Asia's tech news, weekly: August 1st 2023
Korean robotics, China's VLEO satellites, hydrogen in Australia, climate-tech in Singapore, Foxconn & Germany, Malaysia's MYStartup, India & defense-tech...
• Singapore: Silicon Box opens $2BN, 73,000-square metre advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility to focus on 'chiplets' tech
• India's Pravaig Dynamics inks MoU for left-hand drive EV manufacturing in Saudi Arabia, aiming for capacity of 1M vehicles focusing on Gulf, European and US markets
• Japan: SoftBank Group to form VJ with Symbotic supply chain services provider for major investment in AI-powered warehouses project, GreenBox Systems
• South Korea: Seoul unveils 'Comprehensive Plan for Fostering the Robot Industry in Seoul', investing $158M by 2026 to develop robotics services as strategic future industry, part-preparation for aging society
Australia’s Generative AI Opportunity: "...GAI could contribute as much as $115 billion a year to Australia's economy by 2030...improving existing industries and enabling the creation of new products and services."
• China Aerospace Science & Industry Corp plans very-low Earth orbit constellation of 192 satellites, providing info services every half hour, with expansion goal of 300 satellites
• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp to invest near $3BN in advanced packaging facility in north of the country, citing boom in AI and multi-chip components as reasoning
• Bank of India unveils Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi centres to boost startup activity, dovetailing with gov't promotion of entrepreneurship, with sights on opening another 9 centres inside 12 months
• South Korea's Lotte Home Shopping to intro 'virtual influencer' to SE Asia live commerce market, beginning with Thailand via Lazada partnership
• Australia Post looks to 'digital twin' of delivery network, seeing use of graph database tech to make real-time predictive and proactive decisions around service efficiency
• Thailand: LINE MAN Wongnai e-commerce platform to acquire FoodStory restaurant point-of-sales systems, aiming to provide merchant solutions to every restaurant segment in Thailand
• Hong Kong SAR and China regulators ink agreement on cross-border data flows in Guangdong-HK-Macao Greater Bay Area, under national data security management framework
• India: LeRemitt fintech startup raised $1.25M to enable secure, seamless cross-border money transfers, ensuring recipients have instant access to funds
India's AI-driven news-reading virtual humans: "With two chatbots established as TV presenters within 3 months, the speed of change driven by AI has taken even experts by surprise."
• Indonesia to set restrictions on sales of goods from digital marketplaces, curbing imports below $100 and potentially imposing permits requirements and tax payments like other small businesses
• Malaysia's MY EG gains regulatory approval for blockchain-based customs clearance and processing on trade flows between the Philippines and China
• India: Mobec launches EV charging-as-a-service portable charging network across India, providing on-demand doorstep services with a franchise business model
• Australia: Main Sequence Ventures, VC arm of gov't research agency, hits $450M first close on 3rd deep-tech focused fund, taking total under management to $1BN
• Vietnam: Gimo raises $12M Series A with earned-wage access and financial wellbeing solutions for underbanked workers
• Taiwan: Foxconn to take 50% stake in Germany's ZF Group axle system assembly unit in JV move towards greater auto and supply-chain opportunities and diversification
• Australia: East Kimberley Clean Energy Project to be country's first 100% renewable hydrogen and ammonia production hub, with first-of-kind partnership with traditional owners of land
• Malaysia: MYStartup Bootcamp 9-week program for first-time founders is open for applications until August 31st, delivered in partnership with Tech in Asia School
"..the US and most of its allies have already banned...Huawei from building 5G infrastructure... the next frontier of the US-China war is most certainly the 'next-generation' vehicles."
