We’re no longer worried about the intelligence of our computers, but rather whether we can tell the difference between AI and humans

Prelude: Is AI Getting More Human?

50 years ago, legendary director Stanley Kubrick introduced the world to HAL 9000, the autonomous killer A.I. from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Then, we laughed at the idea that we would ever live in a world where a computer could match or even exceed the intelligence of humans.

Today, we’re not laughing anymore. We now live in a world wherein A.I. is as ubiquitous in our daily lives as our reliance on the devices they power. No more are we worried about the intelligence of our computers– today, we’re worried that we won’t be able to tell the difference between A.I. and humans.

“The Uncanny Valley”

That’s the name given by Masahiro Mori in 1970 to the experience we feel when we see something that acts almost like a human but something about it just isn’t quite right. While this feeling is most common in the physical world – for say, when you see a robot that has a human face but inhuman expressions – this feeling can also come from computer animations or even conversations over the phone with an A.I bot.

Yet, our inquisitive nature demands progress and so, current and future research in A.I. means that computers will become ever smarter and A.I. ever more human-like. With this inevitability, if we humans cannot beat back that progress, we can work together to make A.I. human enough that we no longer experience the Uncanny Valley effect.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the top trends to watch in humanizing A.I. in 2019.

Trend #1: The Adoption of AI In Our Daily Lives

2019 is the year of artificial intelligence. It may be only January but A.I. is starting the year with a splash. Once a buzzword used only exclusively by techies and technology first adopters, after the year that A.I. has had, 2019 is the year that A.I. really becomes a part of our every day lives.

Every year, people turn to the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show to see what are the trends and new products that companies are investing in. In 2019, A.I. is going to be a major theme at the CES, showcasing in a variety of products from home products to entertainment to even sports equipment.

And it is not just CES where A.I. is going to play a major role. From fighting hackers to protecting humanity from itself, this year is shaping out to be the year where A.I. moves from the laboratories of universities to becoming as common a system in your home as your bed, think I, Robot common.

Also read: How artificial intelligence is disrupting education

Trend #2: AI x Blockchain

The Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and blockchain are but some of the buzzwords that have been thrown around. If the past few years were being used to develop the technology behind those buzzwords, 2019 is the year when those technologies will converge and work with each other instead of operating in independent silos.

In as technologically reliant a world as we live in now, we generate massive amounts of data. On average, Internet users generate 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day (that’s 2.5 billion billion bytes). In fact, we generate so much data that 90% of the world’s data was generated in the past two years alone!

To parse through all this data, scientists use a method called Deep Learning to train their Artificial Intelligence systems. The problem however, is that most of the time, we don’t know what our A.I. is doing most of the time. Here’s where we note the trend of converging the technologies between Artificial Intelligence and blockchain–there are already startups doing that– such as Connectome, which builds virtual human agents. If blockchain is used to keep an indelible record of processes made and we struggle to understand what A.I. do because we don’t have a good record of what they do, then using a GeneFlow system allows one to create that record.

GeneFlow refers to a method whereby the traceability of an A.I.’s learning and execution history is realized in a blockchain. When an A.I.’s processes an be reliably traced, it allows for a chain of accountability to emerge, making the A.I. more reliable because we can see into the blackbox that is its decision making process.

Also read: Want to make blockchain mainstream? Then speak the mainstream language

Trend #3: A.I. To Sound More Human

If there is one thing that makes HAL 9000 so incredibly scary, it’s that HAL talks to us like how we talk to each other.

In this famous movie scene, HAL says, “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that,” because HAL knows that Dave is trying to disconnect it. In 1968, to listen to a computer respond and rationalize their actions was only possible in the realm of science fiction. In 2019, it’s an every day occurrence. Siri and Alexa aren’t just names of people anymore. They’re the names we use when we want to activate our Apple, Amazon or Android assistants.

However, unlike the movie, our A.I. agents do not just randomly slap words together to make a sentence. They require massive data sets to be used to train them. That is why tech companies around the world are now hiring not just computer engineers but social scientists and linguists to help them make their A.I.’s more human. To make them more human, it is both about how they sound and how they feel. When you can make your A.I more human, not only do they help in banishing the Uncanny Valley effect, you make your A.I more trustworthy and relatable.

It is that feeling of relatability and trustworthiness that makes us want to use these A.I more. When we can relate to them, we become more comfortable speaking aloud to them. When we can rely on them like a secret invisible friend, we know that our secrets are safe (mostly).

