Asia's tech news, weekly: October 10th 2023
China's space station to grow, Japan's semiconductor moves, digital assets in Korea, lithium recycling in Australia, shipping container agri-tech, satellite water propulsion...
• Japan: Dutch semiconductor lithography equipment-maker ASML to establish Hokkaido office in Q4 2024, in part responding to gov't incentives
• Australia: Renewable Metals battery recycling firm closes $8M round to scale and commercialise environmentally friendlier, lower cost lithium-ion battery recycling tech
• China to expand Tiāngōng space station from 3 to 6 modules whilst expanding operational lifetime from 10 years to beyond 15, with sights on ISS retirement in 2030
• Malaysia Digital Economy Corp partners Acxyn web3 firm for metaverse initiative revolving around intellectual property
Semiconductors, AI & prefab: "The bulk of the facility can be preassembled, flat-packed and put in shipping containers so that the facilities can be built 'in 80% of the world'..."
• A 'Semi7' semiconductor supply chain alliance, one way to safeguard against technology risks in the Indo-Pacific
• South Korea: Busan unveils plan for digital assets exchange to tokenize assets including raw materials, precious metals, carbon and emissions certificates and IP rights
• Indonesia: Gojek launches commuter-focused GoRide Transit, allowing users to book multimodal trips spanning motorbikes and trains
• Malaysia: BoomGrow gains pre-A funding with 'Machine Farms', movable repurposed shipping containers growing pesticide-free vegetables to address urban food access
• South Korea: Samsung contract chip manufacturing arm gains Canada's Tenstorrent as artificial intelligence chip customer; Tenstorrent in part uses RISC-V chips built on open-source architecture
• Malaysia: MADCash fintech startup gains pre-A funding with zero-interest micro-funding for women entrepreneurs
• Japan to boost subsidies by up to $1.3BN for Micron Technology semiconductor chipmaker plant in Hiroshima Prefecture, in bid to further strengthen chip supply chain
• Australia: Eden Brew secured $25M Series A with world-first animal-free casein micelle, key ingredient required to emulate traditional dairy
"The sudden arrival of publicly and commercially available generative AI tools has forced a new set of ethical choices on media companies struggling to protect public trust while still experimenting with the tech..."
• Hong Kong: CMCC Global crypto-focused VC raised $100M for equity investments in early-stage blockchain startups across Asia, with particular focus on HK firms
• Japan: Nu Protein predicts sales of synthetic protein to artificial meat producers in 2025, using a process reducing production cost by near 90%
• Vietnam: Nomion unveils 'identification of things' concept, creating digital IDs for physical products for sale, using RFID and blockchain to present products in real and digital spaces
• A preview of what to expect from the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit, set for October 31st to November 2nd in Singapore
• Japan: EdgeCortix fabless semiconductor development and design firm completes $20M round, with specialization on processors for edge-based artificial intelligence
• China: Alibaba logistics arm, Cainiao Smart Logistics Network, heads for Hong Kong IPO, reportedly aiming to raise $1BN-$2BN
• Japan: Gov't to instal domestically-developed security software for ministry and agency computers in 2025 in bid to improve collection, analysis, and defense against cyberattacks
• South Korea: Gov't forms task force on online manipulation of public opinion following Asian Games soccer match support mimicking Korean users in support of opposing team
AI & Amazon: "...easy for bookspammers to release dozens of titles in a day using Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing system, which enables authors to self-publish ebooks and printed books."
• Australia: MatchBox Exchange, a shipping container marketplace, has been acquired by WiseTech Global logistics firm, with platform matching supply and demand for empty containers
• Japan: Pale Blue secures additional $7.5M funding with focus on water-based propulsion systems for small satellites
• South Korea: Doosan Robotics near doubles value on trading debut, raising $312M in South Korea's largest IPO this year with human labour-augmenting robotic 'arms'
• Japan's EX-Fusion and Australia's Electro Optic Systems partner to find laser solutions for space debris, aiming to track and destroy the smallest possible remnants
• Australia: Power pole-mounted EV chargers to be installed in Hawks Nest to trial feasibility of wider roll-out of kerbside charging points on poles across regional NSW
• Indonesia: An intro to Nafas, pollution-focused startup for CSR and ESG requirements with, currently, 180 ground-based sensors in locations across 15 cities
• Antler early-stage VC lands $60M for Australia II fund, with applications now open for Cohort 11
• Digital Media Asia 2023 Conference is set for October 19-20, running from Singapore with 2 tracks, the Digital Revenue Summit and the Technology Summit
"Beyond giants like Samsung and SK Hynix, 47 of the 117 Korea Fabless Industry Association members are headquartered in Pangyo Techno Valley. This region’s allure? An environment primed for semiconductor industry growth."
• Australia: SXSW Sydney is this month, 15th-22nd - here's an intro to the startup-related sessions, courtesy of SmartCompany
• Cambodia: AirAsia Cambodia partners the Kingdom's Oriental Bank digital banking institution with payment solutions for flight bookings and in-flight payments
• Singapore: Australia's Seek employment platform launches JobStreet Express for employers to find 'semi-skilled' workers, building on success of the platform in Indonesia
• A quick overview of the 2023 Startup Arena Pitch Battle, a key part of the Tech in Asia Conference, set for October 18-19
In wider-world technology news:
» US Federal Communications Commission issued its first fine for space debris, ordering TV firm Dish to pay $150K for failing to move a satellite into a safe orbit
» Abu Dhabi's Distributed Technologies Research Limited decentralised finance firm launches UAE dirham-backed stablecoin, the DRAM
» Telegram moves towards WeChat-style super app and mini-app ecosystem with cloud infrastructure provided by WeChat's owner, Tencent
» Visa launches $100M generative AI ventures initiative, aiming to develop applications for the future of commerce and payments
» Napster old-school music sharing platform preps rebirth with cryptocurrencies and virtual merchandise running on Algorand tech
» Pyxis Ocean cargo ship commences WindWings sails test, each 10-stories in height, aiming to cut CO2 emissions by as much as 30% simply by using wind-power
» US NSA and CISA Red and Blue Teams share the top 10 cybersecurity misconfigurations they encounter in large organizations
» Atomo Coffee has raised $51.6M with 'beanless' coffee, using superfoods and upcycled ingredients to mimic coffee's molecular structure produced with 93% fewer emissions and 94% less water
» AWS Women's Demo Week global event to connect women-led startups with investors is set for November 6-10
Watermarks to identify AI-generated images? "We don’t have any reliable watermarking at this point... We broke all of them."
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