Asia’s tech news #143: Indonesian social commerce, Malaysia’s tech moves, Vietnam’s EV news…
In this issue: Social commerce funding in Indonesia, Vietnam’s auto major moves to electric-only production, securities transactions using cryptocurrency and stablecoin in Japan, blockchain built for the gaming industry in Singapore, Malaysia’s recent tech moves…
India: CoutLoot, social commerce firm helping SMEs and street vendors sell online — yourstory.com
Social commerce startup CoutLoot helps traditional shopkeepers and street vendors sell online by cataloguing offline inventory, providing logistics…
Indonesia: Brick secures $8.5M with API suite connecting financial apps to hyper-local data sources — techcrunch.com
Financial apps are proliferating across Southeast Asia, making things like bookkeeping or securing an online loan easier. But this means fintechs need access to large amounts of data that they can use…
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation ‘Connecting’ issue 2 available to download (pdf) — ow.ly
‘I am happy to share that the Malaysia Digital Economy Week brought in RM1.295 billion worth of trade and investments as we witnessed signings of 16 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs)…’
India: Invact Metaversity from ex-Twitter India head, funded for ‘immersive virtual MBA platform’ — techstory.in
Invact Metaversity founded by Manish Maheshwari, has secured its first institutional round of funding at a valuation of $33 million.
ICYMI: PayPal Forms Crypto, Blockchain & Digital Currencies Advisory Council — www.fxempire.com
The PayPal council consists of six individuals bringing in knowledge and expertise from different sectors of the crypto and blockchain space.
Vietnam: Vinfast to end internal combustion models, sights on all-electric models by year-end — www.thedailystar.net
Vietnam-based automaker Vinfast announced that it will stop manufacturing internal combustion engine vehicle models and has set its sights to sell overseas, as it goes all-electric by the end of 2022.
Japan: Mitsubishi UFJ Trust mulls instant settlement of securities transactions via blockchain — asia.nikkei.com
Settlement of securities transactions by regular currency takes a couple of days now and costs tens of millions of dollars a year in Japan. The use of stablecoin is expected to eliminate such costs.
Indonesia: Grupin raises $3M with social commerce platform for community-based shopping — www.businesstimes.com.sg
Grupin is offering group buys for consumers to get their goods at lower unit prices, while offering merchants opportunities to sell goods at bulk to reduce operating costs and wastage.
Singapore: Oasys launches blockchain designed and built for the gaming community — www.cointrust.com
One of the most exciting developments in the gaming industry has come from Oasys, a Singapore-based technology company, which has launched…
ICYMI: US plans $5BN EV charging network, stations at 50-mile intervals on highways to spur adoption — www.theguardian.com
Each station would need to have at least four fast-charger ports, which enable drivers to fully recharge their vehicles in about an hour.
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