Employees work at Mediatrac, a data analytics startup in Jakarta: Southeast Asia has seen a strong rebound in deals as investors adjust to the setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Startups

Indonesia startups stand out in ASEAN by leaning on bonus pay

Southeast Asia battles for top professionals as its digital prominence grows

18 June 2021
A SPAC listing deal gives Anthony Tan 60.4% of Grab's voting rights despite his 2.2% ownership stake. (Photo by Kosaku Mimura) 
Business Spotlight

Grab's $40bn SPAC plan puts CEO Anthony Tan in driver's seat

Super app founder's huge voting power will bring fresh scrutiny of leadership

18 June 2021
Beijing-based Kuaishou leads among recent IPOs in market value despite withering competition from ByteDance's Douyin. (Source photos by AP) 
IPO

TikTok rival Kuaishou takes market cap crown among new IPOs

Chinese names take nine of top 10 spots in Asia, with Coupang sole exception

18 June 2021
An iPhone user in New Delhi: India has 775 million internet users, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the VivaTech digital conference in Paris.
Technology

Modi woos global tech investors to land of 1.2bn mobile phones

India's PM touts Infosys support for French Open at VivaTech digital conference in Paris

17 June 2021
 Demand for online learning is rapidly increasing in India, amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. (Photo by Kosaku Mimura)
DealStreetAsia

Edtech startup Byju becomes biggest unicorn in India

Company raises $340m, surpassing fintech unicorn Paytm

16 June 2021
Carro CEO Aaron Tan says insurance and B2B financing are areas of interest to his company. (Photo by Dylan Loh)
Finance

SoftBank supercharges Singapore's Carro to unicorn status

Vision Fund 2 leads $360m Series C round in Southeast Asian car marketplace

15 June 2021
Shanghai Jingwu Intelligent Technology's delivery robots have been installed in about 1,000 hotels. (Photo Courtesy of Shanghai Jingwu Intelligent Technology)
36Kr/KrASIA

Hotel delivery robots bring winning edge to Chinese startup

Shanghai Jingwu Intelligent Technology aims for 3,500 installations this year

13 June 2021
Indian startups are targeting young Southeast Asian consumers with "buy now, pay-later" services. (Source photos by Kosaku Mimura and company websites.)
Startups

India's fintech unicorns eye Southeast Asia expansion

Startups nurtured by huge market will confront local giants in new frontier

10 June 2021
SoftBank-backed Katerra vowed to "redefine the construction industry." (Source photo from Katerra's website)
Startups

SoftBank-backed Katerra files for bankruptcy protection

US construction startup raised more than $1bn from Vision Fund

7 June 2021
KKR has strengthened its tech team in mainland China, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. (Photo by Yasunori Okamura)
Startups

KKR to make more bets on Japan's cloud software startups

Backer of ByteDance and Gojek beefs up tech talent pool in Asia

7 June 2021
Thailand's Flash Group raises funds to meet raising demand in Southeast Asia. (Photo courtesy of the company)
Business trends

Thai logistics startup builds war chest to battle regional rivals

Flash Group raises $150m amid booming Southeast Asian e-commerce market

3 June 2021
Plum sees the adoption of health insurance by startups, SMEs and corporates increasing exponentially, especially since the pandemic.
DealStreetAsia

Indian health insurance startup raises $16m led by Tiger Global

Plum aims to use new funds to reach 10 million customers by 2025

1 June 2021
Despite the pandemic-triggered global economic downturn, the residential real estate markets in Singapore and other cities have been heating up.
Business deals

Singapore's PropertyGuru to acquire Malaysia and Thailand rivals

Real estate portal follows Grab and Gojek with Southeast Asia's latest megadeal

31 May 2021
Pinlan's architectural design AI platform Zhuhuitong can automatically produce construction drawings. (Photo courtesy of Pinlan)
36Kr/KrASIA

Chinese AI-based architectural design company secures new war chest

Design platform aims for 90% automation in construction drawing

29 May 2021
WhatsApp has around 400 million users in India.
Technology

WhatsApp drags India government to court over privacy law

Facebook unit says breaking end-to-end encryption breaches consumer rights

26 May 2021
Funeral pyres for COVID-19 victims in New Delhi on April 26. An accelerated digital transformation may bring online startups better growth opportunities than predicted under the second waves of infection across Asia.
Comment

India shows startups' adaptability amid devastating COVID wave

Companies remodeled strategies during the first wave, entered the second stronger

26 May 2021
"There were many investment failures, such as WeWork, Greensill and Katerra," Masayoshi Son told Nikkei in May. "But what I regret more is the missed opportunities to invest."
The Big Story

How SoftBank taught the market to love lossmaking startups

A slew of IPOs may vindicate Masayoshi Son's growth-at-all-costs view

26 May 2021
Kanzhun says its online recruitment platform, Boss Zhipin, has almost 25 million monthly active users, making it China's largest.
DealStreetAsia

Tencent-backed recruitment platform owner files for $100m US IPO

Job-seeker-friendly Kanzhun to list on Nasdaq in bid to boost expansion plan

25 May 2021
TenX Keane Acquisition plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol TENKU.
DealStreetAsia

Chinese SPAC TenX Keane Acquisition files for IPO in US

Asia-focused blank-check company to raise $50m for unspecified merger

21 May 2021
A May 18 Indonesian newspaper ad promotes the merger between Gojek and Tokopedia.
Business Spotlight

GoTo sets up three-way battle for Southeast Asian tech dominance

Listing plans by Grab and Gojek-Tokopedia put focus on profitability

21 May 2021
Shein's Japanese-language app is difficult to recognize as a Chinese brand. (Photo by Shuhei Yamada)
Comment

China supply chains give birth to potent global brands

'Factory of world' infrastructure and online retailers give leg up to startups

20 May 2021
CEO Jakob Angele says Foodpanda's focus on food deliveries gives it an advantage over super apps like Grab. (Photo by Kentaro Iwamoto)
Interview

Foodpanda sticks with Myanmar despite political unrest

Asia-focused operator builds 200 cloud supermarkets to counter Grab and Uber

19 May 2021
Great Deals founder and CEO Steve Sy, left, and Fast Group President William Chiongbian II: the Philippine startup has raised $30 million in a fundraising round led by Fast Group. (Photo courtesy of Great Deals) 
Startups

Philippine e-commerce startup Great Deals raises $30m

Online retail services provider to San Miguel and Unilever eyes expansion

19 May 2021
Sea's current businesses include online gaming, e-commerce, food delivery and digital payment.
Startups

Sea reports $422m loss in Q1 as ASEAN tech draws investors

Singapore group says it is 'in best position' in the region as rivals announce merger

18 May 2021
SiCepat offers warehousing and fulfilment, e-commerce-enabling services, online distribution and middle-mile logistics services. (Photo by Yuki Kohara)
DealStreetAsia

Indonesian startup SiCepat bets on web of affiliates to deliver the goods

Logistics company to invest further into its range of services and infrastructure

16 May 2021