Asia news roundup: Meituan-Dianping buys Mobike, Amazon considers Flipkart bid, and more

Photo credit: Mobike

In today’s news, one of bike-sharing’s biggest companies gets bought, while two US retail giants could battle it out for an Indian unicorn.

Transportation

Meituan-Dianping buys Mobike for US$3.7 billion (China). Ecommerce and delivery firm Meituan has acquired the bike-sharing startup for US$2.7 billion in cash and equity, as well as taking on US$1 billion of its debt. Meituan has been focusing on expanding its transport business, including an investment in Indonesian ride-hailing startup Go-Jek earlier this year and launching a ride-hailing service last month. (Meituan-Dianping)

Youxia Motors completes series B fund at around US$795 million (China). The four-year-old electric vehicle company, now valued at approximately US$1.9 billion, announced the closing of its series B funding with 12 institutional investors including Qianhai Mergers and Acquisition Funds, China Fortune Ocean, and Huzhou Donghong, taking part. The company raised US$989 million in its series A funding at the end of 2017. The firm did not disclose how it would use this latest capital injection. (KrAsia)

Grab app goes down (Singapore/Malaysia). Between 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm last night, the ride-hailing firm’s mobile app experienced some downtime. Users could not open the app to book rides, while some drivers could not accept new rides because they were unable to close prior bookings. Users in Malaysia experienced similar issues. Grab issued a statement, citing an infrastructure problem. (The Straits Times)

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies

Monex Group said to offer Coincheck buyout (Japan). Online broker Monex has offered to buy Coincheck, a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, for several billion yen, according to Nikkei sources. Monex reportedly plans to independently manage and rebuild the exchange, which was hacked earlier this year, resulting in a total of US$530 million stolen from its digital vault. Rumors of the impending purchase spiked the price of bitcoin up 5 percent, according to data from Coindesk. (Nikkei Asian Review)

Line forms blockchain subsidiary called Unblock (Japan/South Korea). Line Plus, the mobile platform division of Japan’s chat goliath Line, is investing in blockchain education and research in South Korea. Under Line Plus, the newly formed Unblock will help South Korean digital currencies expand to Japan and Southeast Asia, the company said. It also floated the idea of creating its own virtual currency as a proxy for exchange in the future. Just last month, South Korean rival Kakao formed its own secondary blockchain firm called Ground X, based in Japan. (ZDNet)

Ecommerce

Amazon may make rival offer for Flipkart (India). The US giant could make a bid to buy India’s largest ecommerce firm Flipkart, according to rumors. An Amazon offer would represent a challenge to Walmart, which has reportedly made its own bid for the Indian unicorn. The US retailer has been negotiating with Flipkart to buy 55 percent of its shares, which could raise the value of the startup to US$21 billion. (Livemint)

Smart homes

Igloohome raises US$4 million series A (Singapore). Smart-lock maker Igloohome’s series A round was led by Insignia Ventures, the venture capital fund put together by former Sequoia partner Yinglan Tan. New investors Phillip Private Equity, X Capital Ventures, Kuok Meng Xiong of K3 Ventures, and prominent Singaporean investor Koh Boon Hwee also joined in, together with existing investor Wavemaker Partners. Since its first smart-lock product in 2016, Igloohome has secured over 30 distribution partners across 80 countries. With the fresh funding, Igloohome will invest in research and development, hiring, and developing smart access products for the hospitality industry. (Igloohome)

Energy and greentech

SensorFlow co-founders Saikrishnan Ranganathan (L) and Max Pagel (R) / Photo credit: SensorFlow

Sustainable energy startup SensorFlow secures seed funding (Singapore). SensorFlow, which develops energy management software, announced today a US$571,545 seed round led by Cocoon Capital. The funds will be used to automate energy control in clients’ buildings in Singapore, helping companies save on energy usage by regulating air-conditioning in response to occupancy, among other things. The island city has pledged to reduce energy emissions by 36 percent by 2030. (SensorFlow)

Media and entertainment

Catcha Group announces investment into Hitchbird (Malaysia). Kuala Lumpur-headquartered investment company Catcha announced that it led a seed investment into Hitchbird, a site that offers news, tips, and offers on wedding destinations and vendors across Asia. Catcha did not disclose the investment amount, but said in a statement that the funds will be used to expand Hitchbird’s business in the region. (Catcha Group)

Travel and hospitality

Court slaps heavy fines on two Airbnb renters (Singapore). A fine of US$45,800 was imposed on two men renting out their apartments for short-term stays through sites including Airbnb and Craigslist. The country has banned short-term rentals of under six months. Renters who wish to put their homes up on sites like Airbnb need permission to do so from the country’s Urban Redevelopment Authority. Airbnb said in a statement that it will continue to work with the Singaporean authorities to allow the fair use of home sharing. (Bloomberg)