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Hello readers,
If there’s one thing the pandemic has taught me, it’s adapting to uncertainty – whether to new working arrangements, the sudden loss of income, or something else. The recently concluded Tech in Asia Conference marked our first hybrid event – other businesses, too, have revisited their business models to maintain an edge.
In Vietnam, a “new retail” group called Ficus has been quietly making waves, and one Alibaba-backed fund is listening.
Today we look at,
- How this Vietnam retail group attracted an Alibaba-backed fund’s interest
- Why Tencent is backing a Chinese esports startup for US$100 million
- Other newsy highlights such as Reliance Retail’s plans to plow ahead in acquiring Future Group and Ant Group’s goal to raise a record US$34.5 billion in its dual IPO
PREMIUM SUMMARY
Alibaba-backed fund bets US$50 million on this “new retail” group
You may not have heard of Ficus, but an Alibaba-backed fund has. Ficus is a Vietnam-owned, Singapore-registered company which holds interests across retail, logistics, and technology ventures. It’s also a “new retail” group, a term coined by Jack Ma to describe how the online and offline shopping experience has merged for consumers. So why does this Alibaba-backed fund think the company holds such promise?
- A calculated venture: Ficus’ inception was far from a shot in the dark. The company is headed by chairman Anh Huan Dinh – the brains behind Vietnam’s leading electronics retailer Thegioididong (Mobile World) – and CEO Hoanh Tien Nguyen, who previously served as vice president of operations and ecommerce at VNG, Vietnam’s first unicorn.
- Smart money: Ficus’ estimated worth stands at US$370 million. And, according to filings seen by Tech in Asia, it recently bagged US$50 million courtesy of Redefine Capital Fund. The latter is the Singapore entity of EWTP Capital, an Alibaba- and Ant Financial-backed fund whose chief financial officer is Dawei Jiang. Jiang happens to also be a director at Ficus.
- Everything’s coming up Alibaba: The ties only get more complex: EWTP shares its name with eWTP (electronic world trading platform), an initiative proposed by Jack Ma in 2016 to hasten the inclusion of small enterprises in digital cross-border trade. EWTP Capital is chaired by Alibaba veteran Yongfu Yu, the founder of mobile internet browser company UCWeb.
Read more: Alibaba-backed fund bets $50m on Vietnam ‘new retail’ group
STARTUP SPOTLIGHT
Esports’ unstoppable growth in China
Winning that pitch game in the virtual world
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