SEA
How to build a venture builder? This startup studio aims to build several companies in succession, sharing their resources and giving their support to the companies they help build on the basis of mostly internal ideas. (KrASIA)
Singapore-based Monk’s Hill Ventures, a tech-focused venture capital firm, set to make first close of the $120m fund. The second fund is substantially larger than its maiden fund, with 60 to 70 per cent of the first fund already being deployed. (Deal Street Asia)
Early-stage founders don’t need to focus on their decks, says this angel investor. Eric Dadoun is a founding partner at Impiro, a Singapore based investment firm that funds mainly angel round or pre-seed round investments in Southeast Asia. (Tech In Asia)
Grab announce fresh US$2b funding that will be used further their ‘Everyday Super app’’ ambitions and to invest more into the Indonesian market. It is reported that 50% of its ‘micro-entrepreneurs’ reside in Indonesia. (Vulcan Post)
China
Xiaopeng Motors secures RMB 4b in Series B+ round. This new influx of fresh funds come at a time when there is a growing interest in China, with many startups investing in advanced technologies to create smart mobility and clean energy solutions. (KrASIA)
Code-named Dragonfly, the Google project involves a customised Andriod app developed by Google engineers that will automatically identify and block websites blocked by China’s firewall. Is Google trying to make an attempt into the lucrative Chinese market? (KrASIA)
Luckin coffee launches healthy snacks in bid to grow its market share. It will be offering healthy snacks at half the price nationwide by end-2018. This latest development came after a new tie-up between Starbucks China & Alibaba. (KrASIA)
In retreat from many countries, Ofo sees hope in Singapore. The focus on its core markets is part of Ofo’s plans to start turning a profit by the end of 2018, and more importantly to remain an independent company, despite circulating acquisition rumours. (KrASIA)
Starbucks CEO confirms Alibaba partnership, plans to expand delivery to 2,000 stores in China. In the exclusive agreement, the giant coffee chain will leverage all of Alibaba’s properties, including delivery platforms Ele.me and supermarket chain Hema, to expand delivery services throughout China. (CNBC)
The rise and fall of China’s online P2P lending. P2P lending/ Online lending is generally considered as a method of debt financing that directly connects borrowers with lenders. China’s online lending industry has since rapid growth since 2007, without many regulations. Now, stories have been circulating across China about desperate investors who have lost their life savings. (Technode)
China’s search giant Baidu’s profit & sales beat estimates, showing signs of recovery, despite payoff of its new businesses such as driverless cars still remain ambiguous. In the short run, the news is good for Baidu who has experienced a number of management departures over the past two years. (Deal Street Asia)
Tencent-backed Douyu bans live streamer over Nanking massacre comments and vowed to have all hosts attend regular patriotic education sessions, amid an ongoing clean up of online content by the Chinese regulators. (SCMP)
World
Tesla flags promise of profit as Model 3 production steadies. Despite the firm’s reporting of a record loss that doubled to $718 million in the second quarter, shares jumped as much as 11 per cent in after-hours trading, as investors focused on steadier production volumes and slower rate of cash burns. (Reuters)
Apple is just less than 3 per cent away from the $1 trillion mark. After Apple reported of a stellar quarter performance, its share price surged to close at $201.50 apiece on Wednesday. (Bloomberg)
How Wall Street reacted to Big Tech’s crazy earnings week – in one chart. While Facebook lost more market value in a single day, Apple is poised to become the world’s first trillion dollar company. (Quartz)
Amazon plans to move off Oracle software by early 2020. The company’s emergence as a major provider of data center technology has turned many of its longtime suppliers into heated rivals. (CNBC)
Good News Bad News
There are very real differences in how men and women (and VCs) view entrepreneurship, underscores a new survey. Many more firms are producing research as a way to differentiate themselves from the pack, even as the world of venture capital gets increasingly crowded. (TechCrunch)
