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Do you want to compete with these excellent companies for a chance to pitch at Echelon 2019? Apply today! The success of the startup scene in Vietnam has been one of best stories of 2019 so far. TOP100 is stoked to visit the country and find the best young startup Vietnam has to offer.

If you want to get an idea of the competition, below is a list of some of the startups that will be competing for the top prize. We can’t wait to see you there!

9 Vietnam TOP100 competitors

Minet Asia

An influencer marketing network, Minet Asia targets Facebook and Instagram (the two most popular social media networks in Vietnam). Its goal is to use AI and machine learning to help brands pick the perfect person for their campaign. Minet Asia claims to have 3000 influencers on its network.

Aversafe

This startup wants to streamline online background checks by using the blockchain to help people build immutable credentials. The goal is to build a network whereby individuals have control over verifying their creditials. The hope is to avoid duplicating their online identity. The blockchain creates an individually unique page that cannot be duplicated.

Compily

A regulatory assistant, Compily wants to help companies quickly and efficiently adapt to regulatory changes. The company uses artificial intelligence to help companies identify a regulatory change, map it to existing policies and monitor its status in a workflow platform.

The platform is called ARIA.

KAMEREO

Kamereo is a B2B restaurant procurement platform for sourcing food and drinks. The platform helps people source for new customers, simplify the ordering process, analyse the orders and track cost control.

The goal is to make the restaurant procurement process more efficient in Vietnam.

Wicare

Wicare is an insurance customer relationship managment (CRM) platform. CRM systems typically help people track leads, nurture potential clients and analyse the results. Most CRMs are global companies so Wicare offers a more localised alternative in Vietnam.

Mosia

Mosia wants to become the go-to platform for professional emotional and mental support. The hope is to use the platform to detect cases and help people get help.

It is working on building a network of professionals to help create a network effect around mental health.

Ferosh

This e-commerce platform sells fashion for women. Based on the pricing, Ferosh sells outfits would fall in the mid-tier range of pricing. A typical dress costs between US$20 and US$50. A quick tour of the website seems to show a smart-casual style for women.

GODY.VN

GODY.VN wants to become the TripAdvisor for Vietnamese travellers. The platform has reviews on hotels, transportation, ticketing and even popular picture-taking spots. It also has a product for people to ask questions and a smart map of different regions in Vietnam.

Buymed

Buymed is a B2B platform for companies to buy medicine, first aide and dispensary items. It advertises itself to mom-and-pop pharmacies that make their living selling over-the-counter drugs to the average person. The platform takes care of every step from purchase to procurement to delivery.

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(Get insights from Ankiti Bose and more at Echelon Asia Summit 2019. Happening on May 23-24 at the Singapore Expo. Tickets are now available at US$10 each)

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The development is in line with Uber’s global strategy to cut down on losses as it prepares for a possible US$120B IPO

India’s leading food delivery startup Swiggy is in advanced talks to acquire the Indian unit of UberEats, The Economic Times (ET) reports, citing people with the knowledge of the matter.

The deal, which is expected to close by March, will be the Bangalore-headquartered company’s largest acquisition till date, and Uber’s first divestment of its food business globally.

As per the sources, the transaction is likely to be a share swap, which will give Uber around 10 per cent stake in Swiggy, which is currently valued at US$3.3 billion.

As per this report, the development is in line with Uber’s global strategy to cut down on losses as it prepares for a possible US$120 billion public offering.

Founded in 2014, Swiggy has over 50,000 restaurant partners spread across 50-plus cities. Since the last funding round six months ago, Swiggy has expanded to 42 additional cities and doubled in gross merchandise value as it strengthened its leading market share along with industry-best repeat rates and net promoter score.

Last December, Swiggy executed definitive agreements for a US$1 billion Series H round of funding, led by existing investor Naspers, a global internet and entertainment group. In May 2017, Swiggy raised US$80 million led by Naspers, with participation from existing investors Accel India, SAIF Partners India, Bessemer Venture Partners, Harmony Partners and Norwest Venture Partners.