To do that though, we need to have them start sounding more human. We’re all familiar with how robotic a, well, robot sounds. One of the most famous voices in the world, the late Stephen Hawking, used a voice synthesizer and that is one of the first images that come to mind when we think about a robotic voice.

Technology has improved to the point that our virtual human agents now sound human only because their voices were made from voice clips recorded by actual humans. However, because there are only so many clips that are available, additional phrases are often synthesized by cutting the relevant words and putting those clips together. Sometimes that method words, often, it’s a mess. However, we are near that goal of realistic sounding voice, as Google just recently showcased, and 2019 is that year when we cross the finish line.

Also read: China vs US: Who is winning the big artificial intelligence battle?

A.I., Humanized: Where Do We Go From Here?

From companies like Google and Amazon to the US Army, Artificial Intelligence is here to stay. As our smartphones get smarter, computers faster and virtual agents more common, 2019 will showcase the power of artificial intelligence like never before.

However, as the Uncanny Valley effect shows, there is a danger that if A.I. becomes more robotic and less human, regardless of how powerful a tool it becomes, we will still reject it. Technological convergence in making A.I. more accountable and creating A.I. that sounds and feels like a human will be a challenge.

And that makes 2019 all the more exciting.

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Photo by Rock’n Roll Monkey on Unsplash

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In addition to talking about the best and worst things of working for a startup, Touchten’s Art Director dishes out advice for budding game designers

When Art Director Nilwafa Praduta recalled the time he first applied to work at Touchten, e27 found out he was one of the company’s earliest full-time employees.

“It’s fate!” he laughs.

“I was working in this Jogjakarta-based French game developer. Then I saw a vacancy from Touchten on Twitter … It was a walk-in interview that started at 8 PM that day, in Jakarta. When I saw the tweet, it was already 7 PM and I was still in Jogjakarta,” he explains.

It did not stop him from giving his best effort, though. Praduta did a quick research of Touchten’s company profile and portfolio, then he emailed CEO and Co-founder Anton Soeharyo. Apart from introducing himself, he also pitched a list of things he can help Touchten achieve if they hire him.

Three months and countless emails later, his perseverance paid off. Praduta joined the company and worked on the visual aspect of Touchten’s portfolio games such as Redhead Redemption, Ramen Celebrity, Teka Teki Saku, Ramen Chain, Cute Kill and Infinite Sky.

As an Art Director, his job description involves designing characters’ look, background, and even colouring and filters.

“Basically, anything that can be seen in the game,” he shares.

Here are the edited excerpts of our conversation with him:

Also Read: Indonesia scores fastest growth in Southeast Asia’s mobile gaming industry

What are the best and worst thing about working in a startup, especially one that works on game development?

I’ll begin with the worst: It’s hard to explain [your job] to your family. Especially to your in-laws! (laughs)

I mean, if you’re working in a bank, then they usually wouldn’t ask questions. But if you tell them that you work for a game developer, they’d be like, “There is a game developer? I thought only properties have developer! How do you create games? Do you draw them?”

Maybe the profession is just not mainstream yet, even though it is a unique one. I’m really passionate about games because it gives me chance to express myself artistically, combined with technical elements. Programmers with their left brain, artists with their right brain, working together to create something people can enjoy.

[Working in startup] also gives artistic freedom, compared to bigger game developer companies. Creativity is very tightly controlled there.

Also Read: Why is Israel, a land of startups, weak at gaming?

What’s the most memorable moment of working in a startup?

One time we gathered at Anton’s apartment, doing a heart-to-heart talk. We talked about all the things we want to achieve, and we realised that we have already achieved them. Right here, right now.

What Anton wanted, what Roki [Soeharyo, COO] wanted, what we all wanted … All of them were fulfilled. It’s very memorable.

Also Read: Kakao sees drop in gaming, advertising revenue in Q3 2015

Any pro-tip for aspiring game designers?

Create a good portfolio. There’s no need to include all of your works, only three or four of the best. Then search for experience from internships.

And play lots of games. As a game designer, you need to understand about lots of things. I initially wanted to be a movie director, and many of my inspirations come from there. [Watching/playing plenty film and games] helps me notice if something is off with a film or game.

You need to have real-life experience. If you’re into character designing, you can’t just stick into a particular style that you like, such as anime. Study all kinds of character designs — from classic Disney to European styles.

Because you’ll never know what your next game will be about. When we developed Ramen Chain, I tried to think of the things I love about food. One of them is how it looks, so we designed details such as boiling water and the glints of the food when it is served. We even thought of the noise we usually hear in restaurants.

