Singapore-based Pave, a digital bank for the crypto industry, lands $45M from big name investors
Accel and Tether are among backers of startup that’s blurring lines of traditional banking
Welcome back—a new type of bank is pulling in capital and blurring the lines of traditional banking, and it’s happening in Singapore.
Global VC Accel and Tether, the company behind the world’s most popular stablecoin (USDT), are among the investors to fund a $39 million round for Singapore-based digital bank Pave. The round takes Pave to $45 million raised since 2023, but this is a unique bank in Singapore let alone Southeast Asia.
Pave Bank’s leadership includes familiar names. CEO Salim Dhanani was an executive with AirAsia’s BigPay financial wing and the founding team includes former executives with Monzo and VP Bank. Unlike those institutions and digital banks in Singapore, Pave’s license is from elsewhere in the world (Georgia) and its clientele is scattered. The company targets companies in crypto, including corporates, exchanges and others who juggle crypto assets and fiat currency across multiple jurisdictions.
Still, it has more than 50 employees working from its Singapore holding company. Reportedly, its use of automation and AI have helped the bank reach breakeven after just eight months. Its focus on crypto clients is likely a more significant reason. Many struggle to find adequate, or even any, banking solutions. Highly-profitable companies like exchanges are prepared to pay for core services, and banking is very much in that category. Making the business sustainable is a good indicator of its viability, but with the company raising money and chasing growth, it doesn’t say much about future plans and prospects.
It’s telling of Singapore’s position as one of the world’s top locations for crypto, that Pave is located in the country. The laws are mostly favorable and there’s plenty of experienced talent, venture capital networks, access to services and a community that probably makes it the best fit for an HQ, at this point at least.
Pave is taking advantage of some spectacular regulatory arbitrage, which also contributes to that financial viability. That’s because Georgia, where it is licensed, has 0% corporate income tax which is paired with a crypto-friendly approach to regulation. There, it can get legitimate banking oversight, and of course take advantage of lower costs than other parts of Europe, the US, Asia, etc.
The crypto industry is tricky for regulators as it stands, with cross-border transactions and capital and assets flowing outside of the traditional financial system. Add in a bank, and it is unclear how regulators will respond. There’s a lot for them to tackle first, and with the US taking a pro-crypto stance, Pave looks to be in a good position already in its infancy.
Have a great week,
Jon
Follow the Asia Tech Review LinkedIn page for updates on posts published here and interesting things that come our way. If you’re a news junkie, the ATR Telegram news feed has you covered with news as-it-happens or join the community chat here.
DeepSeek continues China’s legacy of shaping technology in Africa
China’s prominent role in the development of technology in Africa became a major story over the last decade, with handset makers, telecom network vendors, fintech startups, VC and others all playing major roles away from the spotlight on Western and Asian markets. Readers will not be surprised to hear, therefore, that DeepSeek, China’s most prominent AI startup, is reportedly making strong inroads in Africa already.
The story is very similar to the mobile and fintech revolution, but there’s more. DeepSeek isn’t just cheaper, as we’ve seen with the Chinese playbook in Africa, it is also as good, if not better than, its Western rivals, Bloomberg reported.
DeepSeek’s pursuit of open source services is also increasing its appeal since it allows African companies to more easily and cheaply build their own models using its tech. Western firms like OpenAI and Anthropic have opted to license their technology to generate revenue. Their focus has been on more economically developed markets, for now, but if and when it changes, it’ll face competition. That’s because the likes of Alibaba-owned Qwen are pursuing the same open source route. That early traction could be hard to beat.
Far from Africa, Qwen scored a notable win after Silicon Valley darling Airbnb confirmed it leans heavily on Alibaba’s AI system to develop its service bot, a crucial piece of the company’s business.
To be clear, Airbnb uses 13 different AI models, including ChatGPT. But CEO Brian Chesky said it “relies heavily” on the Alibaba model which is “very good” and cheaper than the alternatives.
