Uber rival Grab nets strategic investment from Toyota
Uber’s Asia-based rival Grab has confirmed that it has taken an undisclosed investment from Toyota. The Japanese automotive giant has been named as one of the participants in Grab’s Series G round...
View ArticleUber’s Asian rival Grab loses its head of engineering
Grab may be in the process of raising a huge $2.5 billion investment round, with SoftBank, Didi and Toyota confirmed as participants, but Uber’s Southeast Asia-based rival has lost its head of...
View ArticleChatbot startup founder sees Southeast Asia potential despite slow start...
Chatbots may have underwhelmed thus far, but the impact of the technology still has bags of potential in international markets where mobile messaging has been mainstream for years. That’s the view of...
View ArticleChina’s UrWork invests in Indonesia’s ReWork via $3M deal as WeWork rivalry...
UrWork, the unicorn that is competing with WeWork in China, is following its American rival’s lead by extending its reach in Southeast Asia after it took part in a $3 million funding round for...
View ArticleZilingo raises $18M for its fashion e-commerce service in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia-based fashion marketplace Zilingo has closed an $18 million Series B funding round led by Sequoia Capital India and Burda Principal Investments. Zilingo was founded less than two years...
View ArticleEx-Sequoia Asia partner Yinglan Tan closes $25M fund and makes first investment
More details about former Sequoia venture partner Yinglan Tan’s new fund have emerged after an SEC filing confirmed that it has raised $25 million for its maiden fund, and it made its first...
View ArticleChina’s JD.com announces $500M e-commerce and fintech joint ventures in Thailand
Roll up, roll up… there’s another e-commerce mega deal in Southeast Asia courtesy of a Chinese investor. Following on from Alibaba’s $1 billion deal with Lazada and a $1.1 billion round in Tokopedia...
View ArticleEast Ventures closes new $30M fund to continue investing in Indonesia
East Ventures is back at it again with another new fund to invest in early-stage companies in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy and the world’s fourth most populous country. This new $30...
View ArticleSoutheast Asia games firm Sea, formerly Garena, files for $1 billion US IPO
Southeast Asia-based games and e-commerce firm Sea, formerly known as Garena, has officially filed for its much-anticipated U.S. IPO. The company, which is valued at over $3.75 billion, will list on...
View ArticleUber rival Grab quietly backed dock-less bike service oBike
Grab, Uber’s main rival in Southeast Asia, has made a move into dock-less bikes after the company quietly backed oBike. Singapore-based Grab invested in oBike — which was started in Singapore by...
View ArticleVertex Ventures closes new $210M fund for Southeast Asia and India
Vertex Ventures, one of the VC funds linked to Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek, has closed its third investment fund for Southeast Asia and India with a total of $210 million for investment. Vertex...
View ArticleSingapore-based Zuzu gets $2M seed to help small hotels compete with big chains
Independently-owned hotels sometimes fall through the cracks of the hospitality industry because they struggle to compete with major chains, but don’t belong on Airbnb or HomeAway. Zuzu Hospitality...
View ArticleUber rival Grab finally fills its CTO-sized hole with former Googler
Grab, Uber’s chief rival in Southeast Asia, finally has a new CTO more than two years after its previous one departed. Today the company introduced Theo Vassilakis, a former Googler who also spent...
View ArticleSnapcart raises $10M to shed light on consumer spending in emerging markets
Taking on a giant like the $15 billion research firm Nielsen is no easy task. But tucked away in Southeast Asia, Snapcart is a two-year old company that is making progress by shining light on the...
View ArticleSoutheast Asian e-commerce startup Carousell closes $70-$80M Series C round
Singapore-based startup Carousell is in the money this week after it closed a Series C round of between $70-$80 million, two sources with knowledge of the deal told TechCrunch. Started by three...
View ArticleChina’s JD.com leads $19M investment in Southeast Asian online fashion brand...
This year has seen unprecedented interest in Southeast Asia’s startups from Chinese tech firms, and today we can add another deal to the pile. JD.com, the close rival to Alibaba, has led a $19 million...
View ArticleGrab, the Uber rival in Southeast Asia, is now officially also a digital...
Grab is best known for rivaling Uber in Southeast Asia, but today the company took a major step into becoming a fintech player, too. That’s because the ride-sharing firm, which recently raised $2...
View ArticleAnnouncing the TechCrunch Meetup in Singapore on November 23
Here at TechCrunch we serve a global audience which is why we’ve held casual meetup events across many different parts of the world. Now we’re excited to add a new region to that list: Southeast Asia....
View ArticleUber’s new Asia chief wants to work with governments and taxi firms not...
New CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has been vocal in pledging to reform Uber’s toxic culture to take the business to the next level — and ultimately an IPO — but, over in Asia, another recent arrival is...
View ArticleGet 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....
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