SEA
Monk’s Hill Ventures: Sometimes venture capital is not the right choice. This Southeast Asia-based venture capital firm invests in early-stage (Series A & Series B) tech companies. Its portfolio includes logistics and fulfillment company Ninjavan, online real estate platform ZipMatch, and cybersecurity company Horangi. (KrASIA)
Singtel’s Q1 profits fell by 6.6 per cent, in part due to adverse currency movements & competition hitting its affiliate income. It posted of only a net profit of S$832m for the three months ended in June amidst falling revenue. (Channel News Asia)
ClassPass deploys war chest for the Singapore fitness class booking apps market. The rivalry among fitness class booking apps just kicked up another notch. (Business Times)
China
SenseTime co-leads $199m round in videotech startup Moviebook. This Series D round was joined by PAC Partners, Chinese media group Oriental Pearl, Lang Sheng Investment amongst others. Moviebook focuses on video recognition, and online video technology. (Deal Street Asia)
China Tower, world’s largest IPO in two years, opens flat in Hong Kong debut after raising $6.9b. The muted IPO debut traded at HK$1.26, unchanged from its offer price, with the firm already pricing its shares at the lower end of its targeted range. (SCMP)
If you invested $1000 in Alibaba when it went public, the value of your investment would have increased by about as much as 90 per cent as of Aug 6, 2018, according to CNBC calculations. Its stock price has risen by 3.6 per cent this year, hitting highs in June. (CNBC)
Rest of Asia
Japan’s accounting startup free bags $60m funding, bringing the firm’s total funding to date to $155m. Investors of this round include the likes of LINE Corporation, MUFG Bank, LIFE CARD and several international institutional investors. (Deal Street Asia)
World
Tesla shares jump on reports that the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund has a $2b stake in the firm. The company’s short sellers lost about $1.3b in mark-to-market losses on Tuesday, according to S3’s head of predictive analytics. (CNBC)
Trading of Tesla shares got suspended, after Elon Musk’s tweet on the consideration of privatizing the company as it goes through a period of rapid growth and financial constraints. The disclosure initially raised the question if Musk was joking. (SCMP)
Snap’s shift towards a self-serve model for advertisers had paid off, according to the company. The company received a vote of confidence from a billionaire investor on Tuesday, amidst its first-ever drop in user numbers. (Reuters)
Match Inc earnings blast past estimates, thanks to the Tinder boost. The Tinder app is the growth engine for Match. Though the Tinder app is free, extra features would cost money. Match Inc’s shares rose about 9 per cent in extended trading. (SCMP)
The long road back to China for Facebook and Google. While Facebook was planning for a China innovation hub, Google was looking at launching a search and news app in China. (Tech In Asia)
Amazon launches curbside pickup at Whole Food Stores, the latest tactic to win over US grocery shoppers. The service is now available in Sacramento, California, and in Virginia Beach, Virginia. (Reuters)
Good News Bad News
Fiat currency is unlikely to be replaced by Bitcoin anytime soon, according to analysts. Regardless of which side of the spectrum you are on, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Bitcoin, even if it were to supplant fiat, it’s not going to do it anytime soon. (TNW)