Yangtze Memory Technologies is considering an IPO in mainland China that could value the chipmaker at 200–300 billion yuan ($28–40 billion), potentially one of the country’s largest listings in years. The company is working with China International Capital Corp. and CSC Financial, with an offering possible as early as next year. link
Memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies, a 10-year-old DRAM maker with state backing, plans to file for a Shanghai IPO next year with a target valuation of $42B link
TikTok management shift gives more power to ByteDance execs as US selloff appears imminent
The deal to sell TikTok’s American business to a US consortium is finally set to go through this week, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The idea of breaking the US business away from the mothership was first floated during Trump’s first term as a President back in 2020. Some five years later the controversial deal may finally happen. There’s been plenty of talk about how the US business will be run—the details are still somewhat scattered—but another interesting development is how the rest of the TikTok business will look.
The answer may be more Chinese than before.
The Information reported that TikTok is revamping its leadership in a move that will see its global content and distribution teams reassigned to report to ByteDance veteran Fiona Zi, who has been the head of product at TikTok since 2023. The restructuring will mean many global teams will move from reporting to Western executives to answering to ByteDance veterans.
That’s a less visible storyline than TikTok USA, but it will be one to watch. The US may be TikTok’s top market with just shy of 150 million monthly users, but the service has over 1.5 billion worldwide.
China
We wrote extensively about the Dutch government’s move to take control of Nexperia in response to concerns its data and IP was flowing to Beijing—well now the leadership of Nexperia’s China unit have told staff openly that they can defy orders from HQ in the Netherlands link
That schism prompted Nexperia HQ to warn Japanese automakers that it isn’t able to guarantee supply of crucial parts link
China has also warned that the Dutch move has put Nexperia’s supply chain at risk link
However, Nexperia’s Chinese unit has resumed supplying semiconductors to local distributors, having previously halted all shipments when Beijing banned exports following the initial ownership dispute link
But as part of the resumption, which is confined to domestic trade, all sales to distributors must now be settled in Chinese yuan, the people said, whereas transactions had previously only used foreign currencies such as the U.S. dollar.
Fresh from the world of politics meets crypto conflicts of interest: President Trump pardoned former Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao, who previously spent four months in prison after being found guilty of allowing the proceeds of cybercrime to flow through the crypto exchange link
Robovan startup Neolix raised $600M led by UAE-based Stone Venture—it has already deployed 10,000 self-driving units in Shenzhen and is racing to make the concept mainstream link
China ordered a number of US chipmakers to submit detailed sales data as part of an anti-dumping probe into American-made analog ICs, like those from Texas Instruments and Analog Devices link
Humanoid robots firm Leju Robotics raised over $200M ahead of a planned listing with backers including Citic Goldstone and state-owned Shenzhen Investment Holdings link
Baidu and a Swiss Post subsidiary will begin autonomous vehicle tests in Switzerland by year-end, aiming to launch the world’s first steering-wheel-free robotaxis to the public in 2027 link
The Trump administration is considering limits on a wide range of software-driven exports to China, including laptops and jet engines, in response to Beijing’s latest rare earth restrictions link
The UK sued HTX, the crypto exchange owned by Justin Sun that’s formerly known as Huobi, for unlawful promotion of assets link
HongShan, formerly known as Sequoia Capital China, is leading a round for AI agent startup Genspark at a proposed $1B valuation link
Xiaomi says surging memory chip prices are pushing up smartphone costs, which could mean higher prices for consumers link
India
We could write reams about this: India is reportedly considering a $50B “Bharat Sovereign Wealth Fund” to generate permanent non-tax revenue through a globally diversified investment portfolio link
A great explainer of how Meesho, which is headed to IPO, built a strong e-commerce network by focusing on non-urban areas and low-spending customers—personally I question how long-term and sustainable the business is link
And a profile of Meesho CEO Vidit Aatrey, who has undertaken multiple pivots to find success with the business and its unique logistics network link
