Asia tech news, weekly: Sept 6
In this edition: India's metal supply chain platform; Indonesia's GOTO and crypto; Australia's tech hub ambitions; Singapore's fungi protein alternative; Meta Manila for NFT artists; and more...
For ongoing updates: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook & App
• India: Metalbook raises $5M seed funding with digital supply chain platform for the metals industry, building a global network of processing centres, online marketplace and cloud-based manufacturing platform
“…works with over 500 global metal manufacturers, dealers, and suppliers across the value chain and currently caters to over 350+ customers…”
• KPMG Australia and Stone & Chalk partner for Future Technology Program, providing 5 founders and their teams with support, connections, mentoring and more, and 12 months at a Stone & Chalk hub
• Taiwan's CTBC Bank partners Malaysia's Soft Space for tap-on-phone payments system for taxi fares in Taiwan using near-field communication tech
• Philippines: Open PHinance Challenge launches 8–week accelerator with 11 startups selected to work on a new wave of open finance products for the Philippines and SE Asia
• Indonesia: GoTo Gojek Tokopedia - GOTO - the country's largest tech firm, enters cryptocurrency space with purchase of Kripto Maksima Koin crypto exchange
• Forbes Asia 100 To Watch 2022: Asia-Pacific’s small companies and startups on the rise
• State-backed disinformation and propaganda networks found to be targeting Australian and US firms in key 'rare earths' metals industries the Chinese gov't seeks control over
“…the attacks are focusing on Lynas’ environmental record in Malaysia in an attempt to turn public opinion against a new plant it’s building in Texas with US gov’t funding.”
• Pakistan's PriceOye online shopping platform gains funding with focus on electronic items, using a brand reps-only managed marketplace model to minimize fraud
• Vietnam: Techfest Haiphong 2022 innovation week and startup festival set for September 27 to October 4
• Microsoft Korea introduces unveils new Microsoft Launcher startup program
• A brief intro to the 7 startups that presented at the recent SparkLabs Taiwan Demo Day, working on tech solutions in logistics, business decision-making, online retail and more
• Binance recently held a workshop for the Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia, aiming to 'deepen SERC officials’ understanding of the digital asset space'
• Tech Council of Australia published 'Turning Australia Into A Regional Tech Hub' report, outlining aims to compete with Singapore, China and Japan as a hub for Asia-Pacific
“2.3% of the world’s tech unicorns ($1Bn+ companies) have already been founded in Australia, even though our global share of GDP is just 1.6%…”
• Australia: e-Safety Commissioner pursues big tech with Meta, Apple and Microsoft directed to share their strategies for stamping out 'abuse material' on their platforms
• Google News Initiative Startups Boot Camp in Australia and New Zealand applications are open, seeking entrepreneurs in the news sector
• India: Skyroot Aerospace space-tech firm raised $51M with low earth orbit satellites focus, stepping into the international space launch market
• Philippines: Draper Startup House Manila launches Meta Manila as part of Artist Collective program for emerging Web3 artists
• Singapore: FathomX AI startup raises $1.6M in lead-up to Series A funding round, focusing on cancer detection in breast tissue
• Singapore: NTU Food Science & Tech develops fungi-based product as a healthier and even-greener alternative to plant-based proteins, cultivated using food waste and agricultural by-products
• India: Multi-billionaire head of Reliance Industries announces $25BN plan to launch 5G mobile internet in the country inside 2 months, and sights on budget 5G smartphone partnering with Google
“The second part of that [5G] plan will see two giants joining forces - Mr Ambani's Reliance and US technology giant Meta…”
• Episode 3 of 'A Skeptic's Guide to Crypto:' NFT Mania, a podcast from the Financial Times
• Indonesia: ARIA secures $5M with drone-based agriculture services ecoysystem, delivering product design, IoT development, asset management systems and more for farmers
• WasteX gains $525K to tackle problem of 3.5BN tons of agricultural processing waste, converting it to upgraded products with financial, operational and carbon benefits
• Taiwan's AESOP Technology raises $2.95M pre-A to address medical and billing errors, using AI to aid in diagnosis
• Malaysia: World Congress on Innovation & Technology 2022 set for 13-15 September in Penang, looking at 5G, smart city tech, blockchain, NFTs and more
• Microsoft discovers high-severity vulnerability in TikTok Android app, potentially allowing hackers to compromise users' accounts with just one click
• Singapore: Silence Laboratories closes $1.7M seed funding round with wide-angle focus on web3 cybersecurity
“Wallet cloning, browser wallet extension hacks, phished DEX and CEX websites are all compromised examples of bad authentication practices in Web3.”
• South Korea's Naver Z, operator of Zepeto metaverse, inks MOU with Thailand's telecoms and digital services provider True Corp for Thailand-driven metaverse ecosystem
• India looks to step up manufacturing value chain with high-stakes bid into semiconductors, packaging $10BN to attract manufacturers to establish plants and to encourage investment in related sectors
• Thailand: Securities and Exchange Commission rolls out new rules on cryptocurrency advertising, alongside mandating that details of advertising terms must also be given to regulators
• Development and geopolitics in Southeast Asia: A podcast discussion of how Southeast Asia's technology and development needs intersect with great power competition in the region
• Taiwan's Gogoro EV battery-swap ecosystem provider gains sandbox pilot scheme from Singapore transport authority, green-lighting use of electric scooters and installation of battery-swap infrastructure
ICYMI: In Case You Missed It
Wider-world tech news with Asia-Pac / Indo-Pac relevance, alongside meaningful points of reference in relevant fields.
» The geopolitical problems presented by artificial intelligence: "AI will not transform the rivalry between powers so much as it will transform the rivals themselves."
» California passes first-of-its-kind legislation to improve safety and privacy protections for children, limiting data collection and requiring product and algorithm assessment
» Inside a million-dollar Instagram verification scheme: "The scheme...illustrates how easily major social, search and music platforms can be exploited to create fake personas with real-world consequences..."
» Case study: Real Estate Tokenization in the UK - a brief look at the Land Registry proof-of-concept, demonstrating the ability of blockchain to boost transparency and cut costs in real estate, from ConsenSys
» Twitter tests 'edit' function for tweets, importantly keeping all edit history publicly available and not taking the original post out of the public domain
» 2022 Fi Global Startup Innovation Challenge opens for applications, seeking innovations in the food and beverage industry
» 2022 World Edtech Startup Challenge winner announced as parent firm of Lumii, education-tech built around interactive storytelling, learn-to-earn gaming, NFTs, DeFi and more
» SiMaAI preps for mass production next year with MLSoC chips - Machine Learning System on Chip - for use in industrial robotics, drones, security cameras, satellite imaging and eventually self-driving cars
» LastPass digital password manager hacked, with parts of the company's source code and other sensitive data taken, potentially affecting the firm's 25 million users
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