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☆ Malaysia emerges as a hotspot for semiconductor firms amid U.S.-China chip tensions
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Sheila Chiang | In Sheilachiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

American chip giant Intel in December 2021 said it will invest more than $7 billion to build a chip packaging and testing factory in Malaysia, with production expected to begin in 2024. Malaysia holds 13% of the global market for chip packaging, assembly and testing services, said the Malaysian Investment Development Authority in a Feb. 18 report. Exports of semiconductor devices and integrated circuits increased by 0.03% to 387.45 billion Malaysian ringgit ($81.4 billion) in 2023, amid global chip demand weakness. Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association president Datuk Seri Wong Siew Hai said many Chinese firms diversified some of their production to Malaysia, calling the country China's "plus one." In the same month, the world's largest contract chip maker TSMC opened its first Japan factory as it diversifies away from Taiwan amid U.S.-China tensions.

Persons: Faris Hadziq, Kenddrick Chan, Aik Kean Chong, Intel's, Tan, Yinglan Tan, Datuk Seri Wong Siew Hai, Zafrul Aziz, TSMC, Ann Lim Organizations: Getty, Malaysia, LSE, London School of Economics, Political, Semiconductors, Intel, CNBC, Infineon, Ventures Partners, Malaysian Investment Development Authority, Malaysian, Malaysia Semiconductor Industry, U.S ., U.S, China -, Partnership Locations: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, South, East Asia, China, U.S, American, Penang, Another U.S, Singapore, Europe, Kong, GlobalFoundries Singapore, Klang, India, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Washington, Asia, China - U.S

☆ Trump to be deposed in dispute with media company co-founders
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is scheduled to be deposed later this month by lawyers for co-founders of his social media company as part of a dispute over ownership in Trump Media & Technology Group which went public last week. They said in 2021 they were pledged 8.6% of pre-merger Trump Media stock for helping to launch the company. Trump Media sued Litinsky and Moss in Florida on March 24, and is seeking to strip them of their stock, which it said they failed to earn due to mismanagement. Trump owned 90% of the social media company prior to its merger last month with a blank check firm that took the company public. In midday trade on Thursday, Trump Media was down 4.2% at $46.70, valuing the company at more than $6 billion.

Persons: Donald Trump, Christopher Clark, Andy Litinsky, Wes Moss, Litinsky, Sam Glasscock, Trump Organizations: Trump Media & Technology Group, Delaware's, Chancery, Trump Media, Trump, United Atlantic Ventures Locations: New York, Moss, Florida, Delaware, Washington, Georgia

☆ Alibaba bets on overseas e-commerce unit amid sluggish growth in China
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Sheila Chiang | In Sheilachiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Costfoto | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesChinese tech giant Alibaba Group is betting on its overseas businesses while domestic consumption growth remains sluggish. James Dong, CEO of Southeast Asian e-commerce giant Lazada Group, was named as Daraz's acting CEO. Dong took over as Lazada Group CEO from Chun Li in June 2022, after running the company's Thailand and Vietnam operations. Intense competitionThe e-commerce business that once propelled Alibaba to success has run into challenges with upstart competitors such as PDD, while consumption growth in China remains sluggish. Alibaba posted 9% year-on-year revenue growth in the third quarter to about $31 billion.

Persons: Eddie Wu, Yinglan Tan, AliExpress, Bjarke Mikkelsen, Jan, James Dong, Lazada, Tan, Alibaba, Zhang, Dong, Chun Li, Li, Pierre, Lucy Peng, PDD Organizations: Nurphoto, Getty, Digital Commerce, Tmall, Tmall Group, Alibaba, Ventures, Lazada, CNBC, Ventures Partners, Alibaba Group, PDD Holdings, Hong Kong, HK Locations: Huangpu District, Shanghai, Taobao, monetization, Alibaba, Pakistan, Asia, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong

☆ Venture capital firm names 3 compelling early-stage segments in Southeast Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailVenture capital firm names 3 compelling early-stage segments in Southeast AsiaYinglan Tan of Insignia Ventures Partners cites the use of generative artificial intelligence as one such area.

Persons: Asia Yinglan Organizations: Email Venture, Ventures Partners Locations: Asia

☆ Business Technology Chiefs Question ChatGPT’s Readiness for the Enterprise
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Angus Loten | Chris Bedi | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Yet some business-technology professionals are uneasy about integrating it into the enterprise stack, citing concerns over its use of online data and security risks. But at the moment, ChatGPT “should be used with caution in an enterprise business setting,” she said. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. For now, Mr. Schmidt said, generative AI capabilities should be reserved for writing corporate boilerplate—product or service announcements, or other promotional materials. For enterprise information-technology, “ChatGPT use cases might be a smaller universe than people are imagining,” he said.

