Asia news roundup: Alibaba in $16b logistics bet as Bill Gates goes a-milkin’

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Photo credit: Sam Churchill

SenseTime and Pine Labs scored big in their latest funding rounds, Alibaba promised to drive down logistics costs, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation backed a dairy industry tech startup.

Delivery and logistics

Alibaba commits US$15.6 billion to worldwide delivery (China). Alibaba founder and chairman Jack Ma said that Cainiao Network, the company’s logistics subsidiary, will invest the sum to “build the technical backbone for a smart logistics network aimed at improving delivery reach and efficiency.” Cainiao is aiming to extend 24-hour delivery to all of China, as well as 72-hour delivery from the country to the rest of the world. It is also hoping to push overall logistics costs down from 15 percent of China’s GDP to under 5 percent over the next few years. (Alibaba)

Artificial intelligence

SenseTime banks US$620 million just two months after previous funding (China). The unicorn, which develops facial recognition tech, secured the fresh investment in a Fidelity International-led “series C-plus” round. Hopu Capital, Silver Lake, and Tiger Global also participated in the raise, which is said to give SenseTime a post-money valuation of US$4.5 billion. The startup netted US$600 million in an Alibaba-led funding round in April. (Reuters)

Results from SenseTime’s face-clustering algorithm / Photo credit: SenseTime

Fintech

PayPal, Temasek pump US$125 million into Pine Labs (India). Payments giant PayPal and Singaporean sovereign fund Temasek have each picked up minority stakes in the startup, investing US$125 million between them. Pine Labs, which develops a cloud-based alternative to traditional point-of-sale systems, raised US$82 million in an Actis Capital-led round in March, giving it a reported post-money valuation of US$800 million. Sequoia Capital remains Pine’s biggest shareholder. (DealStreetAsia)

Agtech

Cow-milking platform gets US$14 million funding from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, others (India). Bangalore-based Stellapps – which provides internet-of-things based tech solutions for dairy farmers – raised the funds from investors including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and IndusAge Partners. It will use the capital to enhance its “farm optimization and monitoring” tech, including wearable devices for cattle that help farmers keep track of the health of their herds and the quantity and quality of milk they produce. (Inc42)

Enterprise software and services

PHI Integration gets seed backing (Indonesia). The South Tangerang-based startup, which provides data management and analytics software, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from East Ventures and Skystar Capital. It will use the fresh investment to hire more team members, marketing activities, and product development. PHI is also working with Skystar and Multimedia Nusantara University to build a data science online education platform, DQLab. (e27)

Ecommerce

Frontier Digital Ventures raises US$10.9 million (Malaysia). The network of regional online classifieds sites, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, raised the funds through “a fully underwritten institutional and retail entitlement offer.” Frontier – which has invested in real estate sites such as Myanmar’s iMyanmarHouse, Vietnam’s Propzy, and the Philippines’ Hoppler – said it will use the funds to increase its ownership stakes. The firm said it expects about half its portfolio companies to be cash flow breakeven in the next 18 months in light of its Q1 2018 financial results. (Frontier Digital Ventures)

Hanjie Wanda Square mall in Wuhan, China / Photo credit: Unstudio

Tencent and Wanda join forces to challenge Alibaba’s grip on omnichannel retail (China). Tech giant Tencent and real estate conglomerate Dalian Wanda are forming a joint venture aimed at boosting both firms’ presence in omnichannel retail. Wanda said the partnership will help it to update its network of shopping malls to include “smart stores” and other tech-based features. It will also benefit from WeChat traffic and Tencent subsidiary Gaopeng’s electronic fapiao (tax receipt) platform. Alibaba appears to have pulled ahead of rival Tencent in the retail stakes of late, opening a range of brick-and-mortar stores throughout the country. (China Money Network)

Travel and hospitality

Treebo Hotels acquires Events High (India). The online budget hotel brand has acquired events discovery platform Events High for an undisclosed sum. The purchase will help Treebo diversify its offering beyond hotel booking and management. Bangalore-based Treebo raised US$34 million in its series C round last August, which was led by Hong kong’s Ward Ferry Management and Karst Peak Capital. (Inc42)

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies

Social media

Investors, incubators, and accelerators