Lost – and found – in translation

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Hello reader,

Ohayou gozaimasu!

I had never been to Japan before I moved to Singapore. Well, one layover at the airport doesn’t count.

After relocating to the city-state, however, rave reviews from my peers convinced me to book a flight to Kyushu, Japan’s third-largest island.

Making reservations was challenging, though, because I didn’t speak Japanese. While booking our ryokan – a type of traditional Japanese inn – I had to switch between multiple tabs as I translated full web pages from Japanese to English, confirmed my reservation, and communicated our dietary restrictions.

When I was finally done, I closed my laptop and felt drained – I hadn’t even left!

That’s why this week’s acquisition of Japan’s Loco Partners by South Korea’s GoodChoice is interesting. Loco Partners operates Relux, a Japanese travel booking platform known for luxury hotels, resorts, and ryokans. This deal gives GoodChoice a stronger bridge between Korea and Japan – two places Singaporeans keep flying to every year, like it’s a personality trait.

You can find all other important investment deals from the last few days in our weekly funding news wrap-up.

Let’s dive into the biggest deals and M&As that have recently taken place.

— Lilian

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The biggest deals by market

🇮🇱 Decart is an efficiency-focused AI research lab building foundational real-time world and video models. Based in Israel, which is located in West Asia, the firm has bagged US$300 million in series B funding from Radical Ventures.

🇮🇳 Rapido is a platform where you can book bike rides through a mobile app. The Indian startup has raised US$240 million in series F money from Accel Partners, Prosus Ventures, and WestBridge Capital.

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M&As

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