Plus, an influencer marketing platform launches X10 Media and Warung Pintar raises US$27.5 million

Faves launches new media group, X10 Media, to consolidate marketing properties — [Press Release]

Faves Holdings, a marketing company targetting micro-influencers, announced today the launch of X10 Media Group, a product that aims to help sales conversions for brands.

As part of the announcement, Faves announced an undisclosed funding round that valued the company at S$1 million (US$740,000). The money will be used for hiring as well as expanding its micro-influencer network.

Furthermore, the company is building a travel and events product that they plan to launch by the end of Q1.

The Singaporean company is looking at an impending launch in Indonesia.

Korean ride-hailing startup TADA launches in Vietnam — [Press Release]

TADA, a ride-hailing app built by the South Korean company MVL Technology Pte. Ltd, announced today it has launched in Vietnam — its third Southeast Asian market after Singapore and Cambodia.

TADA is trying to distinguish itself from its much larger competitors (Grab and Go-Jek) by offering no comission fees for drivers. They charge a 5% processing fee for credit cards, but the hope is by helping drivers pocket a greater share of the fare they can build a sufficient supply-demand.

TADA means “let’s ride” in Korean.

DJI says fraud has cost business US$150 million — [South China Morning Post]

DJI, Chinese drone maker, revealed it has discovered internal fraud that may have cost the company as much as US$150 million, according to the South China Morning Post.

The company says it discovered a number of employees were inflating sales numbers and pocketing the differences. The employees have been fired and a criminal probe is underway. According to the SCMP, the US$150 million number makes this one of the largest cases of internal corruption within a Chinese tech firm.

DJI employs around 14,000 people and is easily the most well-recognised drone company in the world.

Warung Pintar nabs US$27.5 million Series B — [e27]

Indonesia’s, a micro-retail tech startup has announced today a Series B funding round totaling US$27.5 million.

Existing investors who participated include SMDV, Vertex Ventures, Pavilion Capital, LINE Ventures, Digital Garage, Agaeti, Triputra, Jerry Ng, and EV Growth. The new investor coming on board is OVO.

“Warung Pintar has significantly push mitra’s (term to call its partners) income up to 41 per cent. We will continue to strive in transforming micro-retail so they can have a more competitive advantage in the midst of the retail landscape and build a better economy for themselves,” said Co-Founder & CEO Warung Pintar, Agung Bezharie Hadinegoro.

Jojonomic nabs undisclosed round from Finch Capital — [e27]

Southeast Asia-operated expense and business management platform Jojonomic has announced an undisclosed amount of funding raised led Finch Capital. Participating in the round are Jojonomic’s existing investors East Ventures and Golden Gate Ventures.

This round makes for Jojonomic’s shareholder base, which now covers Europe, the US, Japan, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia.

Jojonomic had said it intends to use the funding for completing Jojonomic’s portfolio of business solutions, integrating external data, expanding its customer base across Indonesia, and beyond, and developing further Jojonomic’s use of machine learning.

The post Today’s top tech news, January 21: Major graft at DJI and TADA moves into Vietnam appeared first on e27.