SEA
These Malaysians to help developers lower their costs with their app. LinkZZapp is a smart management solution for property developers and property management companies to help link management offices with residents. (Vulcan Post)
Indonesian remittance startup ZendMoney is said to be in talks with VCs for a $3-5m Series A financing round. The startup claims to offer safe, and secure cross-border money transfer services at affordable rates. (Deal Street Asia)
S’pore’s Golden Gate Ventures launches $10m fund to invest in global crypto and blockchain startups. Investors in the fund includes high net-worth individuals and family offices that are looking to invest in early-stage companies such as cryptocurrency exchanges and family offices. (Vulcan Post)
China
Ant Financial in talks with Bangladesh on-demand startup Shohoz. The startup whose name translates to ‘easy’, has onboarded 18,000 drivers and recorded a gross transaction value of US$1.8 million in 2016 and US$3 million in 2017 for its tickets business, according to a pitch deck dated back to April. (KrASIA)
SoftBank further invests $1b in WeWork in the form of convertible notes. With sales rising and cost per desks on a decline, the interest in WeWork’s equity is there, says Artie Minson, WeWork’s President and CFO. (SCMP)
Chinese mobile game-makers made more than $600m in the US market in H1 2018. Overseas expansion becomes a necessity, as China experiences a slowdown in domestic mobile game revenues. (Technode)
What China’s history of overseas tech IPOs says about the current wave. Chinese companies are turning to stock markets in the US and Hong Kong over the mainland, marking the fifth overseas listing rush. (e27)
Rumours, are nothing but another form of gossip. And Google’s rumoured secret plan to return to China is no exception. Besides, nothing in China is ever a 100-per cent certainty. Facebook, for example, opened a short-lived subsidiary in Hangzhou just last month. (Technode)
Rest of Asia
Flipkart launches e-grocer service Flipkart Supermart in Bengaluru. The firm is now adopting Walmart’s strategy by offering huge discounts and even goes to the extent of allowing selected customers to continue purchasing groceries, only to pay for them by the 10th of next month. (KrASIA)
Musical.ly investor bets on internet radio with $17m deal for Korea’s Spoon Radio. The plan is to create a service that allowed people to truly connect and share their thoughts with others on everyday and real-life issues. (TechCrunch)
World
Tesla’s board has not yet received a detailed financing plan from CEO Elon Musk and are seeking for more information. This comes after Elon’s tweet on Tuesday on his consideration of a take-private deal for Tesla. (Reuters)
Amazon has plans to build out its own health clinics for Seattle employees. This ambitious plan to reduce the health care costs will begin in a pilot project on its own Seattle headquarters. (CNBC)
Qualcomm reaches settlement in anti-trust case with Taiwan regulator. Parts of this settlement include the need to provide reports to Taiwanese officials every six months, and offering patent licences to rival chipmakers.This closure can put an end to all the uncertainties to allow the firm to focus on its next step ahead. (Reuters)
