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| March 9 · Issue #146 · View online |
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Welcome back, The Coronavirus outbreak – of course, we start with this – is taking hold of the tech scene. You’ve probably seen a lot of awkward tweets relating the virus to startup growth – this and this for example. While China is trying to play down its own issues with the outbreak, it is hitting a lot of companies hard including ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, which is one story in the newsletter. There’s yet more on Grab-Gojek merger rumours in Southeast Asia, with the FT now reporting investors are turning to SoftBank to push through a deal to end the expensive and draining battle between the two. Makes sense on paper, but can a deal be done? Onward to this week’s newsletter!
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US government orders China's Shiji to sell US hotel tech firm StayNTouch
The Trump Administration has demand Shiji unwind the deal, which was completed in 2018, the grounds of national security. StayNTouch provides software for managing operations at hotels. Shiji made an initial $2M investment in the business before buying out the remainder for $33M. It claims the US government is “incorrect” and that it “did not adequately explain the basis of its decision.” Shinji itself took on a near-$500M investment from Alibaba in 2018 in a deal that valued it at around $1.2B.
Related: The Chinese owner of gay dating app Grindr said it has agreed to sell the business for around $600M, having been ordered to do so by the US government link
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The Chinese government is trying to use software and surveillance to figure out citizens who require quarantining as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak link
In a bid to restrict comments about the outbreak, the government is also tightening regulations that make websites, producers and service providers responsible for comments that might include “harming national interests,”“spreading rumours” or “inappropriate commentary on natural disasters” link
Didi Chuxing is struggling to handle the Coronavirus outbreak with its ride-hailing business down as much as 50% link
Luckin Coffee may face a fraud lawsuit from shareholders link
Leaked documents show Huawei violating trade sanctions by playing a direct role in sending prohibited US computer equipment to Iran’s largest mobile-phone operator link
Chinese companies are selling content-moderation tools that experts fear could increase online censorship across the world link
SoftBank has become the majority investor in real estate platform Beike following a $2.4 billion in its series D+ round link
JD has struggled in recent times but it just posted promising Q4 financials link
Oppo just cloned the Apple Watch link
WeDoctor, a Tencent-backed digital health startup, is reportedly planning to raise $1B from a Hong Kong IPO at a valuation of $10B link
Autonomous driving startup Pony.ai raised $500M led by Toyota link
“Chi-Fi”: How Chinese audio companies bridging the gap and making quality audio products affordable link
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Tutoring startup Snapask raised a $35M Series B to expand into Southeast Asia link
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Yes Bank takeover causes chaos for fintech startups
The Reserve Bank of India took over operations at the troubled bank, disruption has included APIs and channel for payment settlements. A slew of companies have had to migrate to bring service back to customers. “Several leading UPI players saw their operations crippled due to the withdrawal restrictions placed on Yes Bank by the regulators. Most notably, services of Walmart backed PhonePe was down temporarily as CEO and founder Sameer Nigam took to Twitter to explain the cause of the outage as moratorium placed "on our partner bank (Yes Bank)” by the RBI.“
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A look at how Apple has tried to build a supply chain in India link 🔒 Crypto companies are planning services in India after RBI overturned a ban on bank access for trading virtual currencies link
ByteDance raised Resso, a music streaming app, in India after a lengthy beta test period link
Apple has been on a good run in India after a disastrous 2018 link
Amazon could begin food delivery in India as soon as this month link
OYO said it is trimming 5,000 jobs link
Online jewelry pawner Rupeek raised $60M from GGV and others link
Second-hand car marketplace Spinny raised $43.7M link
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The head of SoftBank's Vision Fund says its critics will be proven wrong
Softbank’s Rajeev Misra dismissed concerns about the Vision Fund as misleading and said he expects “dozens” of IPOs from the portfolio within 18 months.
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Ride-hailing service Tada pauses service following introduction of new regulations
Tada, which counts SoftBank among its investors, had been cleared of transport law violations in February but now it has suffered a bitter blow. Tada had got around restrictive laws on ride-hailing but using vans (11-15 seats) but a revised passenger transport service act now requires such vans to be used for at least six hours, while they must also be rented or returned to airports or ports. Tada has said it will pause its service.
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South Korea has passed a comprehensive bill on cryptocurrencies link
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A look at how North Korea steals millions using crypto
Hackers working for Kim Jong-un have become experts at covering their tracks on the Bitcoin blockchain.
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Investors are reportedly urging SoftBank to deliver Grab-Gojek tie-up in Indonesia
Following on from The Information’s scoop that Grab and Gojek have held exploratory acquisitions talks, the FT has an explosive report that shareholders are pushing SoftBank to make the union official. The reasoning is, apparently, simple: costly subsidies battles and skirmishing is making it hard for either company to ever be sustainable. That’s a concern when even Uber isn’t able to make its financials work. Indonesia is said to be the key market for the merger, which makes sense given Gojek’s regional presence isn’t anything like Grab’s.
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Vaping startup Juul quit Indonesia link
Monk’s Hill Ventures closed its second fund at $100M link
Fintech startups in Indonesia are working to be Sharia-compliant to win over its Muslim majority link
Dahmakan, a cloud kitchen startup in Malaysia and Thailand, closed an $18M Series B – interesting to see investors included Woowa Brothers, the Korean food delivery business bought by Delivery Hero link
Twitter and Facebook suspended accounts that were linked to Indonesian army’s campaign in Papua, where it is in conflict with separatists link
Japan Post Capital lead a $26.4M investment in AnyMind Group link
E-commerce comparison and aggregator iPrice raised a $10M Series B link
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An explosive report details how Uyghur Chinese who were imprisoned for ‘re-education’ are now being sourced by factories near Xinjiang as part of “a revived, exploitative government-led labour transfer scheme” link
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- Default, fraud turn Indonesia’s digital lenders into unlikely collaborators link
- Grab-bed away? Gojek’s stunted SE Asia expansion story link
- The tech-first future of SE Asia’s family offices link
- Fool’s gold? Singapore’s digital banking licence rush link
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