asia News of 06/16/19

Binance Begins To Restrict US Users Ahead Of Regulatory-Compliant Exchange Launch

The world’s largest crypto exchange is going legit. Binance, which processes over $1 billion on a daily basis and for so long has embodied crypto’s wild west culture, announced that it will launch a U.S-based service — but, in the ...

How China’S First Autonomous Driving Unicorn Momenta Hunts For Data

How China’s first autonomous driving unicorn Momenta hunts for data image Cao Xudong turned up on the side of the road in jeans and a black T-shirt printed with the word “ Momenta,” the name of his startup. Before founding the company — which last year topped $1 billion in valuation to become ...

Why Is Andreessen Horowitz (And Everyone Else) Investing In Latin America Now?

Investments by U.S. venture capital firms into Latin America are skyrocketing and one of the firms leading the charge into deals is none other than Silicon Valley’s Andreessen Horowitz . The firm that shook up Silicon Valley with potentially ...

India Plans To Have Its Own Space Station

India plans to have its own space station in the future and conduct separate missions to study Sun and Venus, it said on Thursday, as the nation moves to bolster its status as a leader in space technologies and inspire the young minds to take an ...

Facebook Backs Social Commerce Startup Meesho In First India Investment

As Facebook explores ways to generate revenue from WhatsApp, the company is now turning to a startup that already has a lead. The social juggernaut said today it has invested in social-commerce startup Meesho in what is the first time the firm takes ...

China Opens Nasdaq-Style Board To Lure Tech Firms Back Home

China’s much-anticipated Science and Technology Innovation board officially launched in Shanghai today, marking Beijing’s major step in drawing high-potential tech companies to list at home. The new Star Market, first announced by ...

Telegram Faces DDoS Attack In China… Again

The popular encrypted messaging service Telegram is once again being hit with a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack in Asia as protestors in Hong Kong take to the streets. For the last several days, Hong Kong has been overrun with ...

Symphony, A Messaging App That’S Been A Hit With Wall Street, Raises $165m At A $1.4b Valuation

Slack’s rapid rise and upcoming IPO are clear signs of the ripe opportunity to be had in the field of enterprise messaging. Today, a startup that’s built a messaging product specifically for the financial services vertical is also ...

India’S Zomato Flies Drone To Deliver Food In Successful Test

India’s Zomato flies drone to deliver food in successful test image Zomato, one of India’s largest food delivery firms, may have figured out a faster way to crawl through dense populated routes: going air with drones. The company, which has expanded its restaurant listing and booking service to about two-dozen ...

Report: Chinese Spend Nearly 5 Hours On Entertainment Apps Daily

Like the rest of the world, China is getting more glued to smartphones that can perform an endless list of tasks, from talking to workmates, shopping for groceries, all the way to getting a dose of dopamine through games. Chinese internet users now ...

Xiaomi’S Budget Mi Band Wearable Now Sports A Color Screen And Voice Assistant

Xiaomi’s budget Mi Band wearable now sports a color screen and voice assistant image Xiaomi has refreshed its smart fitness tracker and unveiled a range of other gadgets in China, giving a glimpse at some of its affordable products that it will likely be bringing to other markets in the coming future. The wearable fitness ...

Go-Jek Doubles Down On India With Yet Another Talent Acquisition

Go-Jek may be based in Southeast Asia, but the multi-billion-dollar ride-hailing firm continues to tap India for engineering talent. The Indonesia-headquartered firm announced today that it has acquired AirCTO , a recruitment platform based in ...

Alibaba’S Ant Financial And Hellobike Team Up On $145m E-Bike Battery JV

Shared e-scooters aren’t just gaining popularity in the United States ; they’re hitting the streets of China, too. Recognizing the possibility that some people just don’t want to pedal that last mile, China’s transportation ...

India’S Jumbotail Raises $12.7 Million To Digitize Convenience Stores With Its Wholesale Marketplace

With most small grocery stores in India yet to get online, startups racing to digitize them continue to see promising backing from investors. Jumbotail, an online wholesale marketplace for grocery and food items, today said it has raised $12.7 million ...

Telegram’S Crypto Tokens Are (Kind Of) Going On Sale To The Public For The First Time

Telegram’s crypto tokens are (kind of) going on sale to the public for the first time image Telegram, the most hyped ICO in the history of ICOs, is finally making its tokens available to retail investors through a limited listing that will precede a full sale later this year — but there are a lot of catches. The messaging company, ...

Korean Hotel Platform Yanolja Raises $180m At A Valuation Of Over $1b

Korean hotel platform Yanolja raises $180M at a valuation of over $1B image The travel tech industry has got another unicorn. Following the likes of Airbnb, OYO, Traveloka and Klook , Korea’s Yanolja said today it has closed a $180 million Series D round that takes it valuation beyond $1 billion. The investment ...

Luxembourg To Get €100m Investment From Chinese Payments Startup Pingpong

For financial services firms looking to enter Europe, Luxembourg has historically been a popular anchoring point for its political and economic stability as well as a favorable regulatory environment. Another bucketload of capital is coming to the ...

India’S Largest Video Streaming Service, Owned By Disney, Breaks Safari Compatibility To Fix Security Flaw

India’s largest video streaming service, owned by Disney, breaks Safari compatibility to fix security flaw image Hotstar, India’s largest video streaming service with more than 300 million users, disabled support for Apple’s Safari web browser on Friday to mitigate a security flaw that allowed unauthorized usage of its platform, two sources familiar with ...

Fintech Platform Synapse Raises $33m To Build ‘The AWS Of Banking’

Fintech platform Synapse raises $33M to build ‘the AWS of banking’ image Synapse , a San Francisco-based startup that operates a platform enabling banks and fintech companies to easily develop financial services, has closed a $33 million Series B to develop new products and go after international expansion. The ...

Amazon, Reeling From Recent Regulatory Hurdles, Pumps $404m Into Its India Business

Following months-long intense regulatory setback in India, Amazon is moving back to spending big bucks to grow its business in the world’s second largest internet market. Amazon has infused Rs 2,999 crores ($404 million) in its India ...