In yet another major consolidation move in the food delivery segment, Oyo is said to be in talks to acquire cloud kitchen startup FreshMenu for US$50-60 million, says another report by ET.

As per one of the people who spoke to ET, the move will help Oyo standardise its food experience across hotels, an initiative that has internally been in the works for more than a year.

Launched in 2014, FreshMenu is an online food ordering platform backed by the likes of Lightspeed Venture Partners. Last year there were reports that the startup in in talks to raise up to US$$75 million from TPG, General Atlantic, Temasek Holdings and domestic PE fund Kedaara Capital.

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TresGo helps SMEs in Malaysia with inventory and deliveries, so businesses can actually focus on product development, marketing and sales

TresGo, a provider of e-fulfilment solutions for online sellers in Malaysia, has received an undisclosed sum in investment from state-owned VC fund Cradle. An unnamed traditional shipping, logistics and warehouse company also co-invested in the round.

The startup will use the money for further development of its cloud-based copyright system, which enables all the operations to be viewed by their merchants in real time, as well as for expansion of the warehouse.

Speaking of the investment, Juliana Jan, Chief Investment Officer of Cradle, said: “We have long believed in the inevitable need for the traditional warehouse management system to be digitised for the optimisation of fulfilment solution. TresGo’s technology, which addressed this exact need, is exactly the reason why we decided to invest in them.”

Also Read: Cradle’s startups attract US$10M commercialisation funding under CIP Catalyst programme

“While TresGo has an attractive scalable business model with compelling market opportunity, the team’s expertise equipped with their strong execution capabilities is what enticed Cradle to invest in them,” she added.

Founded in 2017 by Nadhra Fauzi and Safiyya Azman, TresGo offers three core services — storage, packing and delivery. In other words, it helps smaller-scale sellers with inventory and deliveries, so businesses can actually focus on the important bits like product development, marketing and sales.

TresGo was part of the second cohort of MaGIC’s global accelerator programme in 2018.

Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle) is Malaysia’s early stage startup influencer, incorporated under the Ministry of Finance Malaysia (MOF) in 2003 with a mandate to fund potential and high-calibre tech startups through its Cradle Investment Programme (CIP).

 

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The lifestyle brand gaming company launched its HQ2 at a groundbreaking ceremony today in Singapore

Razer, the gamers’ lifestyle brand has officially started the building of its Singapore-based headquarter in a groundbreaking ceremony celebration located in one-north, a 200-hectare business park. Attending the ceremony was the Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat, the Chairman of Singapore Economic Development Board Dr. Beh Swan Gin, and the CEO of JTC Corporation Ng Lang.

Also Read: 9 startups aiming for the crown at Vietnam TOP100

The 19,300 square metres will be dedicated to office space, R&D labs and design studios spread across seven storeys. It will be one of the two global headquarters of Razer and is expected to be ready for move-in by mid-2020. It will house more than 1,000 employees.

“The growth of gaming and esports across the world has propelled us to become one of the first lifestyle brands for gamers since 15 years ago, and we can’t wait to move into our new home to better serve the 2.3 billion gamers across the world,” said Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, and CEO.

Kiren Kumar, Assistant Managing Director, Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) also expressed its support. “At their new home, Razer will develop and scale new products, services, business models and partnerships, as well as invest in new technologies such as AI, Data Analytics, IoT, and Cloud. These are important drivers for business innovation and will create new-tech jobs and skills for Singaporeans to succeed in the digital economy,” said Kumar.

Razer headquarters’ groundbreaking is also a launching platform for Echo Base, a digital real estate start-up that seeks to incorporate Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and other technologies into real estate development projects.

Echo Base will focus on the development, investment, and management of smart buildings and integrated developments in the Asia Pacific and selected global gateway cities.

Backed by SGX Mainboard-listed Boustead Projects Limited and Moor House Capital Pte Ltd, Echo Base has secured its first smart city project in the region to be developed over the next few years.

The building is said to have the embodiment of Razer’s signature design elements that are dominated with the green and black colour, combined with technology for environmental friendliness, specifically in reducing carbon footprint.

