SEA
Visual recognition tech to drive O2O interactions in future. The technology has a wide array of applications and can be used in different sectors. Traditional advertising is another domain that VRT is expected to impact. (KrASIA)
With government-issued flats currently housing 8 out of 10 residents in Singapore, it should come as no surprise that many entrepreneurs are looking to tap onto this market. Ohmyhome, a local real estate portal, is one example. (KrASIA)
Kejora Ventures and Intervest are aiming to close its $100m Southeast Asia fund by the end of 2018. The purpose of the funds is mainly for startups in the growth stage phase that are looking to expand into the Southeast Asia region. The fund is now said to open to regional startups as well, albeit that the preference is still for those who view Korea as a potential market or use Korean technology. (Deal Street Asia)
Singapore’s Openspace Ventures closes new $135m fund for Southeast Asia. The firm is best known for being the early backer of Indonesia’s ride-hailing unicorn Go-Jek. It focuses mainly on Series A deals and further capital for follow-on deals. (TechCrunch)
China
Chinese electric carmaker Nio files for listing on NYSE. This move came amidst increasing competition from the likes of Tesla, Caocao Zhuanche, and EvCard. Nio’s filings revealed that the firm made a net loss of US$502.6m. (KrASIA)
Didi acquires maintenance and repairs company Hiservice. Didi’s spin-off Xiaoju Automobile will merge the Hiservice business with its own maintenance and repair unit to form Xiaoju Autocare. (KrASIA)
Ucommune fuels China co-working war with US$43.5m raised in its latest fundraising round, bringing its valuation to US$1.8b. The firm currently operates 78 offices across 20 cities globally, including markets such as New York, Los Angeles, London, and Singapore. (KrASIA)
Big pharma opportunities aplenty in China. Despite boasting of the world’s largest elderly population, China lags behind in terms of global market share of innovative drugs first launch, according to a Deloitte report. (KrASIA)
China’s online reading platform Koala Reading gets $20m in a GGV Capital & XVC Venture Capital led Series B financing round, bringing its total funding to date to $34.4m. The new fundings will be targeted at further expansions as well as the content aggregation. (Deal Street Asia)
WeChat has evolved from just being a social media platform into a financial platform. The Zhejiang government calls out Tencent for the lack of customer support in WeChat Pay fraud cases, saying that it should be providing the relevant help for individuals who are affected by fraud on its platform. (Technode)
JD.com agrees to a deal with Unilever that will see the Chinese e-commerce firm moving the latter’s products between warehouses across China. This is the latest move by JD.com to spread its tentacles into the logistics companies sector. (Reuters)
Tencent shares fall after China blocks the sale of a blockbuster video game ‘’Monster Hunter: World’’ on its distribution platform WeGame. The new game was launched less than a week ago but is now said to be not for sale because its content did not meet regulatory requirements, according to a statement posted on WeGame’s website. (CNBC)
World
Bitcoin’s price is close to its lowest point of the year. In fact, the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies fell $21b all in one day. The drop in cryptocurrencies’ value coincided with the delayed decision on the VanEck Solid X bitcoin trust ETF. (CNBC)
Saudi Arabia bets big on Tesla to hedge against oil. Saudi officials now can increase spending and still meet its budget deficit target, given the 40% surge in crude oil revenue for H1 2018. (Bloomberg)
