Asia tech news roundup – Oct 26

Snapcart’s founders. Photo credit: Snapcart.

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Snapcart, Jirnexu, and Althea take home funding; Grab tries its hand at a membership model; and SoftBank’s Son says the Vision Fund is going swimmingly. Here are some of today’s top tech news highlights from the region…

nData analyticsn

Snapcart snaps up US$10 million in series A fundraise (Indonesia). The startup – which collects and sells offline consumer data from photos of receipts submitted by shoppers – will use the funding to expand into new markets. Vickers Venture Partners led the round with participation from Social Capital, SPH Ventures, and Wavemaker Partners, among others. (Tech in Asia)

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The Jirnexu team. Photo credit: Jirnexu.

US$2 million series B backing for Jirnexu (Malaysia). The Kuala Lumpur-based company scored funding from Japan’s SBI Group, Indonesia’s Celebes Artha Ventura, and Singapore’s Cento Ventures. The capital injection will help it consolidate its position in Malaysia and develop new products and services. (Tech in Asia)

Central bank appoints first-ever “chief cyber security officer” (Singapore). Tan Yeow Seng, executive director of technology risk and payments at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), will become the agency’s first “chief cyber security officer.” He’ll hold the two roles concurrently, and will be responsible for setting and implementing security standards. (Tech in Asia)

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Althea’s co-founders. Photo credit: Althea.

Althea raises US$7 million in a series B round (South Korea). The funding came from FirstFloor Capital, Korea Development Bank, Bridges Alliance Partners, Innoven Capital, and Tekton Ventures. The “K-wave”-influenced online cosmetics store said that the investment will be used to grow its private-label product lines and expand its reach worldwide. (Tech in Asia)

nTransportationn

Grab tests out membership model (Singapore). The e-hailer is trialing FareLock Pass, which guarantees fares free of share pricing for riders that pay a US$37 monthly fee. It’s Grab’s latest ploy to retain users in the face of fierce competition from Uber, Go-Jek, and licensed taxi firms. (Tech in Asia)

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Photo credit: kasinv / 123RF.

Line hemorrhaging users in Southeast Asia (Japan). The messaging app lost two million users across Indonesia, Taiwan, and Thailand – its three most important markets after Japan – during the three months ending September. Profits were also down for the quarter, while revenue climbed 18 percent. (Tech in Asia)

Sea shares fall below debut price (Singapore). Shares in the Singapore-based internet group – which floated on the New York Stock Exchange last Friday – fell for the third day in a row on Wednesday, dropping below their IPO price of US$15 for the first time and closing at US$13.73. Last week, the IPO’s underwriters were bullish, activating an option to sell more shares than initially planned and upping the asking price from US$14. (Bloomberg)

nSoftwaren

ShieldSquare closes series A round (India). Endiya Partners and RPG Ventures led the investment in the “bot mitigation” startup, with Anthill Ventures, Startupxseed, and Venture Highway also joining in. (DealStreetAsia)

nInvestors, accelerators, and incubatorsnn

Masayoshi Son at SoftBank World 2016. Photo credit: SoftBank.

Son reveals early figures on Vision Fund returns (Japan). SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has said that his company’s US$100 billion Vision Fund – the largest tech VC fund ever raised – has already reeled in US$3 billion in profit, with a 22 percent return on investment over the past five months. Son was speaking at a conference hosted by Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund PIF, which is the Vision Fund’s biggest investor. (Recode)

Executive appointments at Tryb (Singapore). Fintech investor and venture builder Tryb has unveiled Lien Choong Luen – previously a consultant with McKinsey – as its new COO. Former COFCO and BP exec Jason Strimpel is also joining the firm as head of platforms. (Tryb)