Uber rival Grab acquires Indian startup to bulk up its mobile payment platform

 Grab, Uber’s main rival in Southeast Asia, is continuing to develop its mobile payment strategy after it announced the acquisition of India-based startup iKaaz. The deal — which is undisclosed — will see iKaaz’s engineering team join the Bangalore-based engineering office which Grab opened last year. The firm declined to say how many new recruits are moving over… Read More

View More Uber rival Grab acquires Indian startup to bulk up its mobile payment platform

Grab, Uber’s rival in Southeast Asia, pulls in strategic investment from Hyundai

 Grab, Uber’s closest rival in Southeast Asia, continues to slowly release information about its newest funding round after it revealed it has netted a strategic investment from Hyundai. To recap, the Singapore-based firm raised a massive $2 billion led by SoftBank and China’s Didi Chuxing last July with plans to extend the round by a further $500 million. Back in August, it… Read More

View More Grab, Uber’s rival in Southeast Asia, pulls in strategic investment from Hyundai

WeWork banks on a local approach and Powered By We to crack Southeast Asia

 WeWork charged into Asia two years ago but it finally moved into Southeast Asia in the second half of 2017 through the acquisition of SpaceMob and the opening of its first space in Singapore — which became number 200 worldwide. Now, the company is relying on a formula with two key focuses to further its push and conquer the co-working space in this emerging region. Consumer… Read More

View More WeWork banks on a local approach and Powered By We to crack Southeast Asia

Malaysia’s Dahmakan chows down $2.6M for its end-to-end food delivery service

 Dahmakan, a food delivery startup from Malaysia that graduated Y Combinator last year, has raised $2.6 million as it begins to explore the potential to expand its business across Southeast Asia. The startup distinguishes itself from the likes of FoodPanda and Deliveroo with an “end-to-end” approach to food, that’s to say that it cooks all dishes itself and dispatches them… Read More

View More Malaysia’s Dahmakan chows down $2.6M for its end-to-end food delivery service

Malaysia’s Dahmakan chows down $2.6M for its end-to-end food delivery service

 Dahmakan, a food delivery startup from Malaysia that graduated Y Combinator last year, has raised $2.6 million as it begins to explore the potential to expand its business across Southeast Asia. The startup distinguishes itself from the likes of FoodPanda and Deliveroo with an “end-to-end” approach to food, that’s to say that it cooks all dishes itself and dispatches them… Read More

View More Malaysia’s Dahmakan chows down $2.6M for its end-to-end food delivery service

Helpster, a platform for temp job seekers in Southeast Asia, raises $2.5M

 Helpster, a two-year-old startup that connects blue-collar workers with employers in Southeast Asia, has closed $2.5 million in new funding. The startup operates in Thailand and Indonesia with around 50 staff split between Bangkok and Jakarta. It…

View More Helpster, a platform for temp job seekers in Southeast Asia, raises $2.5M

Techstars is launching its first accelerator program in Asia in partnership with Rakuten

 Techstars is bringing its global accelerator program to Asia for the first time in partnership with Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten and its chat app Viber. The companies will run a three-month program in Singapore starting in July, according to…

View More Techstars is launching its first accelerator program in Asia in partnership with Rakuten

Google: Southeast Asia’s internet economy is growing faster than expected

 Southeast Asia is now the world’s third largest region for internet users — with more people online than the entire U.S. population — and internet is having a bigger impact on the region than originally thought, according to a new report co-authored by Google. China and India typically dominate the conversation when looking at emerging economies in Asia, but Southeast Asia… Read More

View More Google: Southeast Asia’s internet economy is growing faster than expected

Uber lands investment from Singapore’s largest taxi operator in blow to rival Grab

 Uber has struck a major deal in Southeast Asia after ComfortDelGro, Singapore’s largest taxi operator, announced [PDF] it has agreed to buy a majority share of the ride-hailing giant’s Singapore-based business. The deal will see a joint venture valued at SG$642 million (US$474 million) established to run Uber Singapore. Comfort will contribute SG$295 million in what is the… Read More

View More Uber lands investment from Singapore’s largest taxi operator in blow to rival Grab

Amazon launches its Prime membership service in Singapore

 Amazon is increasing its focus on Southeast Asia after the e-commerce giant launched its Prime service in Singapore. The U.S. firm landed in Singapore, its first market in Southeast Asia, in July initially offering Prime Now, its e-commerce service with an aggressive two-hour delivery window. From this week, however, it is offering its full Prime bundle which includes free international… Read More

View More Amazon launches its Prime membership service in Singapore

Southeast Asia’s aCommerce lands $65M led by KRR-backed Emerald Media

 Southeast Asia-based aCommerce, a startup that helps brands get into e-commerce and digital media in the fast-growing region, has pulled in $65 million in new funding led by Emerald Media, an Asian firm backed by global investor KKR.
The Series B deal takes Bangkok-based aCommerce to $94 million raised to date. Existing backers Blue Sky, MDI Ventures and Switzerland-based DKSH also took… Read More

View More Southeast Asia’s aCommerce lands $65M led by KRR-backed Emerald Media

Get your tickets for the TechCrunch Meetup in Singapore on November 23!

 Last week we announced our upcoming Meetup in Singapore on November 23, and now here comes the all-important ticket information. Head to this link HERE and fill out your details to apply for one. Admission is free but unfortunately we can’t guarantee that everyone who requests a ticket will get one. That’s because we are limited on space, but we do plan to release videos of the… Read More

View More Get your tickets for the TechCrunch Meetup in Singapore on November 23!