Asia
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Peak XV’s Piyush Gupta is leaving firm to start own secondary-focused VC fund
Piyush Gupta, one of the operating leaders at Peak XV Partners, is leaving the firm at the end of this month to start his own fund, four people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. Gupta joined Peak XV, formerly known as Sequoia Capital India & SEA, in 2017, leading the influential venture firm’s strategic development…
Sachin Bansal’s fintech Navi seeks $2B valuation in its first major external fundraise
Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal is in talks to raise capital for his new startup, Indian fintech Navi. Bansal is talking to investors to raise at a valuation of around $2…
India’s electric two-wheeler startups surge to over 150 as government revs up EV push
The number of startups in India’s electric two-wheeler market has surged to over 150 from 54 in 2021, driven by government incentives to promote clean vehicles and cut oil imports,…
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Quick commerce is making fast inroads in India
Even as quick commerce is slowly fading in many markets and several heavily funded startups have folded shop in the past two years, India is emerging as a striking outlier where the model — of delivering items to customers in 10 to 20 minutes — appears to be working. India’s quick commerce market has witnessed…
The Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart is planning to enter the quick-commerce business, aimed at providing customers with the convenience of receiving their orders instantly after making their purchases, a source…
Camshaft disclosed in court filings this week that some $533 million it managed for Byju’s Alpha, a U.S. unit of Indian edtech group Byju’s, was transferred to another 100% and…
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‘Taiwan needs to find its own groove’: A plea to the next president
Once Lai Ching-te is inaugurated as Taiwan’s president in May, his administration will mark an unprecedented three terms of Democratic Progressive Party rule. His victory underscored the desire of voters to maintain the status quo, even as Taiwan continues to deal with the looming specter of China. Soon after he was elected in January, Lai…
Paytm wallet and FASTag products will cease to exist, Bernstein says
India’s central bank has extended the deadline for some business restrictions on Paytm’s Payments Bank to March 15 in “larger public interest,” dashing hopes of any major concessions but allowing…
Proton, the Swiss privacy-focused software maker, says it has received a notice of a “possible block” of Proton Mail in India after the service was used in sending bomb threats…
Peak XV, the venture capital firm that split from Sequoia Capital last year, is taking its portfolio companies from India, Southeast Asia and Australia on an “immersion” trip to Silicon…
Pakistan cuts off phone and internet services on election day
Pakistan has temporarily suspended mobile phone network and internet services across the country to combat any “possible threats,” a top ministry said, as the South Asian nation commences its national…
In the middle of a long funding winter, AC Ventures’ latest news will give Southeast Asian startups hope. The Jakarta, Indonesia–based venture firm announced today it has raised $210 million,…
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Taiwan’s president-elect faces growing challenges with its chip industry
Lai Ching-te, who won Taiwan’s presidential election last Saturday, will be facing a crossroads in the country’s technology industry when he takes office in May. Lai’s administration will be the third term of Democratic Progressive Party rule in Taiwan, and he is widely expected to continue the work of his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, when it…
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General Catalyst eyes VC deal in India push
General Catalyst, one of the largest U.S. venture capital firms, is in talks to acquire an India-focused VC as part of efforts to expand its presence in the fast-growing South Asian startup market, three sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The deal would allow General Catalyst to tap deeper into India’s vibrant technology scene…
IP analysis platform Patsnap launches CoPilot, its new AI assistant
Founded in 2007 to help IP and R&D professionals do their jobs more efficiently, Singapore-based Patsnap‘s first product was a global patent search database. Now it’s building out its suite…
Gravel gets funding from NEA to support Indonesia’s booming construction industry
Indonesia’s construction industry is growing quickly, driven by residential and industrial building, alongside infrastructure development plans by the government. Sourcing skilled labor is still a time-intensive process, however, and often…
Backed by East Ventures, Fr8Labs aims to digitize Asia’s logistics industry
In Western markets, freight forwarders are well into digitizing their operations, but the same doesn’t hold true in Southeast Asia, say the founders of Fr8Labs. The reasons for that include…
Inflow connects small fashion brands with manufacturers in Vietnam
Textiles and garments contribute 16% of Vietnam’s total GPD, but it’s challenging for small garment brands to take advantage of the country’s manufacturing prowess. Inflow is stepping into the gap,…
Singapore-based fintech YouTrip picks up $50M led by Lightspeed
YouTrip, a Singapore-based fintech that offers multicurrency wallet for consumers and business accounts with corporate cards for SMEs, has its eyes on growth throughout Southeast Asia after landing a Series…
Triple-A gets funding from Peak XV to help more businesses use crypto
Created by the founder of Thunes, global digital currency payments institution Triple-A wants to close the gap between traditional finance and blockchain-based payments with its white-label solutions for businesses. It…
Byju’s CFO Ajay Goel, who joined the edtech giant in April this year, has already resigned, the two said Tuesday, in the latest setback for the startup that is grappling…
Peak XV’s latest Surge batch is 77% AI and deep tech startups
AI and other deep technologies are the prevailing themes in the new early-stage cohort from Peak XV Partners, as the largest India and Southeast Asia-focused VC fund intensifies its search…
Poshmark to shut shop in India, Australia and UK in abrupt retreat from international markets
Poshmark is shutting down its international businesses — operations in India, Australia and the U.K. — as the social shopping marketplace shifts attention to “core markets,” the company informed customers.…
LeapFrog’s new fund to double down on financial and healthcare sectors in Africa and Asia
LeapFrog Investments, a private equity firm that is keen on the financial and healthcare sectors, plans to raise $1 billion for a new fund targeting businesses in “global growth markets,”…
10 Minute School aims to democratize education for Bangladeshi students
Access to education in Bangladesh is filled with inequalities, say the founders of edtech 10 Minute School. Many rural areas don’t have good learning centers and as a result, students…
YC says visa challenges hampering participation of international founders
The most recent cohort from Y Combinator features more than 200 startups. More than a record half of the S23 startups focus on AI applications, highlighting a dominant trend we…
USDC issuer Circle expands Asia focus in push to enter the region’s flourishing payments ecosystem
How can Asian businesses send and receive payments cheaper, faster and more securely? Circle thinks the answer may come from blockchain and stablecoins.
Institutional crypto adoption in Asia is growing as the US market remains a question mark
After multiple industry-changing events crippled the industry’s advancement last year, the positive shift is welcome, according to several industry players in the region.
Sending money across borders is filled with friction, like long wait times, high transaction costs and markups on currency exchange. A startup called Parallax wants to make the process faster…
ELSA, the English language learning platform, announced today it has raised $23 million in Series C funding. It also launched ELSA AI Tutor, which draws on years of speech recognition…
