Overseas:

1. Saudi Aramco made $111 billion in 2018, topping Apple as the world’s most profitable company

2. BBC and Discovery team up on a new streaming service focused on factual programming

3. Facebook reveals how it ranks items in the news feed

4. Gmail turns 15, gets Smart Compose improvements and email scheduling

5. WordPress.com parent company launches work collaboration platform Happy Tools

6. Android security: 0.04% of downloads on Google Play in 2018 were ‘potentially harmful apps’

7. Pandora to test interactive voice ads later this year

8. ManoMano raises $125 million for its home improvement e-commerce platform

9. Intel Capital Announces $117M Worth of Investment Across 14 New ‘Disruptive’ Startups

10. German LinkedIn rival Xing is rebranding as ‘New Work,’ acquires recruitment platform Honeypot for up to $64M

11. NextGen Jane trying to detect endometriosis through ‘smart tampons’ just landed $9 million in Series A funding

12. U.S. family tracking app Life360 seeks investors for Australia IPO

13. German company Bragi sells off hardware business, will focus on licenses and software

14. Mailgun, an email API delivery service, changes hands again as Thoma Bravo buys majority stake

 

China:

1. Chinese Experts Showcase 6G Solutions World’s First 6G Summit in Finland

2. Self-driving cars traveled 150,000 kilometers in Beijing in 2018

3. Taobao doubles down on livestreaming with ambitious Taobao Live plan

4. Alibaba rolls out AI-powered rumor buster on April Fool’s Day

5. TikTok 抖音 recently officially launched the TopView advertisement

6. Mobike 摩拜单车 and Bluegogo 小蓝单车 double rates in Beijing in bid to stay afloat

7. China drone maker EHang 亿航 considers $200m private funding instead of US IPO

8. Enterprise Service Company 追一科技 Zhuiyi.ai Completes $41 Million C Series Financing

9. Tencent leads $16m Series C in US firm Academia.edu

10. Short video platform lagou.com 刷刷看 completed $10 million in angel round financing

 

Cross-border:

1. Salesforce chooses Singapore for its first Asia-based AI research centre

2. Bringing affiliate marketing and outsourced customer acquisition to Brazil nets Escale $22.6 million

 

Blockchain:

1. Blockchain-based fintech company Everex signs deal with Thailand-based Krungthai Bank and SHWE Bank from Myanmar

 

Emerging Market:

1. UOB accelerator to boost digitisation of Thai SMEs

2. Malaysia’s TheLorry nets $5.9m to ‘improve perceptions’ about truck driving

3. Vietnam-based startup Jio Health raises US$5m in Series A funding round

4. Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) company mobilityX introduces all-in-one transport app Zipster in Singapore

 

Cover picture credits from TechNode

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