The building will feature greeneries, solar power, and batteries for clean energy. It will have sky terraces with communal spaces and public pedestrian walkways to facilitate social interactions and public events. The building hopes to transform the bicycle to the main mode of transportation in the headquarters as the company seeks to support the country’s car-lite initiative with the parking space, locker room, and shower facilities.

Also Read: Cradle invests in e-fulfillment solutions provider for online sellers TresGo

The next step for Razer is to continue the growth in gaming industry and esports community through investments. By adding talents to its 400 staff in Singapore office alone, Razer is looking at expansion of existing business units and in emerging new business areas by 2020.
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Image Credit: RazerTM

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TOP100 companies routinely raise follow-on funding and find success later in their entrepreneurial journey!

Want to get your startup in front of these fantastic judges? Make sure to apply to TOP100 today!

This year, our TOP100 competition wants to create a deep connection between the startups and investors. This is why we will be hosting the pitching competition in private. The goal is to dig deep into your startup so that the judges have an in-depth understanding about your future plans.

More of the judges that will be involved in the competition can be found here and here.

Let’s take a look at 9 more!

The TOP100 Judges

Thoa Nguyen — 500 Startups

Nguyen is part of the investment team at 500 Startups Vietnam. The fund has about US$14 million and is hoping to invest in 80-100 Vietnam-connected startups by 2020.

Prior to joining 500 Startups, Nguyen was the Deputy Director of Group Financing at Topica Group.

Eugene Kim — SparksLab

As a Partner at SparksLab Kim manages the day-to-day operations of the accelerator program. Prior to joining SparksLab, he was the Director of Global Business Development at Tencent Korea. He has a long career in business development as well as sourcing and publishing properties within a given market.

Tina Jabeen — Startup Bangladesh

As an Investment Advisor for Startup Bangladesh, under the Bangladesh ICT Ministry, Jabeen has a keen understanding of the relationship between the Bangladesh government and the startup community. She also is deeply embedded in early-stage startups, leading the investment and accelerator program for Startup Bangladesh.

Jabeen has a CPA and has worked in the investment industry for over 25 years. Before her current job she was a Director of Finance and Tax at Horsely Bridge Partner, a fund of funds.

Shpangental Golan — Anemone Ventures

Golan is the Co-founder and CEO of Anemone Ventures, a Taiwanese firm that aims to help corporates and startups work closely with one another. Shpangental has a 20-year history of starting businesses and rolling them out across Asia.

She is an active member of the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce and works to bring the international community to the island.

Sia Zong Xi — Cocoon Capital

Sia is an Associate for Cocoon Capital, an early-stage investment company focussed on Southeast Asia. They provide a unique strategy of capping the amount of investments made annually in an effort to help Founders spend more time with the VC.

Sia graduated from King’s College in London. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and graduated with honours.

Booway Balhaajav — Boston Champions

Balhaajav is the Founder and CEO of Boston Champions, a consulting and development firm based in Mongolia. The company has a diverse set of clients, ranging from mining companies, finance firms and tech startups.

Prior to starting Boston Champions, Balhaajav was the President and CEO of Naran Trade Group.

Elen Goel — Singapore University of Social Science

Goal is the Head of the Entrepreneurship Programme at the Singapore University of Social Science (SUSS). She has years of experience helping connect corporate programmes (Like Alibaba’s Entrepreneurship Certificate) to budding entrepreneurs in the region.

Prior to joining SUSS, Goel was Founder of 22 Experience, an online discovery platform and event management company supporting by the Singapore Tourism Board.

Azman Hood — Cradle Fund

Azman Hood is the Vice President of Investments for Cradle Fund. In his job, he helps lead the direction of one of Malaysia’s most important early-stage investment firms. Hood was previously a Senior Investment Manager at Cradle and has been with the company since 2010.

He is an avid fisherman who has a fantastic quote on his biography: “The key to enjoying your job is to have a hobby that is much worse.”

Jason Pard — Monk’s Hill Ventures

Pard is an Investment Analyst at Monk’s Hill Ventures. His job duties include deal sourcing, investment analysis, portfolio management, community building and research.

