FunNow, the Taiwan-based app that lets users book activities on-demand in five Asian countries, is growing its reach in Southeast Asia through a merger with restaurant booking app Eatigo. Terms of the deal were undisclosed, but FunNow CEO TK Chen says it is the largest post-COVID O2O M&A deal in Southeast Asia. As part of ..read more

Generation Prime, a startup that wants to make IVF and other fertility services more accessible to patients in Asia, is launching its first two clinics in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. The company also announced seed funding led by Recharge Capital, which incubated it, with participation from Thiel Capital, Shamrock Holdings, the Disney family’s investment vehicle and Blue Lion Global. Generation Prime describes itself as the first “full-stack, closed-loop IVF health services clinic” in Southeast Asia, which means that IVF services will be provided through digital and physical channels, starting w ..read more

Founded by two insurance industry veterans, Eazy Digital wants to give small insurance companies in Southeast Asia the same advantage as their larger competitors. Its SaaS platform lets insurers digitize many parts of their operations, enabling them to scale up more efficiently. The Bangkok-based startup announced today it has raised $850,000 in an oversubscribed seed round led by Wavemaker Partners, with participation from Seedstars International Ventures, Wing Vasiksiri and Sasin Bangkok Venture Club. Eazy Digital was founded last year by Haprem Doowa and Maethavee Sukul. Doowa was previousl ..read more

Uber and Airbnb have long been the poster children for the sharing economy. In other realms of society, entrepreneurs are also trying to match demand with untapped assets and services. HD, a startup based out of Bangkok, is applying the economic model to healthcare in Southeast Asia. HD operates a platform that helps three parties meet: surgeons with private practice, patients looking to have their surgeries done more cheaply, and vacant surgery rooms at hospitals. The model might sound a bit counterintuitive to people in the West, but Southeast Asia’s medical system is built on very different ..read more

Founded 10 years ago, Konvy is now Thailand’s top beauty e-commerce platform. It plans to accelerate its omnichannel and international distribution with a new Series A of $10 million from Insignia Ventures Partners. Konvy was launched in 2012 by Chinese entrepreneur QingGui Huang, who previously managed fashion e-commerce platforms in China. It now works with more than 1,000 brands, representing SKUs of more than 20,000. Its brand portfolio includes L’Oréal, Shiseido, Sulwhasoo, Eucerin and La Roche-Posay. “Konvy had the advantage of starting in Thailand when there were no really significant e ..read more

Sophie Alcorn Contributor Share on Twitter Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives. More posts by this contributor Dear Sophie: Can I start a company or a side hustle on a TN visa? Dear Sophie: What are the quickest visa options for bringing in international talent? Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questio ..read more

Amazon Prime Video today launched localized versions of its streaming service in Southeast Asia’s biggest markets — Indonesia, Thailand, and The Philippines. The company is attempting to boost its subscriber base in the three markets by increasing its investment in local production, releasing original slates for each territory, and giving customers special offers like seven-day free trials and discounts. “We’re delighted to be increasing our investment in Prime Video for customers in Southeast Asia, making it a truly localized experience—from local content specifically sourced for our customer ..read more

Popular messaging app JusTalk left a huge database of unencrypted private messages publicly exposed to the internet without a password for months. The messaging app has around 20 million international users, while Google Play lists JusTalk Kids, billed as a child-friendly version of its messaging app, has racked up over 1 million Android downloads. JusTalk says both its messaging apps are end-to-end encrypted and boasts on its website that “only you and the person you communicate with can see, read or listen to them: Even the JusTalk team won’t access your data!” But that isn’t true. A logging ..read more

Update: In a statement sent to TechCrunch, Zipmex said it has enabled withdrawals from its trade wallet and “are actively working to resume trading.” But transfers from ZWallet to trade wallets are currently not available. “Ever since the black swan events surrounding the crypto space Zipmex has retrieved the majority of our funds and assets that were historically deposited with our deployment partners and have been actively working to resolve the situation for our remaining outstanding assets. There were no materially adverse impacts to our operations.” The company also said it wanted to “cor ..read more

As the largest publicly traded crypto exchange in the United States, Coinbase has become something of a household name. But as the going gets tough in the crypto markets, the company seems to be fumbling the bag, leaving it vulnerable to competition. Coinbase’s stock price is down nearly 80% from where it started the year and it recently made headlines for laying off one-fifth of its staff. The company posted a $430 million loss in the first quarter of 2022, underperforming Wall Street analysts’ expectations. Its trading volumes and number of monthly transacting users were both down from Q4 la ..read more