Asia news roundup: Electrify in $30m ICO, fengshui upset at Zen, and bankruptcy for SixCap

The Tuple Tech team / Photo credit: Tuple Tech

Electrify, RateX, Soho, and Tuple Tech were among the Singapore-based startups to announce funding today.

Energy and greentech

Electrify raises US$30 million in token sale (Singapore). The startup is developing a blockchain-based marketplace for household energy supply deals, in the run-up to the liberalization of Singapore’s energy market next month. Electrify said that prospective token buyers pledged the equivalent of US$1.3 billion during its ICO. (Tech in Asia)

Fintech

SixCapital applies for liquidation owing creditors US$143 million (Singapore). The startup’s sole owner Patrick Teng filed for voluntary liquidation in the British Virgin Islands, where it is incorporated. SixCapital claimed to have developed automated currency trading technology that could generate returns of up to 18 percent. But investors filed police complaints against the startup last December, saying it had stopped making payouts in June and that its bank accounts had been suspended. Over 200 investors and their proxies swarmed the Singapore office of accountancy firm Baker Tilly, SixCapital’s preffered liquidator, yesterday in an effort to stake creditors’ claims. (The Straits Times)

RateX nets US$2.3 million for app launch and regional expansion (Singapore). RateX is a web browser extension that provides shoppers with the lowest exchange rate for cross-border purchases they make through ecommerce portals. The pre-series A investment came from Alpha JWC Ventures, Insignia Ventures Partners, and several other backers. RateX said it will use the funds to launch its mobile app in Singapore and Taiwan this month and expand into Taiwan and Indonesia later in the year. (RateX)

Property and real estate

“LinkedIn for property” Soho raises US$1.3 million (Singapore). The startup allows owners and agents to create free online profiles for their properties, where they can entertain bids, store financial and transactional documents, and chat with tenants and property managers. Australia’s Bridgelane Capital led the round. Soho will use the funds for recruitment, with the aim of doubling its software development team. Founder Jonathan Lui said that he started Soho because he thinks the pay-to-list classifieds model for marketing properties will phase out over the next five years, leading to “significant changes to the online property searching experience.” (Soho)

Artificial intelligence

US$1 million seed funding for Tuple Tech (Singapore). The startup uses AI tech to help enterprises handle data analytics, sales and marketing, and product development. The seed capital came as a private investment from Johnson Chng, partner and managing director at Silk Road Finance Corporation, along with several other individuals. Tuple Tech will use the funds to hire new talent. (Tuple Tech)

Media and entertainment

Beam secures undisclosed investment from SOSV and Artesian (Malaysia). Beam is an events management and “online business connector” platform focused on early-stage companies. It will use the funds to expand its presence in China and Taiwan, with a goal of exceeding 500,000 users and US$3 million revenue by the end of this year. Angel investors also joined the round; previous backers include TBV Capital and Amperor Group. (Beam)

Big tech

US government signals national security concerns over Broadcom’s Qualcomm bid (Singapore/US). Singapore-headquartered chipmaker Broadcom’s US$117 billion offer to take over US rival Qualcomm has come under the scrutiny of the US government’s Committee of Foreign Investment in the US. The inter-agency CFIUS rarely looks at deals before parties have reached agreement, but the panel said it will conduct a deeper review of Broadcom’s bid – which has been repeatedly rebuffed by Qualcomm – to investigate the potential risk of an unnamed actor working through Broadcom to hurt US national security. (Reuters)

Alibaba and NetEase enter content-sharing pact (China). Alibaba’s Ali Music Group and NetEase Music, two of the country’s largest music streaming services after Tencent’s dominant TME, have agreed to share their copyrighted content catalogs, allowing each to host content licensed by the other. This follows similar cross-licensing deals between that each company signed with TME, helping to bring to an end expensive copyright disputes between the competitors. (Technode)

SoftBank and Haier collaborate to bring Pepper to life (China/Japan). Haier, the world’s largest maker of household appliances, is teaming up with SoftBank’s robotics unit to develop robots for use in smart stores and smart homes. Among other projects, the two firms will jointly develop a version of SoftBank’s iconic humanoid robot Pepper that will be integrated with Haier’s smart home software platform. (China Money Network)

See: Previous Asia tech news roundups

This post Asia news roundup: Electrify in $30m ICO, fengshui upset at Zen, and bankruptcy for SixCap appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Tech in Asia https://www.techinasia.com/apac-news-07-03-2018
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