Enjoy 2-for-1 tickets to Echelon Indonesia 2016 now. Do not miss out on Indonesia’s biggest international tech conference!

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Antler will showcase their first batch of companies after 5-months under their leadership on Jan 10, 2019 at the Google campus, hosted by the Google Cloud Startup in Singapore during Demo Day SG1.

On Episode 12 of The Story of You, we had Magnus Grimeland, CEO of Antler, a startup generator and an early stage VC.

Antler is unlike a regular accelerator because it helps connect founders to mentors and potential co-founders in the very early stages of building a company. It leverages a rigorous selection process and funding — only 3 per cent  of applicants are accepted into their programme — to find the best candidates.

Magnus leads a global team to develop the next generation of companies, while creating a pipeline for top talent to pursue a career in entrepreneurship and innovation.

62 founders from 22 countries have founded 29 companies. Antler has invested in 13 from their first cohort in 2018. The companies created are from a wide range of industries including real estate, e-sports, hiring, robotics and automation, and e-commerce.

Here are some highlights from our conversation with Magnus.

How is Antler distinctly different from other accelerators, especially in its approach to building companies?

We focus on talent first. We really believe that all great businesses are created by amazing co-founding teams and while other accelerators and VCs invest in companies and help them make it better, we bring in great talent from around the globe in specific teams and build companies. We then invest in the companies. That is very unique.

What makes a great entrepreneur?

There are 3 factors that make an amazing entrepreneur- this is what we are looking for.

• People who have a spike- this can be different for each person. It can be a
  personality trait or that you are deeply entrenched in a particular industry—everyone
  can have a spike or strength and if you know it, you can utilise it to make something
  amazing.
• Inner engine —  the drive that enables you to execute that comes from passion.
• Tenacity — on paper everything looks amazing but in real life, all these things are
  really hard. Everyone will hit walls, but the ones who succeed in something big are
  usually the ones who never give up achieving their dreams.

What’s are the biggest takeaways after the first batch of companies?

The first major learning is that it really works—that if you put a group of passionate people in a room committed to solving a problem, it will work.

Also Read:  The Story of You with Homage Co-founder and CEO Gillian Tee

We learned a lot about forming teams- some organically, some with input from our side. How you go deep on a business model and iterate that was another.

The only way to create a great product is to get something out there quickly for the customers to use.

What have you learned about Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem?

The digitalisation of Southeast Asia is happening faster than almost anywhere else in the world—there are massive customer bases to reach in the region. We have seen giants like Go-Jek, Traveloka, Grab, Lazada emerge over the last few years.

The ecosystem has developed a lot and right now we are at this inflexion point where you have some great companies that have been built, the regulatory environment has really picked up. It has never been a better time to build something in this region. Now is the time.

What did you notice about this cohort and the way they approached building
companies?

We focus on building companies that solve problems, not follow trends. The issue with trends is people will build companies for the sake of technology. For example, when you saw the Blockchain trend, you saw a lot people trying to build businesses based on blockchain technology.

This is really the wrong way to build a business. For us, we ensure we tell the founders the way to do it is to find a real problem that needs to be solved and make people’s lives better. Then we help them get the right team to execute it and then it’s going to be an amazing business. Start with the problem.

What are the expansions plans globally?

We are a global company who want to build companies so we can support companies who want to expand globally. That’s why a global platform is better than a localised one. We will be able to execute out of Singapore. You have be international and bring in people who can add something to the company who are either stronger or have different spikes.

Also Read: The Story of You with Smartkarma CEO Raghav Kapoor

We are not creating a franchise, we are building a global partnership and all the partners coming in now as we expand into the US, Europe, Australia and Africa add amazing talent to support our companies.

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The Indonesia-based online investment app completed a US$2.1-million seed funding round co-led by SoftBank Ventures and few others notable investors

SoftBank, Y Combinator, Alpha JWC, Insignia Ventures Partners, and an undisclosed former Sequoia partner joined together to invest a total of US$2.1 million in Ajaib, a smart online investment application based in Indonesia, as reported by Deal Street Asia.

The funding is said to be used for product and engineering team improvements.

Ajaib just launched this month and was a product of Y Combinator (YC) startup incubator. It works by providing access to personal investment services for the country’s middle-class users.

Also Read: KinerjaPay signs agreement to receive US$200M investment from Wahana Group

“Our plan is to become the “Ant Financial of wealth management in Indonesia” by democratising access to personal investment services,” said Ajaib CEO and co-founder Anderson Sumarli.

