Asia news roundup: Go-Jek plots IPO, Baidu buries the hatchet, and more

Photo credit: Go-Jek

Unicorn Go-Jek moves into its next phase, while Ofo, Kr Space, and Wellthy are among the startups to announce funding.

Transportation

Go-Jek considers Jakarta IPO (Indonesia). The ride-hailing and delivery firm’s president Andre Soelistyo told reporters that he had met with officials from the Indonesia Stock Exchange to discuss a potential listing on the market. Soelistyo also indicated a secondary listing elsewhere in the world may be on the cards, though the fact that Go-Jek is yet to appoint underwriters suggests details about the size of the IPO and a timeframe for the the process are still some way off. Reports have indicated that Go-Jek’s most recent funding round – reportedly backed by Google, JD, Tencent, Temasek, and BlackRock – was oversubscribed at US$1.5 billion, giving the company an estimated post-money valuation of US$5 billion. (Reuters)

Meanwhile, the company is pushing ahead with expansion beyond its home market (Indonesia/Vietnam). Go-Jek, which started out as a platform for hailing motorbike taxis, is reportedly on a recruitment drive in Vietnam – a country where there is almost one motorbike for every two people. Go-Jek chief technology officer Ajey Gore said in December that the firm would unveil its first service outside its native Indonesia in the Philippines early next year, with other Southeast Asian countries to follow later in 2018. (DealStreetAsia)

Ofo raises US$280 million more from Alibaba by mortgaging bikes (China). The bike-sharing platform raised around US$78.9 million from Shanghai Yunxin Venture Capital – an affiliate of Alibaba’s Ant Financial – last month by pledging 4,447,572 of its bicycles in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen as debt collateral. It secured more than US$200 million from Alibaba subsidiary Zhejiang Tmall Network in a separate pledge of its bikes later in February. (Asia Times)

There’s gold in them there bikes / Photo credit: walkingsky / 123RF

Baidu and JingChi appear to have buried the hatchet over self-driving car tech (China). Autonomous vehicle startup JingChi has joined Baidu’s open-source self-driving platform Apollo. The internet giant had earlier filed trade secret misappropriation suits against JingChi, which was founded by Wang Jin, the former head of Baidu’s in-house autonomous vehicle unit. Wang reportedly stepped down as JingChi CEO last week. (China Money Network)

Property and real estate

Kr Space gets US$94.6 million to grow co-working business (China). The shared workspace operator did not disclose the identity of its investors, but it claimed that the round was the largest in China’s co-working industry to date. It will use the funding to push forward with its commitment to offer 300,000 square meters of shared workspace in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore by the end of the year. Kr Space was originally launched as the incubator arm of tech news site 36Kr in 2014, before being spun out and raising series A funding in 2016. (Kr Space)

Life sciences

MedGenome nabs an extra US$10 million for series C raise (India). The genomics research and diagnostics startup secured the capital from HDFC, taking its total series C funding to US$40 million. Sequoia Capital and Sofina and Belgian investor Sofina led the round. MedGenome said it will use the funds to expand the clinical genomic testing market into India’s smaller cities and establish a presence in more of the country’s hospitals. (Inc42)

Social media

WeChat surpasses 1 billion users mark (China). The mobile messaging app now has more than 1 billion monthly active users worldwide, passing the milestone during the Lunar New Year festival. Pony Ma, CEO of WeChat owner Tencent, revealed the figures during an interview at this week’s annual session of the Chinese legislature. (Technode)

Health and well-being

Wellthy secures US$2.1 million seed funding (India). The Mumbai-based digital therapeutics startup said it would use the funding to improve its type II diabetes digital therapeutic service and develop solutions for other disease areas. Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) and Beenext led the round, with participation from GrowX Ventures, Currae Healthcare, and several high-net-worth individuals. (Inc42)

The LiveHealth team at their headquarters in Pune / Photo credit: LiveHealth

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