East Asia
🇨🇳 Mainland China
- Social commerce startup Pinduoduo hits a $100 billion market cap in just five years →
- ByteDance records Q1 revenue of $5.6 billion, a 130% year-on-year growth → and forms new e-commerce business unit →
- Warehouse fulfilment robot startup Geek+ raises over $200 million in series C funding →
- Gay dating app Blued files for an initial public listing on Nasdaq →
- Alipay to give out $1.4 billion in coupons to boost consumption and increase app adoption →
- EU chamber president warns the US-China tech war is a bigger risk than COVID-19 →
- Tencent CEO and founder Pony Ma sells $550 million worth of shares in four days →
Taiwan
- Taiwan’s largest innovation company, Innovation to Industry (i2i), to invest $70 million in Israeli startups to pilot their products in East Asian markets →
- AI healthtech startup Deep01, which helps doctors interpret CT brain scans more quickly, raises $2.7 million →
🇯🇵 Japan
- Japan releases contact tracing app using the Apple-Google system →
- The Cabinet Office, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry express support for not using hanko in cases where it obstructs telecommuting and release a Q&A →
- Tokyo government to pilot 5G for some SMEs this autumn →
- Japan Post announces the trial of an AI-powered tool for calculating delivery routes to resolve shortages in workforce →
- Yamaha uses remote piano performances for Chinese and Japanese students to be assessed by examiners in Germany →
🇰🇷 South Korea
- Samsung in Seoul denies reports on the website of Samsung Vietnam that the company is moving much of its display production from China to Vietnam →
Southeast Asia
🇮🇩 Indonesia
- Online furniture retailer Fabelio raises $9 million in series C round →
- Jendela360 raises $1 million to make virtual tours the new normal in property buying →
🇲🇾 Malaysia
- The Malaysian Ministry of Education announces a revamp of its digital learning platform through collaboration with Google, Microsoft, and Apple →
🇸🇬 Singapore
- 14 of the 21 first digital bank applications make it to the next stage →
- Sequoia invests $3.2 million in quantum computing startup Horizon →
- Disney+ begins hiring in Singapore ahead of a suspected regional launch →
🇰🇭 Cambodia
- The National Bank of Cambodia reveals technical details of its upcoming blockchain-based payments system →
South Asia
🇮🇳 India
- Jio Platforms to sell a $1.5 billion stake to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund → and announces the end of this round of investments →
- India’s antitrust watchdog reviews Facebook’s $5.7 billion deal with Jio Platforms →
- Amazon expands its participant delivery scheme Flex to more than 35 cities in India →
🇵🇰 Pakistan
- Online grocery startup MandiExpress raises $725,000 in pre-series A funding →