The company has already obtained a license from the Indonesian Financial Services Authority (OJK) to run legally.

Ajaib will compete head-to-head with existing players in the online investment space like Bareksa that offers financial data, online tool, news, and analysis on investment and market.

With this latest investment coming from the country, Ajaib is added to the long list of startups backed by SoftBank Ventures which include the unicorn Tokopedia.

Also Read: Carput shifts roadside assistance into top gear with its on-demand service

Bearing its new name, SoftBank Ventures Asia said it is looking to expand its presence beyond Seoul, Beijing, San Francisco, and Tel Aviv by hiring investment professionals in Singapore and Shanghai.
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Image Credit: Ajaib

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Moving forward, CEO Toby Hoenisch will be the driving force behind the TenX company direction

Dr. Julian Hosp, the Co-Founder, President and public face of TenX, has left the company, as confirmed to e27. TenX said this was a mutual decision made by the executive team.

In an emotional video posted on YouTube, Hosp wished the team the best for the future.

“While we were planning [for] 2019 and beyond, it became clear to us as Founders that the only way forward is to mutually part ways. And that means, that I will be stepping down as the President of TenX. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life,” he said.

Hosp said he will be taking a few weeks off to move forward.

“I want to thank you all for the support, for having been there during good, during hard times; on this journey. There is definitely more to come,” he concluded.

Also Read: Fitness and beauty tech startup WeFit secures US$1M pre-Series A funding

As of today, TenX CEO Toby Hoenisch will be taking charge of the business direction.

“We have received a tremendous amount of community support under Julian’s leadership and want to thank him for paving the way towards further success for TenX in the years to come,” he said in a statement.

During his time, Hosp was positioned as the public face of TenX — taking press interviews, offering commentary and promoting the company to the general public.

However, he has recently come under scrutiny from the crypto blogosphere for his previous affiliation with Lyoness, an Austrian pyramid company.

TenX took to Reddit to acknowledge the past relationship, support Hosp and make the case that it had no bearing on TenX.

Also Read: Online investment startup Ajaib secures US$2.1M from SoftBank

TenX was founded in 2015 with the goal of building a credit/debit card which can be used offline and across various cryptocurrencies. In June of 2017, the Singapore-based startup raised US$80 million in a token sale to build the card. As of publishing, it has not been released.

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The Vietnam-based startup raises funding led by CyberAgent Capital

Lifestyle tech startup from Vietnam WeFit announces that it’s just closed a pre-series A funding for US$1 million from CyberAgent Capital.

Joining the round is some other regional VCs, all done in this early January 2019.

Khoi Nguyen, the founder and CEO of WeFit shared that the investment will push the next phase of WeFit’s product development and also expand to a new market.

“We’re extremely excited to have cooperated with overseas venture capital firms. We believe this partnership will dramatically shorten the process of exploring the market and widening the accessibility of our services,” said Nguyen.

Also Read: Carput shifts roadside assistance into top gear with its on-demand service

Previously in 2017, the company also raised a seed round from ESP Capital and VIISA.

WeFit has been around since 2016 and claimed to be the pioneer in mobile-based user subscription packages for both fitness and beauty services across Vietnam’s two busiest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. To date, the company said it has been available for booking over 1,000 locations.

WeFit works by allowing users to search and book for fitness and beauty sessions located nearby the users. WeFit partners with fitness centers and beauty spas to help them optimize operational costs and increase profit with WeFit’s traffic.

“According to a data provided by WHO, Vietnam is currently on the top rank of country with the lowest body mobilization over the world due to the lack of convenience and diversity of the solution for everybody. WeFit aims to solve this issue, we seek to bring people more benefits and less time-consuming services, as well as added value for commercial entities,” said the company’s official statement.

Currently, WeFit said that it serves more than 150,000 bookings every month.

“We believe WeFit will formulate a completely different behavior of beauty and health care in the near future,” Nguyen Manh Dung, Head of CyberAgent Capital in Vietnam and Thailand on its investment.

Also Read: KinerjaPay signs agreement to receive US$200M investment from Wahana Group

WeFit projects a million users in 2019 and plans to move forward with its Series A funding within 2019.
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Image Credit: WeFit

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Southeast Asia-based e-scooter service officially operates in Cyberjaya, Malaysia

Neuron Mobility, an e-scooter sharing service based in Southeast Asia, announced today that it officially started operations in Malaysia. It is a part of the company’s regional expansion plans.