India’s IT ministry proposed amendments to the 2021 IT Rules to regulate deepfakes and AI-generated content—the draft defines “synthetically generated information” as content created or altered algorithmically to appear authentic and subjects it to the same rules as other unlawful or harmful material link
Early-stage fund India Quotient raised $129M for its fifth fund link
Maieutic Semiconductors is using AI to automate analog chip design, aiming to speed up the hardware behind today’s AI, and it just raised $6M—CEO Gireesh Rajendran, formerly of Texas Instruments and Qualcomm, plans early trials of its AI virtual assistant by March ahead of a wider launch link
India cut the number of officials authorized to order online content removals following a legal clash with Elon Musk’s X over the policy link
Crypto exchange WazirX resumed trading nearly 1.5 years after a $230M hack forced it to shut down link
Network equipment firm TP-Link India is looking to set up a factory in the country, its largest globally, as part of a five-year plan, according to a senior executive link
Starlink has begun security tests ahead of launching commercial satellite broadband in the country link
Lenskart is targeting a valuation of over $8B for its coming IPO, which could give investors 5-17X gains link
Uniphore, a 17-year-old US-Indian startup that develops business AI services, raised $260M in Series F funding from NVIDIA, AMD, Snowflake and Databricks at a valuation of $2.5B link
Southeast Asia
Grab is investing in US-based autonomous vehicle startup May Mobility, its second bet on launching robotaxis in the region by 2026 link
Last week we wrote about the US government taking action against pig butchering scams in Cambodia, and now Thailand has revoked the citizenship of a Cambodian tycoon in the latest development link
SpaceX disabled more than 2,000 Starlink devices that were said to be used in Myanmar scam compounds link
Google is launching two agricultural AI tools used to improve farm monitoring and resource management—first tested in India, they are being made available in Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Japan link
GCash, the Philippines fintech backed by Ant Group and Mitsubishi UFJ, is planning a renewed IPO push in 2026 with a view to raising up to $1.5B—it previously postponed a listing due to weak markets and demand link
Ryder, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency hardware wallet maker, raised $3.2M led by US VC and early Bitcoin promoter Tim Draper link
Sea founder Forrest Li told employees the company can reach a $1T market cap thanks to AI, that would mean a massive 10X jump in its current valuation link
Hyperliquid, the Singapore-based decentralized perpetual trading exchange for crypto, is doing a reverse merger with a view to raising up to $1B through a public offering to create a crypto treasury for its HYPE token link
A look at how OnlyFans relies on an eclectic mix of remote workers located in the Philippines to handle conversations between creators and subscribers—which helped net more than $7B in revenue last year link
Singapore-based wealth platform Endowus raised over $70M to bring its total raised to $130M link
StraitsX, the Singapore-based stablecoin startup, raised $10M from cross-border payments provider UQPAY and existing investor NTT DOCOMO link
Apple is now reportedly manufacturing its new M5 Vision Pro in Vietnam in the latest move away from China link
South Korea
A South Korean court cleared Kakao founder Brian Kim of stock manipulation charges link
Krafton, the company behind games such as PUBG: Battlegrounds and the Sims-like InZOI, is making a big push into using AI within the company link
Anthropic is opening a South Korea office as part of its Asia expansion link
Japan
A Tokyo Stock Exchange plan to delist small-cap firms is driving a surge in startup buyouts, as Japan pushes to build more billion-dollar companies link
Japanese convenience stores are employing robots operated remotely by workers in the Philippines, where tele-operators control the machines and help train AI link
AI startup Sakana AI is reportedly in talks with US and Japanese investors to raise $100M at a $2.5B valuation link
SoftBank seeks to sell around $2B of bonds to fuel an aggressive AI push link
A surge in cyberattacks on Japanese companies has exposed major gaps in corporate digital defenses, raising concerns over disruptions to sales and supply chains link
Taiwan
TSMC has applied to build a new A14 chip plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park, the National Science and Technology Council said link
Taiwan’s chipmakers are worried about the feasibility of a government plan to deliver new green power supplies, casting doubt over efforts to satisfy energy security concerns link
Rest of Asia
One of the most prolific hacking groups in North Korea has targeted at least three European companies manufacturing drones and other military equipment link