Monday, 2024 December 23

Today’s Tech Headlines: Grab to build a super app to rival Go-Jek

SEA 

Grab has launched an open platform strategy in its bid to become a super app in the region, alongside an on-demand grocery delivery, Anthony Tan, co-founder and CEO of the company, said on Tuesday. (KrASIA)

Indonesia-focused VC firm EverHaus is planning to raise a $20- million fund by the end of this year. The early-stage VC firm seeks to work with the new generation of entrepreneurs. (Deal Street Asia)

 

China 

China’s 51 Credit Card, an online credit card management platform, is set to price its IPO at HKD 8.5 per share at the bottom of its indicative range of between HKD8.5 – 11.5, according to various reports. (KrASIA)

Toutiao, the operator of China’s largest news aggregator Jinri Toutiao, is tapping into the paid-content space. The Beijing-based company has launched a dedicated learning app dubbed Haohao Xuexi (好好学习), or “Study Well” in Mandarin. The company was previously reported to be setting up a partial paywall to content on its news aggregator. (KrASIA)

There are close to three times as many Chinese internet users as the U.S, despite China falling behind the U.S in terms of internet and mobile internet penetration rates, thanks to a more populated China, according to a recent China Internet report released at the annual RISE conference in Hong Kong. (KrASIA)

Shares of Xiaomi rallied after closing below Xiaomi’s IPO price, as the smartphone manufacturer is included in Hang Seng Index. (Technode)

Siemens has joined hands with Alibaba to use the cloud infrastructure of the Chinese e-commerce conglomerate in a bid to launch MindSphere, a digital operating system. (Reuters)

ZTE said it will prioritize compliance in the future, after paying nearly $2 billion in fines to settle a US ban. The new management of the company said it would learn from the lessons from the past mistakes in a letter to employees. (SCMP)

Hong Kong’s first bike-sharing service Gobee.bike will close down due to losses since its launch last year. Users will not be able to use its bikes starting July 17 and the company has stopped user registration and top-ups. (SCMP)

Chinese VC firm Ganesh Ventures announced the launch of its India-focused fund with backing from Jack Ma, the founder of China’s e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba. (Deal Street Asia)

Workout app Keep has raised a $126 million Series D round led by Goldman Sachs with participation from Tencent, GGV Capital, Morningside Venture Capital, and Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI). (Technode)

 

Rest of Asia 

Walmart’s technology unit Walmart Labs is looking to acquire tech startups in India. In May, the world’s largest retailer agreed to buy a 77% stake in Flipkart for $16 billion. (Livemint)

BigBasket seeks to achieve a $1 billion gross sales run rate by March 2019 amid an increasingly brutal battle against Walmart and Amazon. (Livemint)

SoftBank is tightening its grip over Yahoo Japan. The Japanese conglomerate will buy $2 billion of Yahoo Japan shares from Altaba, formerly known as Yahoo Inc. (Reuters)

 

World 

Microsoft is said to sell a $399 tablet, the 10-inch Surface Go, to contend against Apple’s iPads. (WSJ)

Shares of Twitter fell up to 9.7% on Monday. The social networking service was cleaning up its platform, suspending over 1 million accounts a day. (CNBC)

 

Gadgets 

Canon and Nikon are reportedly planning to introduce mirrorless cameras by the end of this year. The two companies have been investing heavily in the next phase of digital photography. (TC)

 

Good News Bad News

Tesla’s price listings increased by about 20% in China after the US and China have imposed tariffs on each other’s goods, including exported Tesla. (WSJ)

 

36Kr Global Writers
36Kr Global Writers
The tech ecosystem is roaring. Unicorns valued at billions of dollars have emerged worldwide, while venture capital and strategic investors are constantly on the lookout for the next big thing. 36Kr Global is committed to establishing ties between global stakeholders and providing the most vital information about China’s tech scene and capital markets.
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