During his time at the University of Illinois, he was the President of Illini EcoConcept, an organisation that designs and builds a hydrogen-fuelled concept car.

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Affiliate marketing is the shortcut to success you might have been waiting for

When you’re involved with affiliate marketing and you want to start your own business, you’ll have the opportunity of earning commissions without doing any real work — just selling products or services provided by other companies.

Unless your business really takes off and becomes lucrative, you probably won’t earn enough money to be completely self-sustaining.

However, affiliate marketing can be a great way to supplement your income right from home.

There are a wealth of such opportunities available right now, even with companies that are well known throughout the US.

Here’s what you need to know about establishing your own affiliate marketing business.

1. Sell products you’re familiar with

At the beginning of your affiliate marketing career, you should stick to selling products which you know fairly well — a reflection of your present interests or current occupation.

The reason for this is that you will almost always do a much better job when you already have a working knowledge of those products you’re trying to sell.

2. Create a website which caters to your niche

When you’re trying to get established with specific companies as an affiliate, they will want to know the website you are going to be using to sell their products.

This is very natural because any company affiliating itself with independent entrepreneurs is going to want to know that these websites will not damage their reputation.

It will be very easy for you to set up your own website, especially if you use one of the most popular content management services like WordPress.

As you’re building your website, make sure to include content which is not dominated by sales pitches.

Instead, what you should aim for is to present yourself as an authority in your particular market, so that potential customers will want to come to you for relevant and useful information.

3. Cost of creating a website

When considering the cost of a new website, a number of factors come into play.

These include the number of pages you’ll have on your website and the kind of content that you’re going to post on the site.

A study conducted on 400 of the top freelancer profiles on UpWork came up with some ballpark numbers which can be used as a guideline for someone who intends to become involved with the affiliate marketing business.

A 10-page website will cost somewhere between US$200 and US$1500 for its initial setup, and then there will probably be some modification costs afterwards.

If you want to include some custom site designs rather than using a WordPress template for instance, the range you might expect to pay would be from US$1,500 to US$5,000.

Also Read: 5 effective tricks to boost your SEO

If you were to further enhance that website with custom designs and custom functions, a 10-page website might cost anywhere between US$5,000 and US$10,000 for its initial set up, along with periodic additional investments for marketing and development.

If you are a newcomer to affiliate marketing, you’re probably going to want to stick to the low side of website costs, and keep your investment somewhere near the US$200 range, which is entirely possible when you use a WordPress template as a framework for your site.

4. How to become an affiliate

As mentioned above, you should probably start by researching affiliate programs which offer products that you’re familiar with, and that you can comfortably pitch to potential customers.

One good place to start is on Amazon because the site sells just about everything, so whatever you’re looking to become involved with, there’s a good chance that there’s an affiliate marketing potential at Amazon.

One other great option is a company called Commission Junction, which will help you to become an affiliate for a huge number of successful companies that you’ve probably already heard about (Office Depot, Overstock, and a great deal more).

Clickbank is one other option that is worth researching, and which many affiliate marketers have become very successful.

Commissions earned from companies associated with Clickbank have been very profitable in the past, and are likely to be just as lucrative in the future.

5. Join your chosen affiliate program

Generally speaking, there is no charge associated with becoming an affiliate in any specific program.

That means you should be wary of any company which asks you for your credit card number when you’re trying to join an affiliate program, because you may be getting scammed.

Virtually, all reputable companies which provide opportunities for affiliates, allow entrepreneurs to affiliate with their companies for no charge.

You are likely to be asked for a PayPal account number or a bank account number, but that’s not because the company wants to extract money from you. They will need an account number to deposit your commissions in, once you start becoming successful.

You may also be asked for the URL of the website you created for your affiliate marketing business, and this is quite normal as well.

6. Include affiliate links inside your content

One great way to boost your commissions without even having to make a sales pitch is to include affiliate links within the content on your site.

