A 21-year-old flight attendant was killed last week by a Didi driver, putting a spotlight on the issue of passenger safety.
KrASIA Daily is a three-minute read to brief you everything you need to know to start your day. We only choose the latest tech & startup news that is worth your time, with a focus on Southeast Asia and China.
Southeast Asia:
Sinagapore: Singapore-based blockchain-powered real estate investment portal BitOfProperty has secured an undisclosed seed round of financing led by Japanese real estate and housing information services provider LIFULL. (Deal Street Asia)
Indonesia: Indonesian peer-to-peer (P2P) lending startup Julo has raised $5 million in a Series A funding round led by Skystar Capital and East Ventures. (Deal Street Asia)
Thailand: OurCrowd, an Israeli crowdfunding platform that has invested in 150 technology ventures globally, has cast a wider net for raising funds in Asia through a partnership with Bangkok Bank that would enable the lender’s corporate clients to invest in its portfolio companies. (SCMP)
China:
China’s biggest ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing apologized on Thursday over the killing of a passenger, apparently by her driver, and said it had to win back the trust of users after the “tragedy”. (Reuters)
Beijing-based Kuaishou, a video-sharing and live-streaming platform backed by Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings, has recently gone from a relative unknown to a rock star in overseas markets, climbing to the top of Apple’s App Stores in eight countries outside mainland China by number of downloads since mid-March. (SCMP)
The investment arm of Chinese electric vehicle startup NIO Co., which counts Chinese tech giants Tencent Group Holding Ltd, Baidu Inc. and Xiaomi Inc. among its investors, will partner with British BP PLC (BP), one of the world’s leading oil and gas companies, to explore business opportunities in internet-based travel in China. (Yicai)
Investment bank and financial services company Morgan Stanely has increased Alibaba Cloud’s valuation from $39 billion to $68 billion. It said it expects the cloud computing company’s revenue to reach $28.5 billion in 2024. (Technode)
China has begun establishing national standards for blockchain technology, hoping to complete the process by the end of 2019. (Technode)
China’s shopping mall composite index rose 0.3 percentage points to 67.5 in the first quarter, a more modest gain compared with last year despite some big investment deals. (Yicai)
Chinese microblogging platform Weibo has reported a 111% year-on-year increase in profit while adding 70 million monthly users, local media is reporting. (Technode)
World:
eBay plans to relaunch its India business after selling its stake in e-commerce company Flipkart to Walmart in the $16 billion takeover of the fast-growing Indian startup, the company announced on Wednesday. (Recode)
Uber is expanding further into Spain by launching a multi-city ride-hailing service across the Costa del Sol beach resort hotspot before the busy summer season. (Reuters)
