CHINA:
1. China to hand out $6.2 million in digital currency to Beijing residents as part of trial
2. Ant Group consumer finance unit in Chongqing wins operating approval
3. Huawei to bring in-house HarmonyOS to smartphones
4. Tencent sued by Chinese children’s rights NGO for its Honor of Kings game
5. Tencent Unveils Wheel-legged Robot Ollie
8. Yunfeng Capital-backed AI chip startup Horizon considers a $1b US listing
9. China’s self-driving tech firm ZongMu Tech nets $190m from Xiaomi, Denso, others
10. Sequoia China co-leads $188m round in Covid vaccine developer Stemirna
11. Tencent-backed esports major VSPN nets series B2 funding from Morgan Stanley
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MOBILE-ONLY MARKETS:
1. Indonesian healthtech startup Prixa secures $3m from Telkom’s MDI Ventures
2. Indonesian smart-city firm Qlue raises funding from Japan’s KDDI
3. Indonesian edtech firm GoKampus that helps students attend college secures funding
4. Indonesian P2P lender Amartha raises $7.5m from Norway wealth fund
5. Indian gig marketplace Urban Company raises $255m, enters unicorn club
6. Flipkart co-founder’s consulting startup Xt010x acquires Indian HR SaaS firm Dockabl
7. Indian adtech unicorn InMobi in talks to acquire social commerce startup Shop101
8. Sequoia India leads $16m round of browser testing platform LambdaTest
9. Indian music learning startup Spardha banks funding from Inflection Point Ventures
10. Egreens launches $2.1m fund for early-stage agritech startups in India
11. Tokopedia, Sea Group ranked among top retail firms in SEA by GMV in 2020
12. Payments network Rapyd launches VC arm to invest in growth-stage businesses
13. Singapore VC firm iGlobe Partners raises $100m in final close of third fund
14. Razer eyes entry into cryptocurrency space
15. Singaporean AI startup Sqreem acquires programmatic ad solutions firm Gamma SSP
16. VC firm launches $25m fund Good Startup for alternative protein startups in Southeast Asia
17. Philippine healthtech startup Zennya banks $1.2m from Day One Capital, others
CROSS-BORDER:
1. UK-based fintech firm Wise launches service that lets Indian users send money abroad
2. Opontia raises $20M to roll up e-commerce brands in Africa and the Middle East
3. TikTok launches initiative to support small and medium-sized businesses in SEA
4. Singapore’s GIC leads $50m round of Indian logistics management startup Locus
5. SoftBank Vision Fund may deploy over $4b in Indian tech bets this year
6. CVC Capital Partners invests in Japanese streetwear brand A Bathing Ape
7. American VC firm Kleiner Perkins leads $17m funding in Pakistani B2B marketplace Tajir
OVERSEAS:
1. Apple says consumers and advertisers spent more than $600 billion through apps last year
2. Twitter begins rolling out subscription product to undo tweets, customize app
3. Alphabet’s Waymo partners with Google Maps to offer autonomous rides
4. Looking To Go Long On Deep Tech, Lux Capital Announces Nearly $1.5B In New Funds
5. Cybersecurity company SentinelOne files to go public with 108% revenue growth year-over-year
6. Fashion rental provider Rent the Runway said to prep for 2021 IPO
7. 7-Eleven to install 500 EV charging stations by the end of 2022
8. Software start-up Celonis quadruples valuation to $11 billion in new funding round
9. Guild Education reaches $3.7 billion valuation amid labor shortage
10. Stack Overflow, the legendary Q&A webiste for programmers, acquired by Prosus for $1.8 billion
11. Etsy is buying Gen Z-focused fashion resale app Depop for $1.62 billion
12. Blackstone acquires tech publisher IDG for $1.3B, as private equity strikes again
13. FireEye is selling its products business and name for $1.2 billion
14. FlixMobility raises $650M+ at a $3B valuation to double down on buses and other transport in the US
15. CDK Global buys vehicle the e-commerce platform Roadster for $360 million
16. Rebranded Toyota Ventures invests $300 million in emerging tech and carbon neutrality
18. Home services platform Urban Company raises $255 million at $2.1 billion valuation
19. The revenue intelligence startup Gong going gangbusters, grabs $250M Series E on $7.25B valuation
20. Digital investing platform Yieldstreet Raises $100M, Eyes Public Markets
21. LeoLabs raises $65M Series B for its satellite monitoring and collision detection service
22. Venn, a social networking and services platform for hyperlocal neighborhood groups, raises $60M
23. One Concern raises $45M from SOMPO to scale its disaster resilience platform across Japan
24. Synctera Aims $33M Series A At Developing Banking-as-a-Service
25. Realtime Robotics raises a $31M Series A
26. Andreessen-Backed Shef Lands $20M Series A To Cook Up Local Food Platform
27. DealHub raises $20M Series B for its sales platform
28. Bobbie Bags $15M Series A To Create A Better Baby Formula
29. Vetro Raises $12M As Broadband Industry Sees ‘Unprecedented’ Investment
30. Ganaz raises $7M A round to rethink how agriculture workers get hired and paid
31. OroraTech’s space-based early wildfire warnings spark $7M investment
Image Credits: CNBC