Day: December 27, 2019

Vietnam-based VeXeRe Joint Stock Company (VeXeRe), an online bus booking system provider startup, today announced the closing of its fourth fundraising round from investors Woowa Brothers, NCORE VENTURES, Access Ventures, as well as other undisclosed investors.

With the funding, VeXeRe said it plans to accelerate market expansion as well as expands to other segments through product development and related sectors.

The company will continue to invest more in devloping mobile products for passengers, bus companies, and drivers to better support the travel and transport industry. With bus transportation demand continuing to grow and is fueled by rapid urbanisation, the company also said it will continue to focus development on its mobile interface to improve the quality of service for passengers.

VeXeRe was established in July 2013 by co-founders Dao Viet Thang, Tran Nguyen Le Van, and Luong Ngoc Long with a mission to support Vietnam’s ​inter-city bus industry. It offers three main solutions: online ticket booking solution for passengers (on website and app VeXeRe), management software solutions (BMS – Bus Management System), and ticket distribution software for agents (AMS – Agent Management System).

Also Read: Vietnam’s Vexere nabs investment from CyberAgent Ventures

In the past, VeXeRe has also received investments from CyberAgent Capital, Pix Vine Capital, Spiral Ventures, and BonAngels.

Woowa Brothers is a unicorn startup from South Korea which is known for its food delivery platform BAEMIN. In addition to running a food delivery platform, Woowa Brothers has actively sought areas for innovation, including cloud kitchen operation and testing on using robots for indoor food-serving and food delivery.

With a mission to share its experience and to become a growth partner, Woowa Brothers set up an investment arm in late 2018. It has invested in Southeast Asia, Silicon Valley, and Korea. Woowa Brothers also opened its service in Vietnam in early 2019.

NCORE VENTURES is a corporate venture capital arm of NPC, a public company that manufactures plastic pallets and containers based in Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia. Founded in 2017, NCORE VENTURES has invested in 19 startups of which 11 of them are operating in Southeast Asia such as Tiki and TheBank in Vietnam.

Established in 2017 targeting regional early-stage companies, VC fund Access Ventures LLC has been an active investor in the region with a focus on B2B and technology in the Southeast Asia market, Silicon Valley, and Korea.

Also Read: [Updated] CyberAgent Ventures invests in Korean app developer Woowa Bros

VeXeRe reportedly has just completed integrations with major e-commerce marketplaces and mobile payments such as MoMo, ZaloPay, and VNPay.

The company claimed to currently have ​more than 550 bus companies cooperating to sell tickets, covering over 2,600 domestic and foreign routes, and more than 5,000 ticket agents to help users find bus information and buy tickets online easily.

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Image Credit: VeXeRe

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Many entrepreneurs cannot imagine living abroad and running a business at the same time. However, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to succeed as an expat entrepreneur.

If you’ve opted to start your own business in Hong Kong, you’re on the right track. After all, we’re talking about a place with excellent infrastructure facilities and a business-friendly tax system. But how exactly do you succeed as an expat entrepreneur in Hong Kong? Read on to find out.

Find a good mentor

Just because you’re looking to achieve your entrepreneurial goals, it doesn’t mean you look for outside help from others. Running a business in a place you’re not familiar with can be tricky.

Luckily, there are so many entrepreneurs from all over the world who did it and some of them might be able to assist you. They can help you set up your business and make sure you have all the paperwork necessary for continuing with your operations. Moreover, they can advise you on every move you want to make and help you understand the market in Hong Kong a bit better.

Use public transport

Hong Kong is so big and crowded, and the best way to move around the city is to use public transport. This especially the case during the early days you spend in there as you want to focus on running your business as much as possible.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news: Hong Kong’s TravelFlan raises US$7M in Series A funding round

You’ll be happy to hear that public transport in Hong Kong is modern and clean, but most importantly, extremely punctual. If you decide to use public transport, you’ll need an Octopus card which is quite easy to use. It works pretty much the same as Oyster in London and Opal in Australia, and you can even use it to pay for a coffee or sandwich.

Build a team you can trust

No matter what industry your business is in, your employees are your most valuable asset. This is exactly why you have to be extremely careful when building the team for your new Hong Kong-based company. Interview every candidate yourself and build a set of questions that’ll allow you to compare all the answers.

Of course, if you still don’t know the language, having a translator to help you is always a good idea. There are plenty of qualified candidates in Hong Kong and if you put enough effort into it, building a team you can trust shouldn’t be tough.