Also Read: Digitised school tuition startup InfraDigital raises seed funding from Fenox Ventures

Whenever site visitors click on any of those links, they will be taken to the company site, and if they make a purchase there, a commission will accrue to you for your efforts.

Most companies make it very easy for you to acquire links to their websites. The method that you acquire these links may vary from one company to the next, but it’s almost always very easy to link to any products you’re looking for.

7. Keep producing relevant content

If you want people to continue to come back to your website, you need to continue producing relevant and useful content for your users.

The more users are encouraged to come back to your site, the better the chances are that they’ll click on affiliate links and make a purchase, which in turn earns you a commission.

By producing a steady stream of content which interests your readers, you’ll encourage more visitors to your site.

Eventually, the sheer weight of numbers should operate in your favour, and a number of these visitors would be clicking on affiliate links to make purchases — while you earn profits.

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Image Credits: bryljaev

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Do you know how one makes a deal? It requires a rock-hard mindset and extraordinary marketing skills

Drill into your head that a customer has a lot of brands to pick from. He thinks from a heart that throbs for a particular one.

That brand might have put its 110 per cent in getting connected with its customers emotionally.

So, it’s up to you to come with a blockbuster upselling and cross-selling idea.

What I mean to say is that the knowledge economy is offbeat. Emotion economy is likely to rule in 2019.

What is the emotion economy?

It’s an interesting economy — a feeling, or a touch that involves people and their relationship.

Intensive research and data mining on the past actions predicts what action each customer is going to take up.

Artificial intelligence (AI) apps are making it a walkover. Even, Facebook harnesses emotions and feelings for catering intended data to the advertisers using this intelligence.

Let’s say, you published many pictures of what you eat on your FB account. Its AI can pull out intelligence over how you feel through various pictures of eatables.

Also Read: 7 must-knows for starting a successful affiliate marketing business

It’s the emotion economy that delivers many ideas worth millions of dollars.

While following its footprints, many organisations are investing hundreds of dollars on data research and analytics.

A research firm ‘Markets and Markets’ has also claimed that computing marketing is all set to touch US$59 billion by 2021. Also, IBM Watson’s 2019 Marketing Trends Report spotlighted its role to engage customers with more brands.

In all, these predictions have a lot of prospects regarding AI & machine learning powered emotion economy.

Hyper-personalisation is reality

Have you experienced the role of the Google Assistant?

It’s the finest example of hyper-personalisation.
Precisely saying, your smart TV can assist you in searching what you want to watch.

Its voice recognition and machine intelligence lets you interact with your favourite show or movie in a wink.

How does it happen? Does its manufacturer infuse your thought-process in it?

It’s a fact to a certain extent. Its manufacturer drills customers’ insights by using pervasive revolutionary technologies.

Subsequently, human marketers develop a better sense and understanding. Then, the relevant creativity pops up in several disciplines & domains.

Later on, the revolutionary idea is delivered across channels to individual consumers via devices and technology.

Merging of consultancy and tech experts

The influx of artificial intelligence is removing rifts between consulting firms and app developers.

Many marketers integrate analysis apps for communicating with the data to mine. Not only do the developers of ahrefs or SEMrush or Moz tools, for example, analyse marketing trends, but also they bid their consulting skills.

That’s why the merger of customer experience analytics and mobile apps is boosting up requirements of consultancies and agencies converge.

Also Read: Zilingo CEO Ankiti Bose on failures, challenges, handling depression and more

These are highly calculative ideas to save on money by investing in the consultative arrangements.

Such firms are capitalizing on machine learning through Chatbots or apps to resolve client’s marketing and customer challenges.

Where does the role of a tech-savvy marketer arise?

It’s true that online shopping and digital services are on the surge.

Yet, one can’t meet customer satisfaction unless he provides them with what they intend to.

The modern marketers can predict optimal customer journeys. Access to the AI-powered predictive data mining and analysis tool helps them to determine what the customers most likely to churn.

Even, the easily accessible Google Analytics tool can reveal at what point customers struggled to complete their goals during their online experience.

Undoubtedly, apps are playing a crucial role in it.

The future is here wherein marketers with multiple skills are the most-sought-after recruitment.