The launch comes just after a partnership with Thailand’s Sansiri Public Company Limited, and follows a recent S$5 million raise to expand their last mile connectivity services — particularly to Asia-Pacific’s biggest and most congested cities.

Also Read: Nanu Berks on how blockchain merges art with activism

In Malaysia, Neuron Mobility will deploy the e-scooter fleet at key commercial spots in Cyberjaya as part of a pilot programme. The company said that it’s to ensure feasibility and demand in the Multimedia Super Corridor of Malaysia.

“Cyberjaya is on its way to becoming Malaysia’s smartest city, and we are glad to be able to contribute towards this goal by solving the issues of last mile mobility,” said Zachary Wang, CEO of Neuron Mobility.

Neuron Mobility uses real-time telematics and geospatial simulation models for predictive analytics and network optimisation. First-time riders are required to go through an instructional series on safety before they start using the service.

The launch in Cyberjaya makes it the fourth major Southeast Asian city to offer Neuron’s personal mobility service, after Singapore, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai.

To date, Neuron Mobility claims to own and operate the largest e-scooter sharing fleet in Singapore and Thailand.

“Smart transportation is not just an alternative, to some it may soon become the de-facto choice for urban commutes. It is our vision to build reliable technologies to answer the need for personal mobility in these populated zones,” added Zachary.

Also Read: A refugee in Germany in the 80’s, this entrepreneur is now back in Southeast Asia to achieve his dreams

Neuron Mobility has shared that its core focus now is to drive growth in smart city initiatives by further funding the development of technologies. Eventually, it will lead the company to launch its own commercial grade e-scooter that would be a world first.

The plan is to produce scooter that enhances robustness and rider safety while complying with PMD laws across Southeast Asia.
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Image Credit: Neuron Mobility

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Takahiro Suzuki, previously CEO of Indonesian VC firm CyberAgent Ventures, has joined Genesia as a General Partner

Tokyo-headquartered VC firm Genesia Ventures has announced the launch of its second fund worth US$80 million, which aims to invest in seed-stage startups across Japan and Southeast Asia.

Genesia Venture Fund Ⅱ has already raised US$45 million, and expects to make the final close at the end of September 2019.

Headed by Soichi Tajima, the fund’s key investors include major companies and institutional investors, such as Mizuho Bank and Mizuho Capital (Mizuho Financial Group companies), TFHD Open Innovation Program (operated by Tokyu Fudosan Holdings), Marui Group, mixi, and JA Mitsui Leasing.

Also Read: A refugee in Germany in the 80’s, this entrepreneur is now back in Southeast Asia to achieve his dreams

Takahiro Suzuki, previously CEO of Indonesian VC firm CyberAgent Ventures, has joined Genesia as a General Partner. Genesia has already been making preparations for a representative office in Jakarta.

The fund’s focus areas will be the domain surrounding digital transformation by the fusion of real business and IT (finance, healthcare, medical, real estate, construction, manufacturing, agriculture, etc.)
, the domain surrounding new economy/digital media content (C2C, sharing economy, cloud sourcing, and decentralised platforms and the domain surrounding new media and content formats such as video, AR, VR, MR, etc.), and domain surrounding frontier technologies (AI, robots, drones, low-earth-orbit satellites).

Genesia’s first fund made investments in 47 early-stage startups (35 in Japan and 12 overseas, as of the end of December 2018).

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Agus Martowardojo joins Tokopedia’s Board of Commissioners as President Commissioner

Indonesia’s e-commerce giant Tokopedia announced today that it has appointed Agus Martowardojo as the unicorn’s President Commissioner.

Martowardojo joins Tokopedia as the company prepares to develop its ecosystem into infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), seeking to empower and strengthen Indonesia’s economy in an inclusive manner, both online and offline.

“Tokopedia has been consistent in its mission to empower Indonesian society through technology and support a sustainable economy. I am pleased to join Tokopedia to support the company’s aspiration for inclusive economic development,” said Martowardojo.

Also Read: A refugee in Germany in the 80’s, this entrepreneur is now back in Southeast Asia to achieve his dreams

Martowardojo was Indonesia’s Central Bank Governor from 2013 until May 2018. Prior to that, Martowardojo held posts as Indonesia’s Minister of Finance (2010-2013) in which he was recognised as Finance Minister of the Year for Asia Pacific from The Banker (Financial Times) in 2012.

