The Latest from Rita Liao
Tencent once more seeks to expand its mobile hit Honor of Kings globally
Honor of Kings, the world’s largest mobile game made by China’s internet behemoth Tencent, is rolling out a global version by the end of this year. That’s according to a tweet by Lev
Three-quarters of Asia’s wealthy investors will own digital assets by 2022
Seventy-three percent of “affluent” investors in Asia intend to hold some form of digital assets by the end of 2022, according to a new report from consulting firm Accenture. It’s un
Hong Kong’s AI drug discovery firm Insilico closes $60M Series D
Insilico Medicine, a Hong Kong-based company that has been using artificial intelligence to discover new drugs since 2014, has completed a fresh round of funding. It’s a sign that certain invest
New York-based Digital Asset to help Japan’s financial giant SBI develop ‘smart yen’
SBI Holdings, a Japanese securities and banking giant that launched a crypto-asset fund for retail investors last year, has been actively investing in the infrastructure that will allow it to roll out
Indonesia’s Astro raises $60M to work on 15-minute grocery delivery
Indonesia’s sprawling archipelago has long been a headache for logistics companies, but there’s no lack of brave challengers. Jarkata-based Astro, which provides 15-minute grocery delivery
FlexID gets Algorand funding to offer self-sovereign IDs to Africa’s unbanked
Much of the world’s attention around blockchain is on the highs and lows of cryptocurrency values. Startups like FlexID remind us that distributed ledger technology has the potential to play oth
Crypto asset manager Babel Finance reaches $2B valuation
Despite recent swings in cryptocurrency values, many institutional investors appear undeterred. The growth of Babel Finance, which offers a suite of institution-facing crypto financial products, could
Airbnb China closes domestic unit to cut costs as it bets on border reopening
Airbnb will terminate its domestic business in China, marking the partial retreat of another Western tech giant from the country. Like most of its peers, the home sharing titan is shifting its focus t
Metaverse app BUD raises another $37M, plans to launch NFTs
BUD, a nascent app taking a shot at creating a metaverse for Gen Z to play and interact with each other, has raised another round of funding in three months. The Singapore-based startup told TechCrunc
‘Move-to-earn’ Solana app StepN is latest crypto gaming craze
Since its launch in December, StepN, an app that lets users walk and run to earn tokens, has quickly become a household name in the play-to-earn blockchain gaming, or GameFi, world. Two to three milli
Terra creator Do Kwon faces prosecution in South Korea
Do Kwon, the creator of the stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and its sister token Luna, is facing legal prosecution in South Korea over the collapse of the two coins that wiped out billions of dollars from i
CyberConnect raises $15M Series A to put data back in the hands of users
One of the promises made by web3 entrepreneurs is putting data back in the hands of owners through decentralization. Palo Alto-based CyberConnect is among a handful of blockchain startups working to f
ZMO.ai secures $8M led by Hillhouse to create AI generated fashion models
With breakthroughs in machine learning, it’s no longer uncommon to see algorithmically generated bodies that can move and talk authentically like real humans. The question is now down to whether
South Korea’s new pro-crypto president gets pushback
One of the pledges Yoon Suk-yeol made to his voters was to implement a set of crypto-friendly policies in South Korea. Yoon, who won the presidency in March and came into office this month, said he wo
Valued at $50M, Body404 wants to bring Chinese indie brands to the world
Over the past few years, Shein has taken over online fast fashion by exporting affordable wear from China to customers around the globe. Its success has attracted a wave of imitators, but a startup ca
Synergies raises $12M to give factory managers an AI analytics assistant
There’s no lack of startups around the world trying to make industrial activities more efficient with artificial intelligence. Some invent robots to assist or replace manual labor, while others
Crypto forensics startup Chainalysis raises $170M at $8.6B valuation
Chainalysis, a startup that provides crypto investigation and compliance services, has secured $170 million in a Series F funding round led by GIC, a sovereign wealth fund of Singapore. The company, w
China’s internet users are paying close attention to the crypto crash
While China has banned cryptocurrency trading, its people remain interested in the ups and downs of the crypto market, not least because many of them have found workarounds and continue to buy and sel
China’s EV darling Nio turns to Hong Kong and Singapore amid US delisting risk
Nio, an electric vehicle upstart from China, is planning to list its shares in Singapore, which will make the city-state the third base where it trades as geopolitical tensions between China and the U
China’s gaming giant NetEase opens first US studio in Austin
NetEase, the second-largest gaming company in China and the sixth-largest in the world, has opened its first U.S.-based studio in Austin as China’s gaming industry slows. The company’s arc