Also, Digitaraya will be strategic investor for Indonesian Wi-Fi rental startup Passpod, and Former Singapore Tourism Board CEO now becomes CEO Advisor of Grab

India’s Ola has raised US$50M from Hongkong’s Sailing Capital and China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund [Techcrunch]

Ola, the local ride-hailing startup from India, has announced its recent funding of US$50 million, putting it at a US$4.3 billion valuation. The company is backed by Sailing Capital, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm, and a state-backed Chinese fund China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund (CEECF), as reported by Techcrunch.

Both Sailing Capital and CEECF will hold a combined stake of more than 1% in Ola.

Last October, Ola announced that it managed to raise US$1.1 billion from Tencent and SoftBank Group and still planned to reach post-money valuation of US$7 billion, making the Chinese fundings short of its original expectation.

With the funding, Ola plans to expand within and outside of India. It has started to move towards the particular direction with its acquisition of food delivery company Foodpanda, with US$200 million fresh fund injected to the company.

In addition to the Chinese fundings, Ola also announced today that it will begin operating in New Zealand, following earlier launches in United Kingdom and Australia.

Elon Musk’s statement triggers investigation by U.S. Department of Justice [Bloomberg]

CEO of Tesla Inc. Elon Musk has caused the company being probed for fraud by the Department of Justice (DOJ) over a public statement. Last month, Musk tweeted that he was contemplating taking Tesla private and had “funding secured” for the deal, and DOJ has contacted the company requesting documents, as reported by Bloomberg.

“We have not received a subpoena, a request for testimony, or any other formal process. We respect the DOJ’s desire to get information about this and believe that the matter should be quickly resolved as they review the information they have received,” said Tesla Inc. in a statement released yesterday.

Also Read: Singapore’s proptech marketplace Ohmyhome raises US$2.9M to expand into Malaysia, Thailand

The U.S. attorney’s office in the Northern District of California’s investigation follows an issued subpoena by the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking information from the electric-car maker about Musk’s plans to go private. However, the criminal inquiry is still early that it can take months to resolve and may end with prosecutors deciding against bringing any charges.

Tesla shares dropped 3.4 percent to $284.96 on Tuesday and are down about 8.5 percent this year.

Before yesterday’s investigation, Tesla had already been investigated by SEC enforcement attorney in San Fransisco because of the possibility of the company issuing misleading pronouncements on manufacturing goals and sales targets.

The investigation will still take place even with the fact that, less than three weeks after his initial tweets, Musk abandoned the effort. It is said that the investigators can look into the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Tesla’s Chief Accounting Officer, Dave Morton, after less than a month joining Tesla right before Musk’s tumultuous tweet with this on-going situation.

Google Developers Launchpad accelerator Digitaraya plans on becoming a strategic investor for soon-to-go-IPO Passpod [Press Release]

Just recently, Wi-Fi rental startup Passpod announced its plan to go on IPO (Initial Public Offering) in Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI) or Indonesia Stock Exchange. After the announcement, a lot of investors apparently took interest to become strategic investor of the company, including Digitaraya, an accelerator run by Google Developers Launchpad joining with accelerator Kibar.

Right now, Digitaraya is said to be actively investing in various startups in Indonesia, with focus on early-stage startups with high growth potential. They have provided education, mentoring, and funding since early August this year to eight selected startups.

Strategic investors often take interest in startups who are gearing up to go on IPO. It is said to be one of factors that will determine the stock value division without hurting the retail investors’ chance.

With immigration authorities releasing its prediction that this year will be a peak for international travel, Kibar CEO Yansen Kamto admitted that it is the main factor for the company to invest in Passpod. “They have a potential business model as well as market size,” he added.

New CEO advisor of Grab hails from Singapore Tourism Board [Marketing Interactive]

Lionel Yeo, the former CEO of Singapore Tourism Board (STB) reportedly has taken on the role of CEO Advisor at Grab after ending his six year term on May 31, 2018.

Yeo has a wide range of experience sitting on several boards and 22 years career serving the public sector. “Grab believes Yeo’s experience in public sector will add insight and value to the leadership team to steer the organisation through our next phase of growth,” said the Grab spokesperson.

Also Read: Livspace secures US$70M from TPG Growth, Goldman Sachs, Jungle Ventures, others

Yeo’s recent notable work in STB includes the development of “Passion Made Possible”, a unified brand for Singapore launched in August 2017 together with the Economic Development Board and Ministry of Communications and Information. Over the last five years, Yeo has overseen more than 900 events.

Now, CEO of STB has been passed on to Keith Tan Kean Loong, appointed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) effective from October 29, 2018.

—-

Photo by Jp Valery on Unsplash

The post Today’s Top Tech News, September 19: Tesla is being investigated because of an Elon Musk comment, Ride-hailing startup Ola now at US$4.3B valuation after funding appeared first on e27.