The Great British Space Age has begun.
Source: CNET
Logistics on-demand service GoGoVan became Hong Kong’s first billion-dollar startup via a merger last year, and now is doubling down on growth after raising $250 million in new capital.
The new round was led by InnoVision Capital, with participation from the Russia-China Investment Fund, Hongrun Capital and Qianhai Fund of Funds. Two other notable investors include Alibaba’s Cainiao logistics subsidiary — Alibaba is already an investor via its Hong Kong entrepreneurship fund — and 58 Daojia Group, the parent of the ’58 Suyun’ business that merged with GoGoVan.
There’s more capital coming soon it seems, with GoGoVan saying in an announcement that the $250 million is “the first phase of its new round of funding.” Despite reaching unicorn status via the merger, GoGoVan didn’t disclose a valuation for this new round.
The company plans to use the money to expand its business into new markets, and in particular India and Southeast Asia, having focused on China primarily to date. Together with 58 Suyun, GoGoVan claims to cover 300 cities with some eight million registered users and 2,000 staff.
The service itself is anchored around short distance logistics and trips, but GoGoVan CEO Steven Lam explained that the company plans to soon introduce a door-to-door option and other offerings that “simplify logistics and delivery services.”
GoGoVan’s main rival is Lalamove, a fellow Hong Kong-based logistics startup. Lalamove raised $100 million last year at a valuation of nearly $1 billion. While GoGoVan’s exit was its merger, Lalamove is looking to remain independent and it has begun thinking about an IPO, which could take place in Hong Kong, its head of international Blake Larson told TechCrunch.
GoGoVan and Lalamove are two of the last that remain standing from what was once a very cluttered field as the rise of Uber saw dozens of companies sprout up as an ‘Uber for logistics’ services. The secret to their survival? Getting deep into the Chinese market is one crucial factor, but from talking to the two companies over the years, both cast the ‘Uber for X’ buzzword aside and concentrated on working with SMEs and repeat business customers rather than the shallow (and fickle) consumer market.
Uber’s Cargo service, for example, offered on-demand logistics in Hong Kong but it didn’t live long before being shuttered.
Source: TechCrunch
These are the gadgets and tech that have grabbed the attention of CNET readers over the past 30 days.
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Come back at noon PT, 3 p.m. ET for a list of top deals on wearable devices.
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Tyranny, Broken Age, Metal Slug 3 and more can be yours with Twitch Prime.
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There’s more money flowing into Southeast Asia’s tech startup scene after Singapore’s Golden Equator Capital and Seoul-based Korea Investment Partners announced plans for a collaborative $88 million (SG$120 million) fund for the region.
The two investment firms will act as joint partners for the vehicle, which is expected to hit a first close before September and a final close by the end of 2018. Already, they claim to have 65 percent of the target capital committed by LPs.
The firms are aiming for the Series A and B spaces with a typical check size of between $1.5 million and $3.7 million for what will be known as the GEC-KIP Fund.
The focus for deals is quite varied. A spokesperson told TechCrunch that it’ll cover sectors like proptech, fintech, health tech, new media and entertainment, e-commerce and edutech “as long as we can leverage the broad expertise of the different investment professionals we have within the combined GEC-KIP team.”
Southeast Asia often falls off the radar for investment in Asia, with the far larger countries of China and India typically getting the attention, but rising internet access among the region’s cumulative population of over 600 million signals growth potential. A recent report co-authored by Google forecasts Southeast Asia’s ‘internet economy’ reaching more than $200 billion by 2025, up from just $30 billion in 2015. A few unicorns, including ride-sharing companies Grab and Go-Jek, have also helped put it on the map for investors.
Speaking of investors, Golden Equator Capital is part of Golden Equator, a Singapore-based group of businesses that includes financial services, consulting, an incubator and, of course, investment funds. The firm has existing ties with Korea — via a Korea-focused health tech incubator launched last year — and its advisory team includes Taizo Son, founder of Japanese VC firm Mistletoe and brother of SoftBank chairman Masayoshi Son.
Korea Investment Partners, meanwhile, manages 41 funds with more than $2 billion in assets under management worldwide.
“We are excited to embark on this cross-learning development with KIP who is a seasoned VC investor with a long, established track record across several markets such as US, China, and Korea,” Daren Tan, managing partner of Golden Equator Capital, said in a statement.
“Given the fragmented tech investment landscape in Southeast Asia, uniting our strengths and network with KIP further bolsters our position. So, when we invest, it is not just capital; we are essentially also lending our portfolio companies the collective expertise and strategic networks, to accelerate their growth and success in the long run,” Tan added.
I can remember when Southeast Asia was described as having a VC crunch just a few years ago, but today the landscape is far healthier in terms of available investment money.
GEC-KIP Fund is playing in the same field as a number of Southeast Asia-focused VCs, which include Jungle Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, Monks Hill Ventures, Venturra Capital, Insignia Venture Partners and Vertex Ventures from Singapore sovereign fund Temasek. There are, of course, plenty of others beyond that list.
Source: TechCrunch
It only weighs 11 million tons. No big deal.
Source: CNET
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The G70 makes a case to be an alternative to the Audi A4 and BMW 3 Series.
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Upcoming deals on Huawei, Honor and Moto phones have already been announced.
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