From IPO Dreams to Criminal Probes: A Turbulent Week for Southeast Asia’s Startups
Carro’s IPO plan brings a rare spark to the region’s startup slump.
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It’s been long established that Southeast Asia’s top used car marketplaces, Carro and Carsome, have plans to go public. Carsome previously filed a US listing application but then subsequently pushed the brakes.
But now Carro might go where its rival didn’t. That’s according to Reuters which reports that it is targeting a US IPO next year which could raise as much as $500 million and value the company at over $3 billion.
Carro is on track to deliver $100 million in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation by its fiscal year ending March 2026. The IPO size is still under discussion and may change depending on market conditions.
These companies have found success digitising existing industries to make them more efficient, but former staff members have said the market itself is limited which puts a ceiling on potential growth. That explains why they have forayed into financing and other parts of the process.
But with Southeast Asia very much in a funding winter, a large company going public would be a welcome success story.
That’s in contrast to the main narrative right now, which is fraud in Indonesia.
It has now emerged that Indonesian police have held eFishery co-founder and CEO Gibran Huzaifah since the end of July. He previously admitted to faking financial data, along with two former executives, to enable the company to raise investment. There’s no word on what charges they will face yet.
Coupled with that, a scandal at agritech startup TaniHub has so far seen three suspects arrested on suspicion of misusing funds. Donald Wihardja, the CEO of TaniHub investor MDI Ventures, its former CEO Ivan Arie Sustiawan and director Edison Tobing, were taken in by Jakarta prosecutors at the end of July. Their assets have since been frozen as more evidence is collected.
Momentum Works looks at the spate of Indonesian startups being investigated or accused of fraud. You’d hope there aren’t more to add to the list, but equally it wouldn’t be surprising if there are.
Meanwhile, Singapore-based logistics startup Ninja Van is raising $80 million in an internal round led by B Capital and Monk’s Hill that will cut its valuation to about $1 billion, roughly half its previous worth.
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2. Nvidia remains under fire in China for security concerns
Nvidia’s China saga continues to roll on even though it has approval to finally sell its China-focused H20 chips on mainland soil.
Beijing is using reports that the US is exploring ‘enhanced’ location-tracking for chips to summon Nvidia over security concerns. The US interest is reportedly around preventing tech from Nvidia or others being moved illegally—two Chinese nationals were just arrested in California for smuggling millions of dollars of Nvidia chips.
Nvidia has once again said there are no backdoors or kill switches in its tech, but it has still been slammed by state media and found itself meeting with Chinese authorities.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Nvidia and AMD will give 15% of all revenue from chip sales to the US government in a “unique deal”. Trump has said, however, it may be as much as 20% for Nvidia—but he has also indicated the company may be allowed to sell a downgraded version of its Blackwell chip in China.
But Huawei is moving to rival Nvidia’s products once again. It will open-source its Compute Architecture for Neural Networks (CANN), the software toolkit used to develop applications on the firm’s Ascend AI processors. Huawei says this will speed up innovation from developers and make its Ascend AI chips easier to use.
