In addition to LINE, we also have updates from BigBasket, WeWork, and Lightspeed

LINE Founder Jungho Shin being appointed as Co-CEO – Press Release

LINE Corporation announced the appointment of its Founder and Chief WOW Officer (CWO) Jungho Shin as Co-CEO of the company, starting from April 1.

The company will have two representative directors: Takeshi Idezawa, the CEO and President, and Jungho Shin, the Co-CEO and Chief WOW Officer.

According to a press statement, as a representative director, Shin will “now focus on bolstering the competitiveness of LINE’s services and promoting innovation—assuming clear responsibility for creating groundbreaking services and the company’s operations.”

CEO and President Takeshi Idezawa will focus on management, revenue, organizational structure, human resources, and recruitment.

Shin’s appointment comes as the company moves towards its “second growth phase” this year, which is marked by the introduction of its new services in the fintech, AI, and blockchain sectors.

India’s BigBasket raises US$150M – Economic Times

Indian grocery e-tailer BigBasket has raised a US$150 million funding round led by South Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments, along with UK government-owned CDC Group and existing investor Alibaba, according to an Economic Times report.

Citing regulatory filings, the report said that the funding round has valued the company at “a little over” US$1.2 billion, helping it secure the unicorn status.

Alibaba is set to invest US$50 million while Mirae Asset will put in US$59.9 million, and CDC Group will invest US$40 million.

Also Read: Perx secures US$5M Series B funding from LINE Ventures

WeWork invests in coworking club Betaworks Studios – TechCrunch

Coworking space chain The We Company (WeWork) and JLL Spark Ventures have co-led a US$4.4 million investment in membership-based coworking club and builder community Betaworks Studios, TechCrunch reported.

Betaworks Ventures and existing investor BBG Ventures also participated in the funding round.

Betaworks Studios was launched in 2018. It offers entrepreneurs, artists, engineers and creatives a place to work on projects and accumulate a network.

Lightspeed ousts co-founder following college admission scandal – Bloomberg

Chris Schaepe, co-founder of Silicon Valley venture capital (VC) firm Lightspeed, has been ousted from his post after acknowledging that he had hired Rick Singer, the college admission coach that is currently involved in the college admission scandal, according to Bloomberg.

Schaepe was not named in the list of people directly involved in the college admission bribery scandal; he had also stated he had no idea that Singer was doing anything illegal.

Lightspeed said that it decided to part with its co-founder to minimise impact from personal matters unrelated to the firm.

The post Today’s top tech news, March 29: LINE names Founder Jungho Shin as Co-CEO appeared first on e27.