SEA
Indonesian P2P lending startup KoinWorks raises $16.5m from Mandiri Capital. It operates an online platform that links lenders to borrowers. Other loans available on its platform include education and health loans. (KrASIA)
Singapore’s Sea is aiming to create a viable e-commerce business. It has been successful so far at extracting more revenue from the transactions on its platform, but is also experiencing an escalating marketing budget. The company, for example has spent $649 million to make $91.4 million in revenue in Q4 2016. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore’s Spiking, a stock and crypto trading app, secures US$1.63m in funding. This hybrid platform will track transactions by significant shareholders of public-listed companies in both the stock and cryptocurrency markets. (e27)
China
P2P is not Fintech, says Jack Ma. In the first Smart China Expo, he also mentioned of three core technologies. They are intelligent manufacturing, IT, and blockchain. (KrASIA)
Pinduoduo removes 1k stores and 4m goods amid counterfeits controversy. This is the first major move taken by PDD following its public float on the Nasdaq. It also shows how the growing regulatory involvement of Beijing can have an impact on these rapidly growing internet enterprises. (KrASIA)
Lessons for investors following China’s P2P lending nightmare. The recent wave of failed P2P lending platforms in China has caused many investors to lose a lot of money. What caused this to happen? (KrASIA)
LinkedIn’s China rival Maimai has reached unicorn status after securing $200m in a Series D funding, says a Technode report. The firm services tens of millions of white-collar users. Of which, more than half are from China’s first-tier cities. (Deal Street Asia)
China accelerates the construction of electric charging piles for new energy vehicles. This hints of China’s determination signals of China’s rapid pace of building infrastructure and services to match new energy vehicles demand. (Technode)
China sees a surge in the sale of personal information. This comes at a time when data privacy has become a major issue across the world. Facebook, for instance, is being criticized for selling users’ personal data. (Reuters)
Beijing’s Chaoyang district has banned commercial properties from hosting crypto events. There have been frequent news of cryptocurrency betting rings and Ponzi schemes, despite China’s ban of ICO and cryptocurrency exchange. (Technode)
Alibaba’s shares have taken a beating since its previous record high. In Q1 2018, $81 billion has been wiped out. Its operating margin is expected to remain under pressure as the firm reports its fiscal earnings on Thursday. (CNBC)
Rest of Asia
Hyundai jumps into India’s on-demand mobility space, after leading a $14.3m investment in Revv, a car-rental startup. The startup currently has a fleet of around 1,000 vehicles and claims to be serving 300,000 users to-date. (TechCrunch)
World
Australia’s government banned Huawei Technologies, a Chinese telecoms firms, from supplying equipment for its planned 5G mobile network, for fear of the risks of foreign interference. This move is similar to the stance of the US due to concerns over the US national security. (Reuters)
Facebook’s Onavo security app is no longer available on the Apple app store. This removal is because Facebook’s app does not comply with Apple’s privacy rules. (CNBC)
There is growing uncertainty over curbing manipulations amongst major social media players in the US. Facebook and Twitter takedowns could just be a prelude as analysts warned of more efforts to manipulate public debate ahead of the November US elections. (Channel NewsAsia)