• Australia: 2nd offshore wind zone announced to support manufacturing and energy security in New South Wales, potentially generating 5GW renewable wind energy to power near 4.2M homes
• 3 Indian startups selected for the World Economic Forum Tech Pioneers 2023 Cohort, working in health-tech, climate-tech and 3D bio-printing
• Malaysia: TikTok Shop expands SEA e-commerce moves with Atome partnership, offering 'buy now, pay later' installment payments
• Hong Kong: Animoca Brands backs Hi, mobile banking and crypto exchange services provider, with $30M investment, seeing opportunity in Hi's NFT and personalization moves
• Singapore: Zuno Carbon climate-tech firm gains $2.5M with Veridis ESG management platform, providing auditable tracking of greenhouse gas emissions and AI-driven analysis
• India: Gov't rejects recently-rumored bid by China's BYD to build $1BN electric vehicles-focused factory, with national security concerns cited
• Taiwan's Foxconn and Analog Devices, US semiconductor developer, ink MOU to develop digital car cockpits and battery management system
• Hong Kong: Court rejects gov't attempt to ban broadcast or distribution of 'Glory to Hong Kong' protest song, online or in performance
CBDCs: "It would be a sad irony if digitizing central bank money to maintain its relevance undermines the very features that make it trustworthy..."
• India and the US in June established INDUS-X accelerator to strengthen defense tech collaboration and connections
• North Korean crypto-focused hackers infiltrated JumpCloud, cloud-based IT management services firm, aiming to use this single 'supply chain' hack to enter multiple crypto-related firms
• Australia: Gold Hydrogen to commence drilling on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula following detection of naturally-occurring hydrogen in soil samples
• South Korea: Seoul Metro Gov't unveils 'Try Everything 2023', a 3-day startup festival from September 13-15, aiming to boost overseas networks to facilitate Korean startups' global growth
• China: Foreign visitors can now pay Chinese retailers by linking overseas credit cards including Visa, Mastercard and Discover with WeChat Pay and Alipay, no longer requiring local bank account
• Australia: LLEAF opens solar lab to develop agri products with 'luminescent light-emitting agricultural film' for greenhouses, boosting growth and yields in challenging environments
• India: A brief intro to Dhaksha drone startup, backed by chemical maker Coromandel and aiming to help Indian farmers cope with labor shortages
• Taiwan: An intro to Phrozen 3D printing firm, its successes, challenges and opportunities
"In a technology-enabled world, opportunities for remote, large-scale foreign interference, espionage and sabotage —via internet and software updates—exist at a 'scale and reach that is unprecedented'."
• New Zealand's Computer Emergency Response Team to merge with Nat'l Cyber Security Centre to form single agency to provide advice and response on incidents across every threat level
• China: Central bank calls on financial sector to help fund tech research and M&A, latest bid to revive a private sector challenged by 2-year regulatory crackdown
• Philippines: Shell LiveWIRE 2023 unveils 11 community enterprises and tech startups selected for acceleration program
• Australia: A brief intro to the 12 startups selected for the Techstars Tech Central program in Sydney, working in women's health, construction, coding and more
"Vietnam asked international social media platforms to leverage [AI] to automatically detect and remove 'toxic' content, including offensive material, misinformation and anti-state narratives..."
In other news…
» Space Domain Awareness Challenge Pitch-off applications close August 18th, seeking startups using AI/ML with satellite data streams
» Agreement reached allowing Starlink satellite internet communications to be used by Ukraine, with Musk having no authority to disconnect the service
» "...42% of respondents believe that central banks should launch CBDCs... 34% disagreed and nearly one in four (24%) expressed no opinion. Only 13% said they had a strong understanding of CBDCs"
» Google's Waymo self-driving trucks firm reportedly to shift most capital, resources and talent to ride-hailing instead tho still maintaining Daimler Truck North America partnership
» Sequoia cuts crypto fund from $585M to $200M, alongside cutting 'ecosystem fund' which invests in other venture funds, from $900M to $450M, seen as response to broader startup downturn
» US to partner gov't of Panama to explore semiconductor supply chain under Int'l Tech Security & Innovation Fund, with possible later inclusion under CHIPS and Science Act
» "…we're updating our policy to open new ways to transact blockchain-based digital content within apps and games on Google Play...."