They should be hooked to technology and its updates. The trend is shifting from versatile hiring to take care of marketing in the digital era.

Also, they should focus on customer satisfaction along with marketing technology.

In all, the survival of a marketer will depend on innovation and versatility. The more a marketer has the skills, the closer they would be to the customers or clients.

As far as the satisfaction is concerned, his versatility and tech knowledge would integrate into the data mining that emphasizes on tapping the hidden patterns digitally.

While merging it with the analysis, they would have many incredible ideas to viably implement and yield the intended result.

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The move appears to be the first step in what will full-scale launch in Indonesia

Binance, a global cryptocurrency exchange, announced today it has launched its Academy product in Indonesia. The move appears to be the first step towards a more significant foray into the country.

Binance is the world’s largest exchange by volume, and a launch in Indonesia would provide Binance with access to one of the world’s most important emerging markets and a country with a solid blockchain scene.

Academy is a free-to-use platform that aims to educate people about the cryptocurrency industry. The hope is that by educating the market, people will be able to participate in the crypto space from a position of strength.

Binance Academy has 726 articles on its platform and plans to launch in Indonesia with around 80 articles in Bahasa Indonesia. A quick tour of the website shows articles about Blockchain use-cases, explainers on topics like ‘coin burn’ and basic principles about security.

As part of the launch, Academy is leveraging Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages project to drive a mobile-first product.

Also Read: Zilingo CEO Ankiti Bose on failures, challenges, handling depression and more

Not only is Indonesia a mobile-first nation, experts think that more citizens have investments in cryptocurrencies than the national stock market.

“Binance Academy’s expansion to offer Indonesian content reaffirms Binance’s strong commitment to advancing crypto education through quality, unbiased knowledge sharing that is freely accessible to all. Indonesia is a key emerging market globally with more than 260M people,”said Ted Lin, Binance Head of Growth.

“The potential for cryptocurrency adoption and appetite for blockchain related knowledge is burgeoning, with the number cryptocurrency holders estimated to be rivaling that of stock holders locally. Binance remains committed to driving crypto adoption, accessibility, and financial inclusivity for everyone around the world,” he added.

Binance was also in the news yesterday for the launch of a decentralised trading platform built atop its blockchain network. It is called DEX and it allows people to create their own individual wallets with private keys and personal nodes.

It has also been reported that Binance made US$446 million in profits in 2018, a remarkable number for a company that is only about 18 months old.

Also Read: Lalamove raises US$300M in Series D funding round to widen expansion

Binance has its official headquarters in Malta but had a significant presence in Singapore and received investment from Vertex Ventures.

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Both Singapore-based companies have joined on a mission to make sure patients can get personalised healthcare at lower cost

Digital healthcare platform MyDoc today announced a partnership with Homage, a personalised nursing service provider.

The partnership will result in nursing care integration into MyDoc with the goal of offering affordable and enhanced outpatient healthcare support for employers and insurers.

According to MyDoc, the partnership rings true to its strategy which includes simplifying healthcare to be able to catch chronic diseases before it reaches terminal stage. This is also something that Singapore’s Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat addressed during Budget 2019 in terms of cost-effectiveness and access to the general population suffering from chronic conditions, regardless of income.

Also Read: Digitised school tuition startup InfraDigital raises seed funding from Fenox Ventures

Using MyDoc, patients can have a personal professional healthcare service with capabilities to enhance the patient experience and steer patients onto effective personal care pipeline that help each individual get well, stay well, and out of hospitals.

The partnership will see through two patient care models, that include expanding onsite clinics staffed by nurses who are supported by remote doctors, and a Clinic Care Capabilities that’ll enable patient to follow up care at home and better distribution of patient load.

Patients can use MyDoc’s platform to contact their nurses, provided by Homage and trained and certified by MyDoc. These telenurses are to monitor patient oxygen levels, heart rate, respiration, blood glucose level, and more.

On the other hand, nurses will be able to launch teleconsults with doctors from patients’ homes or offices to provide comprehensive doctor and nurse care, all at an affordable cost for each onsite visit and consult.

