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Today’s top tech news, July 16: Mid-tier funding galore and M17 ends IPO attempt

Today’s top tech news, July 16: Mid-tier funding galore and M17 ends IPO attempt

Also, Singapore lands another fund and the Hong Kong Central Bank is experimenting with blockchain

Hong Kong spaces-sharing startup raises US$18 million — [Jumpstart]

Campfire, a Hong Kong-based company that offers co-working spaces designed for specific industries, has raised US$18 million led by Kwai Hung Group, Sa Sa Int’l Holdings and Fast Global Holdings, according to Jumpstart.

The money will be used to fuel international expansion and nab a foothold in regional hubs like Bangkok, Tokyo or Brisbane. The company has 20 locations in four countries and now counts itself as Hong Kong’s fastest-growing co-working space.

Co-working is a hyper-competitive industry, but Campfire has stood out because it makes spaces that are friendly to specific jobs. Normal co-working spaces have a general vibe and may have a fintech startup sitting right next to an e-commerce company. Campfire works to try and make its spaces more specific.

M17 Entertainment withdraws from IPO attempt — [M17 Entertainment]

After missing its fundraising target and postponing its IPO, M17 Entertainment has officially withdrawn from the New York Stock Exchange, the company announced on Friday.

The company had aimed to raise US$115 million via a share-sale but had only sold about US$60 million worth of shares by their pre-determined target date.

M17 was hoping to use the money to expand into Japan as well as grow its celebrity database.

M17 is the parent company of the popular Singaporean dating app Paktor.

Thailand’s Eatigo raises an additional US$9.5 million from TripAdvisor — [e27]

Eatigo, a Thailand restaurant booking app with a presence across Southeast Asia and India, announced today it has landed a US$9.5 million investment from TripAdvisor.

TripAdvisor was already heavily invested in Eatigo from a Series B back in October, 2016. The latest financing means Eatigo has nabbed US$25 million in funding to date.

The money will be used to facilitate international expansion and broaden its product features.

GEC-KIP Technology and Innovation Fund launches in Singapore with US$88 million — [e27]

Two Singaporean and Korean investment firms have tied together to launch a US$88 million fund targetting Southeast Asian startups. The companies are Golden Equator Capital and Korea Investment Partners.

The fund hopes that its particularly lucky number will help it find success as it invests in Series A and growth-stage companies.

It expects the cheque size to range from US$1.5 million to US$3.7 million. The fund will be targetting the following sectors: proptech, fintech, healthtech, new media & entertainment, e-commerce and edutech.

Hong Kong’s central bank rolls out blockchain-based trade finance — [e27]

Hong Kong Monetary Authority, in partnership with fintech company OneConnect(owned by China-based Ping An Group), has launched a blockchain-powered trade finance system, says a Financial Times report.

The Hong Kong regulator has already on-boarded 21 banks, including HSBC and Standard Chartered, for the new system which will go live in August.

Since it is on blockchain, the system is expected to reduce the time and paper work related to trade finance and supply-chain finance transactions, as it makes it easy to verify each step of the process and confirm the credentials of the parties involved.

Photo by Erik-Jan Leusink on Unsplash

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