China
Donald Trump praised Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan as a “success” just days after demanding that he resign over claimed links to China from past investment and business ties link
Western pharma giants are cutting multibillion-dollar deals with Chinese AI-driven biotech firms, showing growing trust in China’s ability to deliver innovative drugs faster and cheaper—AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Sanofi are among those acknowledging China’s change from generic drug manufacturer to biotech innovator link
China is using AI firm GoLaxy to monitor and shape public opinion as part of its information warfare strategy, according to US officials and researchers—internal GoLaxy documents detail influence campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and data collection on US lawmakers link
Xiaomi aims to power its cars and smart home devices with MiDashengLM-7B, a newly-released open-source voice model built on its in-house tech and Alibaba’s Qwen2.5-Omni-7B link
Alibaba released Qwen-Image, an open source AI image generator with support for English and Chinese link
It has also added a Qwen-powered agent to its maps app link
But all its success has made Alibaba’s AI lab a major target for talent poaching from its rivals link
Lyft is teaming up with Baidu to launch autonomous vehicles in Europe starting in 2026 initially in Germany with the UK likely to follow link
A Baidu Apollo Go robotaxi fell into a construction pit while carrying a passenger in Chongqing, China, local media reported—the passenger was unharmed and rescued by nearby residents link
BrainCo, a brain-computer interface startup seen as a rival to Elon Musk’s Neuralink and one of the country’s “Six Little Dragons,” is in talks to raise $100M at a valuation of over $1.3B ahead of a potential IPO in Hong Kong or mainland China link
The prices of DRAM—used in PCs, smartphones and servers—have doubled in a month and remain high amid speculation that Chinese chipmakers are shifting production toward AI chips to boost tech self-reliance link
China aims to launch its first stablecoins in Hong Kong to boost the renminbi globally and counter the dollar, but fears of capital flight are slowing progress link
Drone maker DJI, which holds over 70% of the US commercial market, faces a year-end deadline to avoid a ban—but it says its lobbying push in Washington is falling flat, with officials ignoring calls and emails link
SMIC second-quarter profit declined 19.5% year-on-year—but it still posted a $132.5M net profit, though analyst estimates of $183.35M link
Beijing’s plan to merge key chip equipment makers into a state-backed giant is stalling, as internal disputes over ownership and valuation derail efforts to streamline China’s fragmented semiconductor industry. Led by the National Development and Reform Commission, the proposed consolidation aimed to create national champions to rival US and European players link
Two Chinese nationals in California have been arrested for allegedly smuggling millions of dollars’ worth of Nvidia AI chips to China, bypassing US export controls through a shell company and transshipment hubs in Asia, according to the Justice Department link
A Shanghai court reportedly sentenced 14 former Huawei Technologies employees to jail for stealing chip-related business secrets from the company link
India
India’s VCs are increasingly looking at the more vibrant Middle Eastern market where the promise of returns seems higher right now link
For example, Peak XV led a $48M investment in Alaan, which helps companies manage expenses through corporate cards, automation and dashboards link
There was a time when Alibaba was synonymous with Paytm, but that era is closing: Ant Group will fully exit the Indian fintech firm by selling its remaining 5.84% stake in block deals worth up to $434 million—Alibaba is estimated to have made a nearly 6X profit on its Paytm investments link
India is OpenAI’s second-largest market after the US and could soon be the biggest, thanks to rapid growth according to CEO Sam Altman—we already saw Perplexity launch India-focused offers with a local partner and OpenAI is likely to follow suit link
Quick commerce firms are hitting pause on expansion of dark stores to keep cash burn in check link
Arivihan, which provides automated AI-led coaching, raised $4.17M link
Jeh Aerospace raised $11M led by Elevation Capital link
CodeKarma, which integrates real-time production insights into software development, raised $2.5M link
The founder of Pharmeasy, which has raised nearly $1B and was once valued at over $5.5B, has stepped down as CEO link
BharatGen AI, a government initiative to develop accessible AI, will support all 22 official languages in India within the next year link
Darwinbox is nearing a $50M raise from Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan at a valuation of over $1B link
Spacetech startup Xovian Aerospace raised $2.5M to develop AI-native radio frequency (RF) satellite infrastructure—it plans to run space trials before the end of the year link
India’s IT giants are racing to adapt to the AI era, launching new tools for clients from banks to sports bodies even as the technology threatens near-term spending link
