In brief: China’s answer to Tesla valued at nearly $4b in latest funding round

Photo credit: Xpeng

Tesla’s local rival pockets US$587 million in investment (China). The Alibaba-backed electric vehicle startup secured the funding in a round led by Primavera Capital Group, with Hillhouse Capital Group, Morningside Venture Capital, and Xpeng’s chief executive officer joining in. The fresh funds catapult Xpeng’s valuation to US$3.66 billion and will fuel its battery development in a face-off with US competitor Tesla. (Reuters)

Other news

Ryde gets green light to introduce surged prices (Singapore). Grab rival Ryde has received approval from the Land Transport Authority to let taxi drivers on its platform charge dynamic fees, a capacity that Grab already enjoys in the nation-state. The ride-hailer is on course to nab another permit from the Public Transport Council before fully rolling out by September. It says the new feature could add 7,000 taxi drivers to its current 20,000-driver fleet. (Ryde)

Hedera Hashgraph banks US$100 million and eyes Asia expansion (Singapore). The US-based distributed public ledger platform will use the capital from institutional investors and high-worth individuals to complete developing and launching its network. The firm is also opening its Asian headquarters in Singapore, upon which it will expand to Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, and more. (Hedera Hashgraph)

Pulsifi draws in US$1.1 million in angel round (Singapore). Participating investors included Chi Sieng Tiong, former Kelly Services executive; Chieh Suang Khor, Cento Ventures’ principal; and Lon Wong, founder of ProximaX. The software-as-a-service company provides human resources solutions to enterprises and will use the new financing to beef up its predictive models. (Pulsifi)

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