He was also the President Director of Bank Mandiri from 2005-2010.

Martowardojo brings over 30 years of experience as a banker, Finance Minister, and Central Bank Governor. His achievement in past was his active role in maintaining the stability and resilience of the Indonesian economy by optimizing monetary, macro-prudential, and payment policies as well as management of Indonesia’s Rupiah circulation.

Martowardojo was the brain behind the Bank Indonesia 7-Day Reverse Repo Rate, which was said to strengthen the transmission of monetary policy and integrated inflation controls across Indonesia.

During his tenure as Minister of Finance from 2010-2013, Indonesia achieved an improvement in its debt rating from Fitch and Moody’s.

Also Read: Nanu Berks on how blockchain merges art with activism

“Mr. Agus Martowardojo’s experience and wisdom will be invaluable to Tokopedia and his guidance will help accelerate our mission to democratize commerce through technology,” said Tokopedia CEO and Co-Founder William Tanuwijaya.
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Image Credit: Tokopedia

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Grab will release an initial batch of 20 vehicles on January 11 with the rest being introduced over the next few weeks

Grab says ‘right time’ to introduce electric vehicles, set to roll out 200 Hyundai Konas [Channel News Asia]

Ride-hailing firm Grab is set to roll out 200 electric vehicles (EVs) into Singapore’s streets progressively from Friday (Jan 11).

Having purchased 200 Hyundai Kona 64 kWH electric cars, Grab will release an initial batch of 20 vehicles on Friday with the rest being introduced over the next few weeks, head of the company’s car leasing service GrabRentals, Kau Yi Ming said in an interview with local media.

“With these 200 cars, we will also be one of the biggest EV fleet in Singapore, and we want to be able to take this opportunity to introduce electric vehicles to both drivers and passengers of Grab,” said Kau.

Singapore-based blockchain fintech company BitRock raises US$4M [press release]

Singapore-based blockchain fintech corporation BitRock, a startup hatched by the instant messaging and social platform YeeCall, has announced that it has raised US$4 million funds to provide fintech solutions for the blockchain industry.

BitRock’s vision is to provide blockchain fintech solutions through the ‘solid triangle’ — wallet + mining pool + quant fund it has forged and tackle such problems as the high threshold for blockchain beginners and the difficulty of application landing, in an effort to facilitate the development of the blockchain industry.

BitRock consists of the following three business — Banko Wallet, Rawpool (a full set of support and services for miners, and Snake Quant Fund.

Alibaba buys German data analysis start-up [Reuters]

China’s Alibaba Group Holding has acquired German data analysis firm Data Artisans, the Berlin-based startup said, in a deal reported to be worth around 90 million euros (US$103 million).

The transaction marks the first full takeover by a Chinese company on Berlin’s growing startup scene. In the last significant deal, Alibaba’s rival Tencent Holdings participated in a US$160 million funding round for online bank N26 in March 2018.

Data Artisans CEO Kostas Tzoumas said Alibaba would also invest an undisclosed sum in the company to develop Apache Flink, its open-source software that can process large data volumes, and to expand into new business areas.

Israeli cybersecurity company Radware to acquire Bengaluru-based ShieldSquare [The Economic Times]

Israeli cybersecurity company Radware will acquire Bengaluru-based bot management ShieldSquare owned by Kaalbi Technologies in the first quarter of 2019, according to media reports. The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

Founded in 2013, the startup offers protection against bot attacks and web scraping. It offers attack detection, threat research, reporting, and analysis services to business. The company It graduated from the Microsoft Accelerator programme in 2013 as well.

Reportedly, Radware CEO Roy Zisapel said that the acquisition will allow to expand the company’s portfolio with robust bot management solutions and its existing cloud security services. “Bot management can stand alone as product offerings as well as integrate into our suite of attack mitigation solutions.”

OYO appoints Sam Shih as COO for China [press release]

OYO Hotels, a leading budget hotels aggregator in South Asia, has announced the appointment of Sam Shih as its Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the China market.

Shih will be responsible for the overall regional operations, driving consumer experience and building operating efficiencies at scale across OYO China.

Before OYO Hotels, Sam served as President of Global Consumables and CEO at Asia Pulp & Paper Co., a giant in the pulp and paper industry. He also led the operations at Red Bull and Accor Group, France.

Sam started his career and spent over two decades in PepsiCo. During this time, he took senior positions such as President of Pepsi (China) Investment, Vice President of Pepsi Beverage Business in China, as well as Chief Operating Officer at Pepsi China.

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