“Adding nurses to the MyDoc CARE team is a natural step in our strategy to enhance our patient-centric primary care continuum. Nursing care at home would be a significant value add to patients who need post-hospital discharge follow up services like wound reviews, dressing changes, intravenous therapies, and vital monitoring,” said Dr. Vas Metupalle, CIO and co-founder of MyDoc.

As the country of an estimated one million aged people by population by 2030, Singapore must tackle challenges of the high costs of care, especially home care.

“At Homage, we are professionalising home caregiving in Singapore by ensuring that all of our nurses possess the right certification and training,” said Gillian Tee, CEO and founder of Homage.

Also Read: Lalamove raises US$300M in Series D funding round to widen expansion

Homage is the most recent addition to MyDoc’s value-based digital healthcare platform. Other strategic partners in the region include Guardian, IHP, Acumed, Aetna, AIA Vitality, Cigna, and many others.
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Its other human-less tech includes self-operating trucks, automated warehouses and unmanned stores

JD.com’s drones take flight to Japan in partnership with Rakuten [TechCrunch]

Chinese e-commerce company JD.com is taking its drone delivery system to Japan.

Rakuten, the Japanese e-commerce giant, just announced a partnership with JD that will see its drones and unmanned vehicles become a part of Rakuten’s own unmanned delivery service efforts.

JD has been operating drones in its native China for a number of years, and it has wider expansion plans having recently gained a regional-level operating license. Its other human-less tech includes self-operating trucks, automated warehouses and unmanned stores, and it recently picked Indonesia for its first overseas drone pilot.

Woowa Brothers becomes ‘unicorn’ after raising US$320M [The Investor]

Woowa Brothers, the operator of Korea’s leading food delivery platform Baedal Minjok, announced on Dec. 21 that it has secured additional investments of US$320 million from global investors, making it the latest Korean “unicorn” — startups with an enterprise value of over US$1 billion.

The investments were led by its current investor private equity firm Hillhouse Capital, with equity participation by US-based Sequoia Capital and GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, the company said.

Tencent to maintain aggressive investment stance in face of challenging 2019 [Channel News Asia]

Tencent Holdings said investment is central to its overall strategy and so it will maintain its scale of investment after an aggressive 2018, brushing aside near-term risks such as the bursting of China’s tech bubble as economic growth slows.

In the first detailed review of investment performance, President Martin Lau also said 2018 was Tencent’s best year as a record 16 portfolio companies went public, and that it had invested in more than 700 companies over the past 11 years.

The comments come as Tencent battles investor concerns of slowing growth in the video game and social media giant’s core businesses as the government increases scrutiny of online content and services.

Sachin Bansal plans to foray into financial services [The Economic Times]

Sachin Bansal, who co-founded Flipkart, a startup that grew into an e-commerce powerhouse, is venturing into the Indian financial services sector, which has drawn investments from the likes of Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s Alibaba to Japanese investment powerhouse SoftBank.

The billionaire has been in discussions with financial experts on the potential to launch a new venture in a sector that is being transformed by fast-paced technological change, said two people in the know of the matter.

HyperXchange to launch drones-based doorstep delivery in refurbishing industry [press release]

HyperXchange, a refurbished electronics brand in India, is testing a drone-based delivery network in India. The testing process is happening in Kolkata and the drone-based doorstep delivery of mobile phones will be provided in cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune , Bangalore etc near HyperXchange’s warehouses.

The company has partnered with AeroNext, a manufacturer of super-loaded drones, in order to reduce product delivery time by 75 per cent.

Drones will be the future of intracity and intercity medium for logistics and transport.

In the intracity segment, the delivery guys will collect the couriers (be it Amazon or Swiggy) from a drone station nearby the locality, thereby saving time and labour.

“We are currently evaluating the pros and cons of bringing this new age technology. The drone-based delivery pilot is meant to be an initial foray towards building an automated last-mile order delivery process — right till the customer’s doorstep,” HyperXchange Co-founder and CEO Dipanjan Purkayastha said.

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