Reliance has written off its $200M investment in Dunzo link
Indian mapping services business MapMyIndia has picked up a small stake (0.05%) in Zepto for just under $3M at a valuation of around $5.9B—the deal is part of a strategy clean up the cap table and add Indian investors ahead of a planned public listing link
Southeast Asia
Shopee parent Sea’s stock is up 300% in 2024, fuelled by a hyperlocal delivery network of homemakers, students, and retirees that’s helped the ecommerce service dominate in Southeast Asia link
Malaysia’s Zetrix AI will launch “NurAI,” a Sharia-based chatbot built with help from China’s DeepSeek, offering guidance in multiple languages for the world’s 2B Muslims and featuring AI scholar avatars for lifestyle, health, and finance advice ink
MEXC Ventures invested in Indonesian crypto exchange Triv at a $200M valuation to support a regional expansion link
TNG Digital, Malaysia’s largest fintech firm and operator of the Touch ‘n Go eWallet, reached a $1B unicorn valuation and may consider an IPO, according to shareholder CIMB Group link
Chinese exporters are rethinking offshore factory plans as new US tariffs and transshipment rules disrupt the “China plus one” strategy—billions have flowed into Southeast Asia to avoid tariffs, but Washington has cut some duties on Chinese goods to 30% and imposed 10–40% tariffs on other regional hubs link
Hackers linked to Vietnamese-speaking cybercriminal groups are using Telegram and a Python-based malware to steal sensitive data from thousands across 62 countries link
Singapore-based climate-tech VC firm SG Enviro raised $8M from Emerald Technology Ventures to expand into Malaysia, Indonesia, and other Southeast Asian markets link
Philippine President Marcos Jr. warned that a total ban on online gambling would drive it underground and make it harder to control link
South Korea
KakaoBank may enter newly-opening South Korea’s stablecoin market link
Apple says Samsung will supply chips from Texas factory link
South Korea says Samsung and SK Hynix will not be subject to 100% US chip tariffs link
DeepX, which makes low-power AI chips for devices like robots and drones, is planning to fresh capital as it plans an IPO in 2027—the plan is to raise more than its $79M Series that closed last year link
South Korea has delayed a decision on Google’s request to export map data, amid US pressure to ease what it sees as a trade barrier link
Japan
SoftBank increased its stakes in Nvidia and TSMC—regulatory filings show its Nvidia holdings rose to $3B by March, up from $1B the previous quarter, alongside $330M in TSMC shares and $170M in Oracle link
SoftBank made a net profit of $2.9bn in its first quarter boosted by its investment in Nvidia as Masayoshi Son’s technology group ploughs billions into artificial intelligence companies link
SoftBank has bought Foxconn’s Ohio plant in a move to boost its Stargate AI push link
A new law in Japan will require Apple to allow non-WebKit browsers on iPhone link
Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper publisher, sued AI search engine Perplexity for $14.7M alleging unauthorized use of its articles link
Hong Kong
Animoca Brands said its Hong Kong joint venture with Standard Chartered and HKT, called Anchorpoint Financial, has begun the process to secure a stablecoin license link
Baidu-owned streaming platform iQiyi is aiming to raise $300M through a Hong Kong listing this year, joining the tech stampede in HK link
Indeed, Chinese tech firms are flocking to Hong Kong for IPOs after new rules allowing confidential filings for loss-making tech and biotech companies—we’ve previously written about chipmakers Biren and Enflame and AI startups Zhipu and MiniMax which are among those to have filed or made plans to file link
Taiwan
TSMC has fired multiple employees and launched legal action after discovering attempts to access sensitive 2nm chip technology—the company said routine monitoring uncovered unauthorised activities and potential trade secret leaks, prompting disciplinary measures link
Tokyo Electron said it fired an employee at its Taipei unit following Taiwan's arrest of six people for allegedly stealing TSMC trade secrets link
Foxconn plans to convert a former electric truck factory in Lordstown, Ohio, into a facility for making AI-focused cloud computing hardware link
North Korea
North Korean cyber-espionage group ScarCruft, which had previously focused on cyber-espionage campaigns, now appears to be carrying out ransomware attacks too link
Leak exposes daily routines of alleged North Korean IT scammers, showing meticulous job planning, target lists, and tight surveillance through spreadsheets, Slack chats, and other files. link
CrowdStrike says North Koreans posing as remote IT workers have infiltrated over 320 companies in the past year, a 220% jump link
Rest of Asia
Uzum, which covers e-commerce, fintech and good delivery in Uzbekistan, raised $65.5M in a new round co-led by Tencent and VR Capital that values the 3-year-old business at $1.5B link
US investors including MetLife and Harvard’s endowment backed a $420M fund by Airtree Ventures, the Australian VC well known for early bets on Canva and Airwallex link