Asia news roundup: Uber quashes Grab rumor, Paytm launches credit score, and more

Photo credit: freestocks.org

Here are your top Asia tech stories this Friday.

Transportation

Despite sell-off rumor, Uber says it will “invest aggressively” in Southeast Asia (Asia Pacific). Rumors resurfaced earlier this week suggesting that Uber is preparing to sell its Southeast Asia business to regional rival Grab. But the US firm’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi contradicted those reports while speaking in New Delhi, “We expect to lose money in Southeast Asia and expect to invest aggressively in terms of marketing, subsidies, et cetera,” he said. “From a competitive standpoint we think we can improve.” (Reuters)

Mango Chuxing nets “tens of millions of renminbi” in pre-series A funding (China). The electric car sharing service will use the funds for fleet and city expansion, as well technology and operations upgrades. Wenxin Group led the round. (KrAsia)

Social media

Momo buys Tantan for US$601 million (China). Momo – which started life as a dating app, before moving into other areas such a livestreaming and social networking – will wholly acquire dating app Tantan. Momo’s chairman and CEO Yan Tang said that “Tantan’s product strategy that focuses on the customer experience of female users” had been one of the drivers behind the buyout. Tantan CEO Yu Wang said that the acquisition represents a “critical strategic upgrade to cover a greater range of user demographics and needs.” (Momo)

Photo credit: Tantan

Fintech

Paytm to introduce its own credit scoring system (India). The digital payments firm will assign a credit score to its users based on their online transactions history. The move is expected to help the company strengthen its lending credentials as it diversifies into offering loans and related services. (Inc42)

UEX raises US$1 million to strengthen its position in local insurance market (Singapore). The startup, which offers a tech-driven health insurance platform aimed at small businesses, will use the funds for technology and product development. The fresh investment came from French insurance broker Verspieren, which also backed UEX’s seed round. (DealStreetAsia)

Property and real estate

CoLive gets US$1.8 million in round led by Ncubate Capital Partners (India). The co-living space provider will use the funds to make hires, enhance its technology infrastructure, and expand its national presence, with the goal of offering one million managed homes in 25 cities across India. (Inc42)

Media and entertainment

Jocoos gets US$924,000 investment from KTB Network (South Korea). The startup has developed proprietary technology enabling instant video editing and data transmission, which can convert videos of various formats to playable forms on all mobile devices. (e27)

Delivery and logistics

Mober secures funding from logistics firm (The Philippines). On-demand same-day cargo delivery startup Mober nabbed investment from logistics company 2Go Group. The two have also entered into a strategic partnership which will see Mober providing its services to Philippine conglomerate SM and its various brands. (Mober Technology)

Energy and greentech

US$1.65 billion raised in Asia’s first sovereign green bond sale (Indonesia). The Indonesian government has become the first in Asia to raise capital by selling green bonds. The funds will be used to back environmentally-friendly investments in areas such as cleantech and renewable energy, in one of the world’s major emitters of greenhouse gases. The government has made a commitment that none of the funds raised would go to fossil-fuel based infrastructure, but did warn that some projects might still include “an element of deforestation.” (The Straits Times)

See: Previous Asia news roundups