Editor’s note:
Apart from Xiaomi, an army of Chinese tech companies are stampeding towards IPOs, including the country’s largest ride hailer Didi Chuxing, the world’s largest O2O e-commerce platform Meituan-Dianping, Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Financial and Tencent Music.
KrASIA Daily is a five-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:
SE Asia: Telco Singtel and gaming product firm Razer are coming together in a tie-up that both firms hope will create the largest e-payment network in South-east Asia. (ST)
Singapore: Singapore-based Fysical, a human location data provider, has announced its partnership with blockchain-backed data platform Streamr. (e27)
SE Asia: Blocnation has announced the launch of it’s ICO, the Blocnation Token, operating on it’s own blockchain built by Komodo Platform, according to a press release. Cashless payment system PouchNATION will be the exclusive rollout partner of Blocnation, using the Blocnation Token as it’s standard digital currency in its network of events, venues, and festivals across Southeast Asia. (e27)
Singapore: Singapore-based asset management firm RE Lee Capital, which caters to Asian high net-worth individuals (HNIs) and business families, is targeting to mop up $100 million for three new funds it is set to launch within a month. (Deal Street Asia)
SE Asia: Dymon Asia Private Equity (DAPE), the PE arm of Dymon Asia Capital, has announced the final close of its second Southeast Asia fund at $450 million, hitting its hard cap within several months of its launch. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore: Impact Hub Singapore has announced that it is rebranding as Found., according to an email sent out to the company’s subscribers. The rebranding is due to Found. leaving the Impact Hub network to “scale their impact and operations regionally and globally” and address the “need for curated ecosystems that bring together the entrepreneurs, thought leaders, disruptors, rebels, corporate and government leaders.” (e27)
China:
Xiaomi has filed on Wednesday to list on HKEX to raise at least $10 billion, according to a Hong Kong local news service. (36Kr)
China’s second-largest e-commerce conglomerate JD.Com Inc. will invest CNY300 million (USD47.24 million) in the smart TV unit of electronics firm TCL Corp to take a 6.67 percent stake. (Yicai)
Apple Inc.’s revenue from the Greater China market increased 21 percent annually in its second fiscal quarter this year to USD13 billion, equal to the company’s earnings in the European market. (Yicai)
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. said it will take further action after a U.S. judge refused to block Dubai cryptocurrency firm Alibabacoin (ABBC) Foundation from using its name. (Caixin)
The present is an inopportune time to commercialize short-videos, said Xie Yunwei, senior director of operations at NetEase Media Technology (Beijing) Co., as state news outlet The Paper reported. (Yicai)
Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital China has co-led a $25-million Series B funding round in Refuge Biotechnologies, a California-based biotech startup that leverages gene engineering technologies to develop therapeutic cells that fight cancer. (Deal Street Asia)
Faraday Future, the EV startup funded by wheeler-dealer LeEco founder Jia Yueting, seems to have begun construction work for an electric vehicle plant in Guangzhou’s Nansha district through its newly-formed affiliate Ruichi Smart Car. The move could prove controversial as Jia and his business network are highly indebted in China and his assets frozen here. (Technode)
China’s HNA Group is selling a real-estate focused unit for 2.9 billion yuan ($456.08 million), the firm said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday, amid a broader sell-down by the debt-laden conglomerate as it looks to raise funds. (Deal Street Asia)
Intel and the China Foundation for Cultural Heritage Conservation joined forces last week to use the US semiconductor giant’s drone and artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help scout a remote and severely weathered section of the Great Wall constructed during the Ming dynasty, which spanned the 14th to 17th centuries. (SCMP)
World:
Car makers BMW, General Motors, Ford and Renault are the big names behind a new group announced today to explore the potential of the blockchain in the automotive and mobility space. (TechCrunch)
Nikola Motor Co., a hydrogen truck startup, is suing Tesla Inc. for $2 billion, alleging billionaire Elon Musk’s company willfully infringed on its patents. (Bloomberg)
As it inches towards a mega-deal with US retail giant Walmart, Indian e-commerce major Flipkart is looking to buy back shares from small investors to regain its private limited company status in Singapore, according to a source-based report in The Economic Times. (Deal Street Asia)
Facebook Inc is entering the dating game, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday, planning a dating service to matchmake millions of people on the world’s largest online social network and nudge them into spending more time there. (Reuters)
Snap Inc fell short of Wall Street forecasts for revenue and regular users on Tuesday after a redesign of its Snapchat messaging app turned off some long-time fans and advertisers, sending its shares tumbling 16 percent. (Reuters)
Lego A/S will partner with Amazon.com Inc. for a project that couples the toymaker’s building blocks with the retail giant’s interactive voice program. (Bloomberg)
