SEA
A report based on 167 fintech companies in Indonesia (obviously not exhaustive) noted around 38% of all Indonesian fintech companies are in the payments sector, followed by lending at 31%. (KrASIA)
Singapore’s e-commerce service provider Anchanto today announced raising $4 million in the first round of its ongoing Series C round, led by Telkom Indonesia’s corporate investment arm MDI Ventures. Vaibhav Dabhade, CEO and Founder, Anchanto told KrASIA that the company is looking at raising an overall Series C round of $15 million. (KrASIA)
Razer launched the Razer Pay e-wallet in Malaysia in partnership with Berjaya Corporation Berhad. (Markets Insider)
The Land Transport Authority said it is “deeply disappointed” that bike-sharing startup oBike has “reneged on its earlier commitment to refund customer’s deposits and in turn conveniently linked this to potential fees by LTA”. (Channel News Asia)
ShareBikeSG announced to exit the Singapore market due to stringent regulations. GBikes and oBike have already ceased operations in the city-state. (Deal Street Asia)
Indonesia’s Montir, an on-demand automotive service startup, has raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A round from East Ventures. (Deal Street Asia)
Indonesian media firm PT Net Visi Media is eyeing a $14 million IPO in August, according to its underwriter. (Deal Street Asia)
China
Chinese e-commerce major Alibaba Group is reportedly set to be the second major Chinese technology firm to delay China Depository Receipts (CDR) listing in mainland Chinese capital markets after smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi abruptly scrapped its CDR issuance, which to some was a blow to China’s efforts to attract its technology majors back to home market. (KrASIA)
Inke, a Chinese mobile live streaming platform, is set to list on the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEx) in a public float forecast to raise up to HK$1.21 billion ($152.9 million) and its shares priced between HK$3.85 to HK$5, according to details in its prospectus. (KrASIA)
Xiaomi is facing a hurdle ahead of its upcoming Hong Kong IPO. Following 7 patent lawsuits against it lodged by Coolpad in May, Xiaomi has again been entangled in a patent disputation saw an individual patent holder suing the Beijing-based company for an infringement concerning his patent ZL00800381.5, or “Common Packet Channel.” (KrASIA)
Ant Financial is close to close a deal to invest $100 million in Xueqiu, a Chinese financial information service. The investment values Xueque up to $500 million. (CMN)
Tencent’s WeChat now provides 1 million mini-programmes, programmes that run on its interface without the need to be downloaded have increased proportion of users who return the next day to use the app from 13.2% in November to 25.5% in June. (SCMP)
Alibaba has unveiled an AI copywriter that writes up to 20,000 lines of copy a second. The AI copywriter has passed the Turing test, a test which only few machines has successfully passed. (SCMP)
Baidu has rolled out 100 level 4 self-driving buses. Level 4 operations vehicles are able to completely take over driving in certain conditions. (SCMP)
ZTE Corp is being allowed to resume some business activities by the Trump Administration. The US has removed the seven-year ban on the Chinese telecommunications company, but not in time for ZTE to win a US$700 million contract to supply wireless equipment to Wind Tre SpA of Italy that in the end went to Ericsson AB. (SCMP)
Rest of Asia
WhatsApp says a partnership between the company and the Indian government is needed to fight fake news on its platform. (Reuters)
World
Renault plans to launch a ride-hailing and car-sharing service in Paris in September, announced the company on Wednesday. (Reuters)
Uber is in talks with rival Careem to combine their Middle Eastern ride-hailing businesses according to Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter. (Reuters)
Gadgets
Light is building a smartphone equipped with five to nine cameras capable of capturing a 64-megapixel shot. (TC)
Good News Bad News
Chinese short video streaming app Tik Tok has been banned by Indonesian authorities for “pornography, inappropriate content and blasphemy”. (Reuters)
