Business
Grab launches accelerator programme Grab Ventures Ignite in Vietnam
Grab announced that it has officially launched an accelerator programme, Grab Ventures Ignite, for early-stage startups in Vietnam as part of the ‘Grab for Good’ development roadmap.
“Grab Ventures Ignite will nurture and support promising Vietnamese startups in their journey to become national champions in Vietnam’s tech startup ecosystem, in line with the government’s national strategy to create 10 technology unicorns by 2030,” Grab said in a statement, as reported in DealStreetAsia.
The six-month programme has welcomed a partnership with Vietnam’s National Innovation Center, an entity under the local investment ministry, to execute the initiative together. GVI also collaborated with Gobi Partners, Vietnam-based Toong Coworking Space, law firm YKVN, and Amazon Web Services to provide support to startups.
According to Grab, participating startups will benefit from a curated immersion programme hosted in Singapore by Infocomm Media Development Authority and cross-border sharing with the startups in the Lion City. Up to five selected winners will be offered up to US$150,000 in investments and in-kind benefits.
The application process is open until April 10, 2020. The target sectors are not limited, but GVI said it welcomes startups focussing on mobility, food, payments, financial services, logistics, e-commerce, or artificial intelligence.
LINE-owned digital currency exchange BITFRONT expands to the US
As part of the continuing expansion of the LINE token economy, LINE Corporation has launched BITFRONT, a global digital currency exchange based in the US. Operated by LVC USA, a subsidiary of LVC Corporation, BITFRONT provides a fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto market for the US dollar.
Also Read: Morning News Roundup: Singapore’s VC firm Reapra backs Thai edutech startup Quest
BITFRONT will become the main digital currency exchange platform for LINE’s token economy. Previously, LINE operated the global digital asset exchange BITBOX, a crypto-to-crypto exchange based in Singapore.
However, LINE has decided to expand its services and become a full-fledged exchange that includes fiat-to-crypto markets, aiming to spur the usage of blockchain by lowering the barriers to cryptocurrency adoption.
By linking other exchanges and order books, BITFRONT provides deep liquidity and users will be able to trade in U.S. dollars by linking their bank account. BITFRONT supports five major cryptocurrencies, including LINE’s digital currency LINK, Bitcoin, Etherium, Bitcoin Cash and Tether, in 15 languages.
Finance
Indonesia’s Telkom seeks to raise up to US$500M to invest in startups
Indonesia government-controlled telco, Telkom, is raising up to US$500 million in funds for startup investments in line with the company’s plan to find a new source of growth, Reuters has reported.
The fundraising is the second fund the company has raised with a goal to invest in startups. Budi Gunadi Sadikin, the deputy minister of state-owned enterprises, said the fund is set to launch soon and is targeted to be around US$300 million to US$500 million in size.
“This is important because Telkom is an industry with very high capital expenditure with declining EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) and flattening revenue,” Sadikin said. “We have to move on from only digital infrastructure to digital platform and digital sources.”
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Picture Credit: Grab
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