☆ Indonesia's seafood farming industry faces a 'technology gap' — and startups are raising big bucks to fill it
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

And we are third in aquaculture production after China and India. Aquaculture production and exports by country in 2020 Aquaculture (animals, not including algae) Top producing countries in 2020 Top exporting countries in 2020 1. Aruna, for its part, helps to connect Indonesia's small-scale aquaculture farmers to buyers. Indonesia has the puzzle pieces to become a global leader in aquaculture and seafood production. "Indonesia has the puzzle pieces to become a global leader in aquaculture and seafood production.

☆ Southeast Asian venture capital firms expect to be pickier in 2023 than in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Venture capital-backed companies only raised $369 billion for the first three quarters of 2022, according to Crunchbase data. Malte Mueller | Fstop | Getty ImagesVenture capital firms in Southeast Asia will probably be pickier next year, with valuations plunging and economic headwinds slowing growth in 2022. Sequoia Southeast Asia raised a $850 million fund in June, East Ventures raised $550 million in July, and Insignia Ventures Partners raised $516 million in August. Indonesia-based e-grocery company HappyFresh ceased operations in Malaysia after seven years, while Grab discontinued its quick commerce service GrabMart Kilat in Indonesia. "The 15-minute model of quick commerce in Southeast Asia is very difficult because the unit economics are very negative.

☆ Shopify's startup investments this year include millions into companies that focus on NFTs, Web3 apps, customer-engagement, and financial services
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

In its press release announcing the new funding, Wati said the investment was Shopify's first in a startup operating in Southeast Asia. The goal is to make Thirdweb's tools available to Shopify merchants who want to bring Web3 products and experiences to their online stores. Shopify recently participated in Gorgias' $30 million Series C round, which valued the startup at $710 million. According to the company, merchants using its technology report a 96% increase in sales on average. Flexport announced it had received a strategic investment from Shopify as part of its $935 million Series E on February 7.

☆ From Cerebral to Cedar, here's every digital-health startup that's cut workers so far this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Digital-health startups are slicing their workforces after two years of record industry growth. Many startups that announced layoffs this year raised mega-rounds of $100 million or more in 2021. Last year, the digital-health industry was flying high. Digital-health startups in the US banked a record $29.1 billion in 2021, almost double 2020's record of $14.9 billion. Here are the digital-health startups that have announced layoffs this year, as of October 25:Have a tip about digital health layoffs that you want to share?

☆ Two Vertex Ventures partners: types of founders, companies they're betting in the downturn with firm's new $200 million early-stage cloud-startup fund
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Vertex Ventures, an early-stage cloudtech-focused VC firm, raised $200 million for its third fund. Insider spoke to two partners about what they look for in a founder and why they raised a fund now. Vertex Ventures, an early-stage venture-capital firm focused on cloud and enterprise technology, has raised its third fund. Data security is another adjacent area they're interested in, as well a vertical software, or software focused on serving specific industries. Along with this new fund, Vertex has promoted Bhadra to the rank of general partner alongside the three existing general partners, including Heiliger.

☆ From Cedar to Ro, here's every digital-health startup that's cut workers so far this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Digital-health startups are slicing their workforces after two years of record industry growth. Many startups that announced layoffs this year raised mega-rounds of $100 million or more in 2021. Last year, the digital-health industry was flying high. Digital-health startups in the US banked a record $29.1 billion in 2021, almost double 2020's record of $14.9 billion. Here are the digital-health startups that have announced layoffs this year, as of September 28:Have a tip about digital health layoffs that you want to share?

☆ A biotech trying to bring back the woolly mammoth just launched its first spinout company. See the 15-slide pitch deck Form Bio used to raise $30 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Colossal Bio, a biotech trying to resurrect the woolly mammoth, just spun out its first company. The new company, Form Bio, sells manufacturing software to life sciences companies. Colossal Bio, a Texas-based biotech trying to bring back the woolly mammoth, announced its first spinout company on Tuesday. Form is the first spinout from Colossal Bio, which plans to commercialize technologies it develops while chasing the audacious task of resurrecting extinct species. Colossal CEO Ben Lamm told Insider that Form won't be the last spinout company from his company.

"Today, there's much stronger appetite for India and Southeast Asia," Joel Thickins, co-managing partner at TPG Capital Asia, told Reuters. The enthusiasm persists despite due diligence for startups that requires many months while valuations are under pressure, investors said. But although funds were diversifying, investors said the region's vastly different markets meant a uniform investing strategy was not ideal. One area that I constantly notice that everybody is very interested in is Southeast Asia. "There are still individual U.S. cities where startups are raising more money than all of the startups in Southeast Asia," said Julie Ruvolo, managing director of venture capital at Global Private Capital Association, which says its 300 members manage assets of more than $2 trillion.

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