Snap is channeling Asia’s messaging giants with its move into gaming
Snap is taking a leaf out of the Asian messaging app playbook as its social messaging service enters a new era. The company unveiled a series of new strategies that… Read more »
Category: Japan
TikTok’s next ambitious goal is to discover future music stars
TikTok needs a lot of music. A lot. The short-form video service began life as a lip-synching app in China, where it’s called Douyin, and although other categories of content,… Read more »
Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe is blasting a hole in an asteroid tonight (and that’s awesome)
It’s a big day for space: launches, tests, orbits, and now a distant probe is going to shoot an asteroid with its space gun and make a new crater to… Read more »
How Japan’s new imperial era broke the internet in a very tiny way
Emperor Akihito of Japan is abdicating and passing the office to his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, and as part of the transition comes a new gengo, or era name: “Reiwa.”… Read more »
The FT is buying another media startup: Deal Street Asia
Fresh from picking up a majority stake in Europe-based The Next Web, the Financial Times is buying another new media startup. The newspaper, which was founded in 1888, is adding… Read more »
Kong raises $43M Series C for its API platform
Kong, the open core API management and lifecycle management company previously known as Mashape, today announced that it has raised a $43 million Series C round led by Index Ventures…. Read more »
Asia’s AnyMind pulls in another $8M and expands into outdoor advertising
Asia-focused marketing startup AnyMind Group has landed a further $8 million in funding to close out its Series B round and expand into new verticals. The company announced a $13.4… Read more »
Camera maker Insta360 raises $30M as it eyes 2020 IPO
Insta360, one of the pioneers in making 360-degree cameras, just raised $30 million in a Series C+ funding round from Chinese investors, including Everest Venture Capital, MG Holdings and Huajin Capital…. Read more »
Toyota doubles down on Nvidia tech for self-driving cars
Toyota is deepening its relationship with Nvidia as the automaker, and its research arms in Japan and the U.S., ramps up its autonomous vehicle development program. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang… Read more »
Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos-backed fund invests in a global geothermal energy project developer
Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the investment firm financed by billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Jack Ma that invests in companies developing technologies to decarbonize society, is investing $12.5 million… Read more »
Why longer term sheets are better
Recently in a conversation, the length of term sheets came as a topic (I assure you, it was a riveting conversation). The complaint was that a term sheet which had… Read more »
‘Shattering body blow’ as Honda plans to close Swindon factory
Japanese firm to shut plant in 2022 but maintain its European HQ near Bracknell in Berkshire Workers blame Brexit for demise of Honda’s Swindon plant Honda is planning to close… Read more »
Nissan warns of Brexit concerns as U-turn at Sunderland confirmed
Carmaker will not build new X-Trail in UK, saying uncertainty about future is affecting firms Nissan has confirmed it is abandoning plans to build a new model of one of… Read more »
Japan’s “Society 5.0” initiative is a roadmap for today’s entrepreneurs
Mark Minevich Contributor Share on Twitter Mark Minevich is a digital fellow at IPSoft. Japan, still suffering the consequences of its ‘Lost Decade’ of economic stagnation, is eyeing a transformation… Read more »
Nintendo to open its first official store located in Japan
Fourteen years after unveiling its first location in New York, Nintendo is finally opening an official store in Japan, too. Nintendo Tokyo will be located in Shibuya Parco, the new… Read more »
Hitachi scraps £16bn nuclear power station in Wales
Japanese giant unable to agree deal with UK as fears grow for Anglesey atomic plant• Does this mean the end of UK’s new nuclear dream? Hitachi has scrapped plans to… Read more »
President Bolsonaro should boost Brazil’s entrepreneurial ecosystem
Romero Rodrigues Contributor Romero Rodrigues is a managing partner at Redpoint eVentures, the Brazilian-focused arm of the Silicon Valley venture firm Redpoint. More posts by this contributor Brazil’s fintech boom… Read more »
World’s most valuable AI startup SenseTime unveils self-driving center in Japan
The world’s highest-valued artificial intelligence startup SenseTime has set foot in Japan. The Beijing-based firm announced on Friday that it just opened a self-driving facility in Joso, a historic city… Read more »
Nissan’s new Leaf e+ is packing more than just 226 miles of range
Electric vehicle competition is heating up and it’s pushing some of the first entrants to add range and other features in hopes of keeping up with automakers that are just… Read more »
Tokyo stocks plunge in Christmas rout amid fears over US economy
Nikkei falls 5% as government shutdown in Washington spooks markets Tokyo stocks plunged on Tuesday as the few Asian markets open on Christmas Day suffered a holiday rout on fears… Read more »
Salesforce doubles down on Japan with dedicated $100M fund
It’s been a good week for Japanese startups. Fresh from Google making a rare investment in the country when it backed AI startup Abeja, so Salesforce — another U.S. tech… Read more »
WeChat e-wallet teams up with Line to target Japan’s 7M Chinese tourists
China’s biggest chat app WeChat is set to make its payments service more ubiquitous in Japan, a popular outbound desitnation for Chinese tourists. On Tuesday, the Tencent-run messenger unveils a… Read more »
SoftBank’s Deepcore and accelerator Zeroth team up to hunt early stage AI opportunities
Two early stage AI programs are joining forces because, even in the world of artificial intelligence, two heads are better than one. Hong Kong-based accelerator Zeroth — which recently grabbed… Read more »
Quantum computing, not AI, will define our future
William (“Whurley”) Hurley Contributor Share on Twitter William Hurley, commonly known as whurley, is an American entrepreneur and the founder of Chaotic Moon Studios, Honest Dollar, and Equals: The Global… Read more »
Chinese WeWork rival Ucommune raises $200M to go after international growth
China’s Ucommune, the country’s largest rival to WeWork, has been on a busy acquisition spree to build out its domestic business and now it is looking at overseas opportunities after… Read more »
Japan is cracking down on SoftBank’s revenue
First, a couple of quick follow-ups to our coverage of Form Ds yesterday, and then a deeper dive into the challenges SoftBank is facing with regards to its revenue in… Read more »
With a new deal for customers and a fresh $23 million, Mayvenn extends its hair care business
Pitching customers a new, all-inclusive service for buying and installing hair, Mayvenn is looking to significantly expand its haircare business and just raised $23 million in a new round of… Read more »
Hong Kong says it may regulate crypto exchanges
Hong Kong may become the next country to regulate crypto exchanges after its securities regulator announced that it is exploring ways to apply quality control and protect consumers from the volatility… Read more »
Chat app Line’s games business raises $110M for growth opportunities
Messaging app firm Line has given up majority control of its Line Games business after it raised outside financing to expand its collection of titles and go after global opportunities…. Read more »
AnyMind, which uses AI for advertising, marketing and HR, raises $13.4M
AnyMind Group, a Singapore-based company that uses AI in online advertising, HR and marketing, has pulled in a strategic $13.4 million investment to go after growth in Japan and other… Read more »