After working as an investment banker in Canada for a decade, Halima Iqbal moved back to Pakistan in 2017 and quickly realized how difficult it is for women to access financial services. “I had a really hard time opening up a basic bank account. It took me about three and a half months,” Iqbal told […]
Aspire raises $158M Series B to build a full-stack “financial operating system” for Southeast Asian businesses
Aspire, the Singapore-based neobank that wants to become an “end-to-end financial operating system” for Southeast Asian businesses, is moving closer to its aspirations with a $158 million Series B. The round consisted of $58 million in equity and $100 million in debt, and was led by an undisclosed global fintech-focused growth equity investor, with participation […]
Singapore-based logistics startup Ninja Van secures $578M Series E
Ninja Van, a Singapore-based logistics startup, has closed a $578 million Series E round to support its operations infrastructure and technology systems growth. Investors include China’s Alibaba Group as well as existing investors DPDgroup’s GeoPost, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Savering’s B Capital Group, Monk’s Hill Ventures, and Zamrud, a sovereign wealth fund controlled by Brunei, based on its […]
China roundup: Meng Wanzhou’s release and Huawei’s future
Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch’s China roundup, a digest of recent events shaping the Chinese tech landscape and what they mean to people in the rest of the world. On Friday, Huawei’s chief financial executive Meng Wanzhou was released from house arrest in Vancouver after reaching a breakthrough deal with the U.S. Justice Department. Chinese […]
China says all cryptocurrency-related transactions are illegal and must be banned
China’s central bank said on Friday that all cryptocurrency-related transactions are illegal in the country and they must be banned, citing concerns around national security and “safety of people’s assets.” The world’s most populated nation also said that foreign exchanges are banned from providing services to users in the country. In a joint statement, 10 […]
Amazon assembles video streaming apps to fight with Netflix and Disney in India
Amazon has launched Prime Video Channels in India, allowing its customers to subscribe to eight streaming services including Discovery+ and Mubi from one hub (Prime Video website or app), the latest in a series of efforts by the U.S. giant to win customers in the South Asian nation. The new offering makes it easier for […]
Crypto asset management platform Cobo bags $40M Series B
Cobo, a Singapore-based crypto asset management platform, raised a $40 million Series B to accelerate the development of decentralized finance as a service (DFaaS). The round was co-led by DST Global, A&T Capital and IMO Ventures. The company will use its proceeds for the development of DeFi as a service (DFaaS) infrastructure and its existing […]
India’s Oyo to file for $1 billion IPO
Indian budget hotel chain startup Oyo is looking to file for an initial public offering as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch, joining a handful of firms in the world’s second-largest market that are working to explore the public markets. The seven-year-old startup, founded by 27-year-old Ritesh Agarwal, is planning […]
The casualties of China’s education crackdown
Once the darlings of Wall Street and venture capital as recently as the beginning of this year, China’s edtech firms are now wondering if they will be able to remain solvent long enough to see the beginning of the next. In a series of sweeping regulations, the central government has taken a wrecking ball to […]
Fintech startup Tag valued at $100 million in Pakistan’s largest seed round
Tag, a one-year-old startup that offers banking and financial services to users in Pakistan, has raised over $12 million in what is now the largest seed financing round in the South Asian market. Liberty City Ventures, Canaan Partners, Addition, Mantis and Banana Capital and others financed the round, which brings YC-backed Tag’s to-date raise to […]