CHINA:
1. China to pump USD 1.6 trillion into tech infrastructure through 2025
2. Shenzhen Launches Third Round of Digital Currency Pilot Testing, Issuing 20M E-Yuan
3. Chinese EV giant BYD seeks US$3.9 billion from Hong Kong stock placement
4. Chinese esports player VSPN closes $60M Series B+ round to boost its international strategy
5. Chinese personal care brand Make Essense bags $23m in series B round
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MOBILE-ONLY MARKETS:
1. TNG Digital, a Malaysian e-wallet operator owned by CIMB Group and China’s Ant Group, eyes $150m
2.South African startup Aerobotics raises $17M to scale its AI-for-agriculture platform
3. Consumer brand focused VC Fireside Ventures closes its second fund at USD 118 million
4. Indian healthtech firm Pharmarack to raise $13.7m by February
5. India: TikTok alternative Bolo Indya in talks to raise up to $7m
6. Indian venture debt firm BlackSoil pours $2.7m into furniture rental firm Furlenco
7. Indian game-streaming startup bags $1.6m in Elevation-led seed round
8. Enterprise HR-tech platform DarwinBox bags US$15M led by Salesforce Ventures for SEA expansion
9. Legal-tech startup Lupl raises US$14M, signs MoU with Singapore’s Ministry of Law
10. Gojek, Tokopedia explore holding company structure as merger talks move forward
11. Indonesian aquaculture startup eFishery appoints former GoPay CEO as commissioner
CROSS-BORDER:
1. Tesla Model 3 reportedly explodes in Shanghai parking garage
2. Google says it will shut search engine in Australia if forced to pay for news
3. PlayVS acquires GameSeta to accelerate expansion into Canada
4. Chinese vaping firm RLX raises $1.4b in US IPO
OVERSEAS
1. Alphabet shutting down Loon, which used balloon alternative to cell towers
2. Apple might be working on a VR headset
3. Spotify announces an exclusive podcast deal with filmmaker Ava DuVernay
4. Toyota-backed air taxi startup Joby explores deal to go public through SPAC merger
5. TripActions Nabs $155M For Travel Management
6. Elon Musk to offer $100 million prize for ‘best’ carbon capture tech
7. Soci raises $80M for its localized marketing platform
8. Omnipresent raises $15.8M Series A for its platform to employ remote-workers globally
9. Valtix Lands Investment $12.5m From Cisco Investments And TSG To Secure Cloud
10. Bear Flag Robotics Lands $7.9M Seed Extension To Make Self-driving Tractors
11. Creative Fabrica, a platform for digital crafting resources, lands $7 million Series A
12. Cloud infrastructure startup CloudNatix gets $4.5 million seed round led by DNX Ventures
13. Financial forecasting startup Springbox AI launches its apps and raises $2M
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