“News,” courtesy of Toutiao / Photo credit: Tech in Asia
These were the region’s major tech stories today.
Media and entertainment
Edtech startup 17zuoye gets US$200 million in Toutiao-led round (China). Online parent-teacher collaboration platform 17zuoye claimed to have 50 million users across 80,000 Chinese primary and middle schools as of September 2016. Unicorn news aggregator app Toutiao led this latest funding round – 17zuoye’s first since its February 2015 series D raise. (KrAsia)
Meanwhile, Qu Toutiao (no relation) has raised US$100 million in run-up to IPO (China). Toutiao’s similarly named rival Qu Toutiao is reported to have secured the fresh funding in a round led by tech giant Tencent. Qu Toutiao is reportedly planning a US$3 billion IPO in the US later this year. Its news aggregator app allows users to earn small amounts of money by reading articles, watching video clips, and inviting friends to share and view content. (KrAsia)
Social media
Parenting network Healofy secures US$1 million seed financing (India). The startup has created a social network of moderated and verified doctors, childcare professionals, and parents to dispense advice and share insights with its user base. It will use this latest funding from Omidyar Network to fill leadership positions across its data, product, and tech teams, and to improve its platform through the introduction of Indian regional language support. (Inc42)
Fintech
AirAsia founder and group CEO Tony Fernandes speaking at the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) World Summit 2017 / Photo credit: WTTC
AirAsia makes digital payments play (Southeast Asia). The Malaysia-based budget airline officially launched it digital payments platform BigPay in Singapore today. AirAsia mogul Tony Fernandes said that the mobile wallet will eventually expand to offering remittances and lending services, with all of the airline’s flights migrating towards “cashless cabins” where BigPay will be the sole method of payment. (Tech in Asia)
PolicyPal raises US$20 million in ICO (Singapore). The insurtech startup reeled in ETH 23,809 – the equivalent of about US$20 million – in a private pre-sale and public tokensale, the latter of which sold out within 38 seconds. Holders will be able to use the tokens to participate in the running of the startup’s new PolicyPal Network ecosystem. PolicyPal is concurrently launching insurance products for the protection of cryptocurrency assets. (PolicyPal)
Ecommerce
ShareRing nets US$2.99 million seed funding (Australia). The Melbourne-based online marketplace for “sharing economy” businesses said it secured the capital from family-and-friend investors. ShareRing said it will use the money for app development, marketing, and to make hires. It aims to bring sharing economy-type businesses across a variety of industries under one roof, allowing users to request services on-demand and based on location. (ShareRing)
Transportation
Banopolis launches dockless bikes on campus (Indonesia). The Bandung-based bike-sharing startup will trial its service at the University of Indonesia’s campus in Depok, West Java, in partnership with the university, mobile network operator Telkomsel, and Chinese tech giant Huawei. Bike-sharing has been relatively slow to take off in Indonesia when compared to neighboring markets, in part because of the chaotic traffic and poor road infrastructure in many of the country’s main urban centers. Singapore-based oBike was the first foreign dockless bike service to enter Indonesia, launching services in Bali and Bandung earlier this year. (e27)
Editing by Eileen C. Ang
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