Adjust to small spaces

The infrastructure facilities in Hong Kong are excellent but they also come with a hefty price tag. Whether you want to buy or rent, the numbers you’ll hear will usually be eye-wateringly high. This is why it’s a good idea to find a small office space that can fit all your equipment and team members.

In case you need more space, looking for an office space in an older building is a good idea. Those built in the ’80s and ’90s are usually a good pick. However, if you’re looking for modern features such as swimming pools and gyms, prepare for operating from a cramped office space.

Also Read: 3 mistakes I made as a student entrepreneur in Hong Kong, and what you can learn from them

The bottom line

Right now, Hong Kong is one of the best places to start your own business. If you’ve managed to come up with a good business idea and you have enough capital, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t give running your own Hong Kong-based business a go. If you decide to do it, having the five tips covered in this post in mind will help you succeed.

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Messenger app LINE has announced the launch of a new on-demand service called LINE MAN in Thailand, a report by The Korea Times said.

LINE MAN, launched in 2016, now offers a variety of services, including the delivery of food, convenience goods and parcels, in addition to taxi-hailing service in the country.

LINE, a subsidiary of Korea’s largest internet portal Naver, launched the messenger app in Thailand in 2012 and has now grown to 45 million monthly active users.

Jayden Kang, Chief Strategy Officer at LINE Thailand and Head of LINE MAN, said. “LINE MAN has become one of the most indispensable mobile applications in Thailand on the back of the large subscriber base of the LINE messenger app.”

LINE MAN was launched as a food delivery service by motorcycle riders before venturing into delivery of convenience goods in partnership with 7-Eleven, the delivery of documents and packages, and taxi-hailing.

Also Read: LINE’s Managing Director for Thailand is stepping down

Kang said the company learned that Thai people want to use various services through one app. At the same time, there is still some inconvenience in downloading multiple apps and linking credit cards to smartphones due to underdeveloped internet infrastructure before the use of smartphones in Thailand rose to a new height in 2014.

After launching LINE MAN’s beta test in May 2016, Korean developers joined forces with its outsourced Thai developers to advance the service quickly. Since 2018, Thai employees have been in charge of most of the services in accordance with its localisation strategy.

LINE MAN claimed to have partnered with around 100,000 restaurants, which accounts for nearly twice as many restaurants secured by competitors such as Grab, Gojek and Delivery Hero that also operate food delivery services in Thailand.

Meanwhile, LINE MAN’s taxi-hailing service was launched in February 2018 with the support from the Thai government.

“The Thai government previously launched the Taxi OK project that enables customers to call taxis via a mobile application. But the service has not been well-received in the country,” Kang said. “The transport ministry officials showed a friendly attitude to LINE MAN’s taxi-hailing service, thus we were able to form a partnership with the biggest taxi association in Bangkok.”

Also Read: Line Ventures to put in US$20M to back Thai startups

LINE MAN was initially focussed on Bangkok and later expanded to Pattaya in October. The service will be expanded into 17 more regions in Thailand in the coming years.

“LINE MAN was spun off from LINE Thailand into a separate company in September this year with an aim of becoming a unicorn in Thailand,” Kang said.

New services to be added to LINE MAN include the delivery of groceries that will be offered in partnerships with local supermarkets, which will be launched in January.

In the near future, LINE MAN also plans to provide home and air conditioner cleaning service, massage and spa booking service, and will also explore shared kitchen services.

The mission to be a well-rounded, everyday app was also shown in the launch of LINE ScaleUp last year, with an aim of developing the local startup ecosystem by offering Thai startups access to technology and mentoring.

“LINE ScaleUp offers selected local startups the chance to team up with LINE and LINE Ventures to strengthen their global footprint and achieve international funding opportunities,” explained Kang.
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Picture Credit: LINE

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Vietnam-based edtech startup Dream Viet Education has sold a majority stake in its online learning platforms Kyna.vn and KynaBiz.vn to HR services firm Navigos Group, as per a DealStreetAsia report.

The financial details were not disclosed.

Kyna.vn caters to adults while KynaBiz.vn targets the business sector.

According to a joint statement, Dream Viet will transfer the two platforms, including the operating system and the existing resources, to Navigos, and will also provide advisory support.

Nguyen Thanh Minh will assume the role of CEO at the Kyna.vn and Kynabiz.vn division of Navigos.

Navigos CEO Gaku Echizenya said that the acquisitions signal the firm’s progress towards the goal of becoming a human resource-centric ecosystem in Vietnam.

Following the deal, Dream Viet will focus on its platform for children that provides online English tutoring and online video content which the company claims to have reached over 200,000 children nationwide.

