Singapore-based used car marketplace Carro raised $60M led by Japan sovereign wealth fund Cool Japan Fund to promote Japanese cars in the Asia-Pacific region
Preqin data: Southeast Asia's AI startups raised just $1.7B across 122 deals so far in 2024, out of ~$20B across 1,845 deals for the whole Asia-Pacific region
- While global tech expands in the region, its startups languish — Its homegrown tech industry risks falling behind in AI
Tracxn: Indian health tech-related startups raised $3.7B since 2022, about half of the $7.4B raised in the sector across the Asia Pacific region
Bloomberg :
Google opens a cyberdefense hub in Tokyo, its first in the Asia-Pacific region, and plans to invite engineers in the region to study how to combat cyberattacks
Nikkei Asia :
Shanghai-based Hua Hong Semiconductor raises ~$2.96B in its Shanghai IPO, the Asia Pacific region's largest in 2023; the company is already listed in Hong Kong
Filipe Pacheco / Bloomberg :
Sources: Apple is planning 53 new, relocated, or remodeled retail stores worldwide through 2027, including 15 new stores across the Asia-Pacific region
Apple Inc. is working on plans to expand and revitalize its retail chain, aiming to push deeper into China and other parts of Asia …
Sources: on December 11, Twitter briefly blocked traffic from ~30 mobile carriers mainly in the Asia-Pacific region as part of an attempt to rid Twitter of spam
PLUS: Why it's time to start leaving Twitter behind — On Sunday, Elon Musk tweeted a vague warning: “the bots are in for a surprise tomorrow.” Tweets: @elonmusk , @elonmusk , @justin_ling , @saeeddi...
Sources: Twitter has one staffer left on a team dedicated to removing CSAM after layoffs, despite Elon Musk saying “removing child exploitation is priority #1”
Just one person remains to enforce the company's ban on child sexual abuse content across Japan and the Asia Pacific region.
Apple reports record Q3 revenue of $83B, up 2% YoY, vs $82.8B est., net income down 11% to $19.4B, iPhone revenue up 3% to $40.7B, Mac revenue down 10% to $7.4B
people coming from Android - saw double-digit growth) Joanna Stern / @joannastern : “We didn't have enough product to test the demand,” Cook says of impact of inflation and other macroeconomic trends ...
Critics say Facebook has compromised on its community standards to access commercial opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region, home to ~1.2B Facebook MAUs
Nikkei Asia :