Asia news roundup: Kakao Mobility gets $47m, Mobike to punish naughty riders

Photo credit: Mobike

Here are your Asia tech news highlights from the past few days, including an update on Mobike’s rider-behavior scoring system and rumors of a big new fund emerging from Indonesia.

Transportation

Kakao Mobility gets US$47 million injection (South Korea). The ride-hailing service sold a 3.07 percent stake in return for a joint investment by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, and the University of California Retirement Plan. The purchase is part of a wider deal that will see a TPG-led consortium acquire 30 percent of Kakao Mobility, a spin-off of messaging app Kakao. (The Korea Economic Daily)

Mobike to penalize badly behaved riders with higher fees (China). The bike-sharing firm has updated its credit scoring system, which awards points to users based on their behavior while using the service. Riders who abandon or damage cycles and end up in the lowest category (“poor”) could be charged up to 100 times the standard rental fees for a 30-minute ride – reaching as much as US$15.85 – while those in the next lowest category (“fair”) will be charged double. “Poor”- and “fair”-rated users will also be prevented from booking bikes in advance or purchasing money-saving monthly passes. (Technode)

Zhejiang plans 161-kilometer “smart highway” that drives and refuels your car (China). The highway linking the cities of Hangzhou and Ningbo will be six lanes wide, with a photovoltaic surface that can charge compatible electric vehicles driving on it. The road’s navigational and sensor technology will interface with that of self-driving cars to monitor and regulate their speed. The highway is slated to open in time for the 2022 Asian Games, which are being held in Hangzhou. (Technode)

Fintech

CoAssets reports 471 percent revenue growth and turns losses to profits (Singapore/Australia). The Sydney-listed crowdfunding and small- business lending platform released its H2 2017 results, reporting a 471 percent year-on-year growth in revenue. CoAssets also raked in about US$1.56 million in profit for the period, compared to a loss of around US$2.96 million a year ago, and reduced its operating expenses by 28 percent. Co-founder and CEO Getty Goh attributed the positive results to a transformation strategy the company adopted in late 2016, as well as an 88 percent increase in its user base over the six months ending December 31. (CoAssets)

Retail

Photo credit: piotrkt / 123RF

JD and Tencent acquire stakes in Better Life (China). Ecommerce firm JD purchased 5 percent of brick-and-mortar retailer Better Life for US$117 million, while internet giant Tencent paid US$140 million for 6 percent of the company. The investments follow their joint US$863 million backing of ecommerce player Vipshop in December. Tencent and JD have effectively joined forces on strategic investment in an effort to face down rival Alibaba. (TechCrunch)

Social media

ZCool gets Shutterstock investment (China). ZCool, a social network for designers and other creatives, secured US$15 million from US image editing and stock-photo provider Shutterstock. ZCool has been the exclusive distributor of Shutterstock’s creative content in China since 2014. (DealStreetAsia)

Big tech

Xiaomi and Microsoft extend partnership and agree to collaborate on AI, cloud, and hardware (China). The deal is the latest in several tie-ups between the two companies. Xiaomi agreed to test-run Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system on its devices back in 2015, while the US company transferred thousands of patents to its Beijing-based partner the following year, with a commitment to include certain Microsoft software products in its phones. (TechCrunch)

Investors, incubators, and accelerators

Team members from the latest 10 startups to join the 1337 Ventures portfolio / Photo credit: 1337 Ventures

1337 Ventures backs 10 startups through entrepreneurship program (Malaysia). The VC firm has invested in 10 startups from the Khazanah Nasional Entrepreneurship Outreach scheme, which is run by Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah. They are BESC, CTHhelp, Grub Cycle, Foodbike, Malaysian Aquaponics Research Center, Resermy, Save4Dream, Sync, Unwrappd, and Kravve.co. Each startup will receive just over US$5,100 in investment, as well as the option of US$15,000 in Amazon Web Services credits, US$20,000 Google Cloud and Firebase credits, or US$120,000 Microsoft Azure credits for cloud computing services. (1337 Ventures)