Also Read: Vietnam-based e-learning startup Kyna.vn bags 7-digit seed funding from CyberAgent Ventures

Dream Viet Education first secured a seed funding round from Japanese investor Cyberagent Capital in 2016. Earlier this year, Cyberagent Capital joined SEAF Women’s Opportunity Fund invested in Dream Viet Education, of which the company used to develop the platform for children.

Navigos is known as the operator of Vietnam’s recruitment website Vietnamworks.com, which was acquired by Tokyo-based HR firm en-japan in 2013. The firm was founded by Jonah Levey, an angel investor in Vietnam.
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Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash

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Singapore-based Sea Ltd outshines Alibaba, JD.com in US stock market [Business Times]

Optimism fuelled by e-commerce gains has more than trebled the stock value of New York-listed Sea Ltd in 2019 — despite its US$1.18 billion net loss for the nine months ended Sept 30, 2019.

Previously known as Garena, Singapore-based Sea has seen its shares climb 244.61 per cent in the year to Dec 23, outperforming the S&P 500 index, which only rose 28.5 per cent in the same period.

This puts the firm — which operates gaming arm Garena and e-commerce platform Shopee — on track to close out the year as the top-performing foreign stock on the US stock exchange, beating Chinese corporate giants Alibaba and JD.com.

Travis Kalanick is leaving Uber’s Board of Directors [TechCrunch]

Uber founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick is leaving the company’s board of directors, the ride-hailing company announced today.

Kalanick will officially resign from the board as of December 31, to “focus on his new business and philanthropic endeavours,” according to a press release issued by Uber.

Kalanick, who was forced out as Uber CEO and eventually replaced by Dara Khosrowshahi through shareholder action with the support of the board in 2017, has been in the process of selling off his considerable ownership stake in the company through successive sales of his shares.

Just last week, Kalanick sold around US$383 million in shares and reduced his overall stake to less than 10 per cent, per an SEC filing.

India’s HomeLane Raises US$30M Series D [Inc42]

Bengaluru-based online home furnishing startup HomeLane has raised US$30 million in Series D funding.

The round was led by new investors Evolvence India Fund (EIF), Pidilite Group and FJ Labs, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners and JSW Ventures.

With the current round, total funding raised by HomeLane stands at US$46 million.

The company will use the funds to launch renovation as a category, scale its proprietary design-to-manufacturing platform to more designers, vendors and installers; and expand to 8-10 new cities in India.

ByteDance has no sale plans for TikTok, media report untrue, says head [The Star Malaysia]

Chinese social media firm ByteDance has no plans to sell part or all of its TikTok app, the short video platform’s head said on Tuesday, denying a media report which said the company was currently weighing options to do so due to US concerns.

Bloomberg reported that the company was considering a TikTok stake sale.

“From time to time you may read stories in the media that are not true. Today there is an inaccurate report claiming that ByteDance has considered selling part or all of TikTok,” Alex Zhu said in an internal company note seen by Reuters.

Bombay Shaving Company raises US$6.3M led by Sixth Sense Ventures [The Economic Times]

Bombay Shaving Company (BSC) has raised Rs 45 crore (US$6.3 million) in a new financing round, led by Sixth Sense Ventures with participation from existing investor Colgate Palmolive Asia Pacific.

Following the fundraising, a clutch of angels and early employees have exited the men’s grooming brand, which has picked up Rs 80 crore till date.

Close to 30 angels, including 16 partners from McKinsey including Noshir Kaka and Gautam Kumra, as well as S Ramadorai, former managing director of TCS; Kiran Deshpande, former CEO of Tech Mahindra, and Maninder Gulati, who heads strategy for Oyo, had backed the company in 2016, according to regulatory filings.

Ather appoints Deepak Jain as its CFO [press release]

Ather Energy’s senior leadership team is joined by Deepak Jain as Chief Financial Officer.

Jain brings over 20 years of experience across global brands like First Advantage, Apple India, P&G and Gillette. He joins Ather after a five-year stint at First Advantage as CFO for their India Business.

Jain has been a finance leader with exposure to large multi-location and transnational revenues. He began his career at E&Y before moving on to Gillette and Procter & Gamble, where he took on key leadership roles in distribution modelling & sales finance.

In 2010, he joined Apple India as the CFO and led the finance team during a period of exponential growth for five years. Specialising in conceptualizing, leading and executing business expansion strategies in manufacturing, trading and services business environments, Deepak will play a key role in Ather’s aggressive expansion plans.

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