In addition, Toyota participated in a US $ 462 million investment by Chinese autonomous driving company Pony.ai; the Nigerian government approved US $ 268 million to support startups and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Latest epidemic information
CICC: The escalation of the South Korean epidemic may increase tensions in the global manufacturing supply chain. It was learned that CICC stated in its research report, “In the context of the recent stabilization of the Chinese epidemic, overseas epidemics have escalated, and the number of infections in South Korea has risen rapidly. As a major manufacturing country after China, the United States, Japan and Germany, The direct impact of South Korea ’s epidemic may exacerbate the strain on the global manufacturing supply chain, especially in its advantageous industries such as electronics, steel, and automobiles. We expect the Bank of Korea to cut interest rates on Thursday and the government will launch fiscal stimulus sooner. “< / p>
Facebook confirms the banning of new crown virus ads with false information. According to foreign media reports, Facebook confirmed in a statement that the platform will ban COVID-19-related ads for treatment, prevention or panic. The company also added that Marketplace, a platform that allows Facebook users to buy and sell goods, will follow a similar policy. In a subsequent statement, Facebook stated that the company was actively cooperating with the World Health Organization, “including measures to block ads referring to coronavirus-related products and ads that caused urgency, such as to imply limited supplies or to ensure effective treatment. And prevention content. “(Sina Technology)
Under the epidemic, the price of online purchases of Korean masks increased sixfold. As the domestic epidemic of new coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread, the online purchase price of masks has soared, and the current single selling price is more than 4,000 won (about 23 yuan). According to data released by the Korean Statistics Agency on the 27th, the online price of KF94 masks recently exceeded 4,000 won, which is 6-8 times higher than the pre-epidemic (700-800 won). The prices of physical stores such as drug stores and supermarkets have remained at 2,000 won Level. (Yonhap)
India
Amazon is piloting Indian takeaway services to challenge established players Swiggy and Zomato. According to ET, US e-commerce giant Amazon plans to pilot takeaway services in specific areas of Bangalore in March and has already invested heavily in the distribution supply chain. The move comes at a time when rivals Swiggy and Zomato are cutting user discounts and tightening costs, while another player, Uber, has completely withdrawn from the Indian takeaway market. The platform is currently only open to employees.
PhonePe received a USD 60 million capital injection from Singapore’s parent company. According to ET, Wal-Mart’s e-commerce Flipkart’s payment platform PhonePe has received a cash injection of Rs 4.27 crore (approximately $ 60 million) from its Singapore parent company PhonePe Private Ltd. In return, PhonePe Private Ltd will receive approximately 1 million shares. This is the third similar capital injection to a company that has continued to lose money because it competes with Google Pay, Amazon Pay and Paytm. As of now, the total financing of all investment houses has reached Rs. 1,710 crore (about 240 million US dollars).
Sequoia India leads $ 16 million in financing for medical startup Qure.ai. According to Inc42, the company raised $ 16 million in a financing led by Sequoia India, followed by SEA and MassMutual Ventures. The company plans to use the funds for research and development and market expansion. Qure.ai is an AI medical startup specializing in medical imaging. It has been incubated and invested $ 30 million by AI company Fractal Analytics.
Lenskart, an eyewear e-commerce unicorn, has expanded its employee equity incentive plan. According to ET, Lenskart last month increased the total number of employees’ total shareholding pool to more than 3 million, with a total value of $ 3,000 (Rs. 2.16 billion). At the same time, the company appointed Sumer Juneja, the head of SoftBank Vision Fund India, as a non-executive director. Two months ago, the unicorn completed a $ 275 million funding round led by the SoftBank Vision Fund.
Southeast Asia
Malaysian PE company Xeraya Capital led a US $ 31 million Series B round of financing for US medical device manufacturer Aria CV . According to DealStreetAsia, Xeraya Capital led a Series B funding round of approximately $ 31 million in Aria CV Inc. The funding is expected to fund Aria’s first clinical study of a medical device to treat pulmonary hypertension (PAH) in the United States. Following this round of investment, Xeraya Capital partner Jason Rushton will join Aria CV as a director.
Dahmakan, a Malaysian takeaway platform, has completed a $ 18 million Series B financing. According to Tech in Asia, this Y CombinatThe startups supported by or have completed Series B financing. This round of investors includes Korean food delivery unicorn Woowa Brothers and former CEO of Nestle Germany. The company plans to use the new funding to develop an operating system for its end-to-end business.
The Monetary Authority of Indonesia suspended the issuance of P2P registration letters. On Monday, the official Instagram account of the Monetary Authority of Indonesia (OJK) released a message: “OJK stopped issuing new fintech lending licenses in order to improve OJK’s management system and improve market quality.” Subsequently, OJK clarified and Changed the issuance of licenses to the issuance of new registration letters. By the end of 2019, OJK has issued a total of 25 formal licenses and another 119 registration letters. This move may prompt local groups that have not started the application to actively seek acquisition targets.
Middle East
Aramco Saudi Arabia is preparing for an overseas listing and prefers the Asian exchange. According to foreign media reports, Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia ’s national oil company, will start early preparations for an overseas listing. Saudi Aramco is negotiating with a number of Wall Street banking institutions on the secondary listing and will tend to choose to list on one of Asia’s many exchanges, and its overseas IPO may not be realized in 2020. Saudi Aramco was listed on the local exchange in December 2019, and its listing price was 32 rials, closing at riyals 33.45 on Wednesday (26th). (Sina Finance)
Africa
The Nigerian government has approved $ 268 million to support startups and small and medium-sized enterprises. According to Techpoint, since January, the Nigerian government has issued a series of policies to support start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises, including early-stage start-up tax exemptions, and a $ 20 million young innovator approved by the Industrial Bank (BoI) Technology funds and low-interest loans of US $ 248 million (Nine billion Nigerian naira) provided by the Central Bank (CBN) to small agricultural businesses.
Techpoint report: Nigeria’s start-up funding will double in 2019. The 2019 Nigerian Startup Financing Report released by Techpoint Africa shows that more than 100 investors participated in more than 147 startups in Nigeria to obtain investment, of which financial services accounted for the largest proportion.
Latin America
The “last mile” startup Moovin will expand into Central America. According to contxto, Costa Rican local e-commerce courier startup Moovin plans to increase its presence in San Jose and surrounding areas and expand to China and the United StatesContinent countries Guatemala, Panama and Dominican Republic. It is reported that Moovin’s biggest competitor may be Costa Rica’s National Post Office, rather than Rappi, a unicorn competing for similar logistics markets.
Others
Toyota participates in a $ 462 million investment from Chinese autonomous driving company Pony.ai. According to Tech in Asia, the startup announced that it has raised $ 462 million from Toyota Motor Corporation and other investors, and a new round of financing has raised Pony.ai’s valuation to more than $ 3 billion. This investment is an extension of Pony.ai’s business partnership with Toyota in 2019, which launched a joint autonomous pilot in China.
Amazon opens its first “unmanned supermarket” Go Grocery . According to LABS, e-commerce giant Amazon launched a new supermarket, Amazon Go Grocery, in Seattle on Tuesday, aimed at attracting customers in the residential community, unlike the white-collar workers attracted by its unmanned convenience store Amazon Go launched two years ago. . The move is part of Amazon’s plan to expand physical retail stores, which has opened more than a dozen bookstores and bought Whole Foods in 2017.
文 | Qiu Zehui @ 出海
Picture | Oriental IC
