Top Stories of The Week

Hello there ,

My latest story on UangTeman sees the troubled online lender find a potential acquirer: a Singapore-based fintech company called IN Financial Technologies Holdings. Of course, the deal isn’t final yet, but could this solve UangTeman’s problems?

Its ex-employees, however, are not keen to stick around and find out. This isn’t the first time they’ve heard of a potential acquisition, and they’ve already requested an audience with Indonesia’s financial services authority. Meanwhile, UangTeman continues to push back its timeline for settling unpaid salaries, taxes, and social security.

Here’s the dilemma: The company needs employees to cooperate if it wants to close the acquisition, especially as it seeks to extend its lending license. On the other hand, it’s no surprise that by this point, employees are no longer patient and are unwilling to take extraordinary steps.

Where does UangTeman go from here? I suppose only time will tell.

– Putra Muskita, journalist at Tech in Asia

TOP STORIES THIS WEEK

1. Troubled UangTeman finds potential buyer, seeks OJK license extension
Former employees, however, continue to be skeptical, and they have requested an audience with Indonesia's financial services authority.

2. BNPL sours in Australia, but will SEA players buck the trend?
Australian BNPL stocks have gone into a tailspin since February 2021 as the model’s defensibility and regulatory risks are called into question.

3. C-suite changes on the cards at MDEC: sources
Key personnel at Malaysia’s digital economy agency have quit while a tech veteran has been appointed as consultant.

4. A list of fundraising startups from Asia (Updated)
Fundraising is hard. To make things slightly easier, we've compiled this list of fundraising startups for our subscribers.

5. Can India recreate China’s live commerce magic?
India’s short-video players and general ecommerce marketplaces are vying to capture the country’s up-and-coming live commerce sector.

6. Is Asia ready for Sequoia’s perpetual fund model?
Asia isn't included in Sequoia's permanent fund plans, but a recent wave of tech IPOs may signal a growing relevance for the fund structure in the region.

7. Explaining Vietnam’s crypto boom
While the country’s young investors are loving crypto for the short-term profits, startups hope this will inspire teams to harness the power of Web3.

8. Why Indian edtech’s self-regulation move won’t stop government intervention
The formation of the Indian Edtech Consortium comes at a time when the government is mulling over an edtech regulation policy.

9. Org Chart: The people helming Sea Group
We look at the captains leading Sea Group as the firm makes major moves in digital banking and in markets like Latin America and Europe.

10. Exclusive: Indonesia’s eFishery nets $90m series C from Temasek, SoftBank, Sequoia
The round is the largest-ever VC financing for an aquaculture startup globally, and it will fuel eFishery’s expansion to 10 countries by 2025.

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