It ain’t easy for Oyo and its partners

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Hello readers,

Oyo has furloughed staff once more – 400 employees from its Indonesia office.

While this isn’t the first time, what’s interesting is that the startup has also made a mini pivot in its business model (🔒) which has seen pushback from its partners. 👀

Your quick bytes for today:

📚 Kuaidian: An app that allows you to read alternative novels and watch drama videos has raised nearly US$100 million in a Sequoia-led round.

🐜. Alibaba’s Ant Financial is planning a Hong Kong IPO and is targeting a valuation of over US$200 billion.

✈️ Indonesia-based travel startup Traveloka is said to be raising fresh funds at a lower valuation — roughly 17% less.

🇨🇳 China’s ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is going to start testing the country’s digital currency as a payment method on its platform — making this the first real-world application of the electronic version of the yuan.

💳 Indian digital payment firm Paytm launched a business platform for its users that looks a lot like WeChat’s mini programs.

🌏 China’s biggest LGBTQ platform BlueCity has its eyes set on Asia after making its Nasdaq debut.

Hotel chain startup does a mini pivot

Over $2.5B raised but it isn’t enough.

Being a founder of any startup during this pandemic is tough – not unless you’re the CEO of Zoom. But if you’re in the travel or hospitality industry, that’s a whole new ballgame. For Oyo and its partners, for instance, the going ain’t easy..

This startup makes software testing as easy as ABC