows developers to make automated Twitter posts. (Channel NewsAsia)
Facebook’s outgoing security chief: ‘We need to intentionally not collect data where possible’. The comments, first circulated internally months ago, shed new light on personal reflections of the company’s top security executive amid widespread privacy failings. (CNBC)
Big Tech is funding secret projects to develop robots. Some of these examples include the likes of Amazon Inc on a robot version of its Echo voice-activated speaker; Alphabet Inc working on robots and Huawei’s model for the Chinese market to teach kids to speak English. (SCMP)
Gadgets
Sionyx, infrared imaging company, announced the Aurora, a 720p HD night vision action camera aimed at the consumer market. It’s based on their ‘ultra low light’ technology. (TechCrunch)
Good News Bad News
This start-up Noveto makes a speaker that lets you listen to music privately – without headphones. It has created a technology that can deliver audio directly to a single person, who’s not wearing headphones, allowing everyone else in the vicinity to go about their business uninterrupted. (CNBC)
