Chinese e-commerce company JD.com is taking its drone delivery system to Japan. Rakuten, the Japanese e-commerce giant, just announced a partnership with JD that will see its drones and unmanned vehicles become a part of Rakuten’s own unmanned delivery service efforts. JD has been operating drones in its native China for a number of years, […]
View More JD.com’s drones take flight to Japan in partnership with RakutenCategory: Indonesia
On-demand logistics startup Lalamove raises $300M for Asia growth and becomes a unicorn
Lalamove, a Hong Kong-based on-demand logistics startup, has closed a $300 million Series D round as it seeks expansion across Asia. In doing so, the company has officially entered the unicorn club. Founded in 2013 by Stanford graduate Shing Chow, Lalamove provides logistics and delivery services in a similar style to ride-hailing apps like Uber […]
View More On-demand logistics startup Lalamove raises $300M for Asia growth and becomes a unicornGerman insurance giant Allianz increases its VC fund to $1.1 billion
Allianz X, the venture capital arm attached to German insurance giant Allianz, has increased the size of its fund to €1 billion, around $1.1 billion, according to an announcement made today. The fund was initially €430 million, or around $490 million, when it launched in 2016. This new injection comes directly from parent Allianz SE, the 124-year-old […]
View More German insurance giant Allianz increases its VC fund to $1.1 billionTwitter names first international markets to get checks on political advertisers
Twitter has announced it’s expanding checks on political advertisers outside the U.S. to also cover Australia, India and all the member states of the European Union. This means anyone wanting to run political ads on its platform in those regions will first need to go through its certification process to prove their identity and certify […]
View More Twitter names first international markets to get checks on political advertisersBRCK acquires ISPs EveryLayer and Surf to boost Africa’s public Wi-Fi
Jake Bright Contributor Jake Bright is a writer and author in New York City. He is co-author of The Next Africa. More posts by this contributor Africa Roundup: Zimbabwe’s net blackout, Partech’s $143M fund, Andela’s $100M raise, Flutterwave’s pivot Partech is doubling the size of its African venture fund to $143 million Kenyan communications hardware […]
View More BRCK acquires ISPs EveryLayer and Surf to boost Africa’s public Wi-FiBeliMobilGue raises $10M for its used-car sales platform in Indonesia
BeliMobilGue, a used car sales platform in Indonesia, has fueled up with a $10 million Series round for the race to dominate the automotive market in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The company was started in 2017 as a joint venture between Europe’s Frontier Car Group (FCG) and Intudo Ventures, a VC firm focused on Indonesia. BeliMobilGue said […]
View More BeliMobilGue raises $10M for its used-car sales platform in IndonesiaE-commerce startup Zilingo raises $226M to digitize Asia’s fashion supply chain
If you’re looking for the next unicorn in Southeast Asia, Zilingo might just be it. The 3.5-year-old e-commerce company announced today that it has raised a Series D round worth $226 million to go after the opportunity to digitize Asia’s fashion supply chain. This new round takes Zilingo to $308 million from investors since its […]
View More E-commerce startup Zilingo raises $226M to digitize Asia’s fashion supply chainChat app Line injects $182M into its mobile payment business
Japanese messaging app company Line is pumping 20 billion JPY ($182 million) into its mobile payment business as it tries to turn things around following a challenging year in 2018. The company announced the infusion into Line Pay, a subsidiary that it fully owns, in a filing which stated that the new capital is “necessary […]
View More Chat app Line injects $182M into its mobile payment businessFirst China, now Starbucks gets an ambitious VC-funded rival in Indonesia
Asia’s venture capital-backed startups are gunning for Starbucks . In China, the U.S. coffee giant is being pushed by Luckin Coffee, a $2.2 billion challenger surfing China’s on-demand wave, and on the real estate side, where WeWork China has just unveiled an on-demand product that could tempt people who go to Starbucks to kill time or […]
View More First China, now Starbucks gets an ambitious VC-funded rival in IndonesiaFacebook removes hundreds of pages and groups in Indonesia
Following the takedown of hundreds of pages and groups linked to Iran on Thursday, Facebook has continued its cull in Indonesia.
The social media giant has been targeting “coordinated inauthentic behavior” on the platform, announcing the same t…
Facebook removes hundreds of accounts linked to fake news group in Indonesia
Facebook said today it has removed hundreds of Facebook and Instagram counts with links to an organization that peddled fake news. The world’s fourth largest country with a population of over 260 million, Indonesia is in election year alongside Southeast Asia neighbors Thailand and the Philippines. Facebook said this week it has set up an ‘election […]
View More Facebook removes hundreds of accounts linked to fake news group in IndonesiaGo-Jek confirms first close of $2B Series F round at $9.5B valuation
Go-Jek, the Indonesia-based ride-hailing company that is challenging Grab in Southeast Asia, has announced the first close of its Series F round, as TechCrunch reported last week. The company isn’t revealing numbers but sources previously told us it has closed around $920 million. Go-Jek is planning to raise $2 billion for the round, as reported last […]
View More Go-Jek confirms first close of $2B Series F round at $9.5B valuation