With Southeast Asians among the heaviest users of their smartphones – data from Hootsuite showing that three of the four countries with the most time spent using the mobile Internet are Thailand (5 hours and 13 minutes), Philippines (4:58) and Indonesia (4:35) versus a worldwide average (3:14), US (2:24) and the UK (2:09) – the […]
Google is looking to Southeast Asia as one of the most vital interney economies of the future, following the release of its 2018 e-Conomy Southeast Asia report, which has predicted the region’s digital economy will be worth $72bn (£56bn) by the end of the year. The report, produced by Google and Temasek, projects that the […]
Ride-hailing firm Grab has launched an advertising unit to enable brands to reach consumers in Southeast Asia both inside and outside of vehicles. Through GrabAds, brands are able to utilise Grab’s presence across eight countries and in over 200 cities in Southeast Asia to reach people taking a ride in one of the company’s vehicles […]
Southeast Asian transport turned ‘super app’ Grab is adding healthcare to its growing list of services, via a partnership with Chinese company Ping An Good Doctor. According to the announcement, the service will eventually be available across Southeast Asia and will use both the businesses expertise to create services, such as artificial-intelligence (AI) assisted online […]
After months of rumours, Indonesian ride-sharing platform Go-Jek has announced plans to expand its operations into four new Asian markets as part of a US$500 million investment and growth strategy. The new markets are Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines, which the company says in a statement it will enter “within the next few months”. […]
Alcheme, a rising player in the skincare scene, recently closed a round of seed funding, led by DSG Consumer Partners, an investment company based in Singapore that focuses on consumer businesses in Southeast Asia and India, as well as private investor Kenneth Bishop. With the funding, Alcheme will focus on product and market development, as […]
Latest figures by the Department of Statistics Malaysia indicate the digital economy has contributed 18.2% to the Malaysia’s GDP, amounting as much as RM290.9b in 2016. Since then, eCommerce has continued to grow at a rapid rate as both government and private sectors continued to heavily invest into the digital industry. To keep track of […]
Following weeks of speculation, Uber has sold its business in Southeast Asia to Singapore-based rival Grab. The deal will net Uber a 27.5 percent stake in Grab, while Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab’s board. It’s said to be the largest acquisition by a Southeast Asian firm. Grab, meanwhile, will take over Uber’s operations […]
South East Asian ride-hailing firm Grab has moved deeper into financial services with the launch of a dedicated unit and the introduction of micro-loans and insurance products. Grab Financial will encompass all of Grab’s fintech offerings, including payments services, rewards and loyalty services, agent network services and now also financial services. Grab has been progressively […]
iPrice Group, a meta-search engine in Southeast Asia, has released its 2017 State of eCommerce report, to shed light on some of the area’s most important eCommerce metrics. The research leverages iPrice’s proprietary data from over 1,000 eCommerce players operating in the 6 of the largest Southeast Asian markets (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and […]