In addition to Pathao, we also have updates from Huawei, the Indonesian government, and how blockchain technology helps the #MeToo movement in China
Bangladeshi ride-hailing startup Pathao raises pre-Series B – e27
Dhaka-based ride-hailing startup Pathao today announced an undisclosed pre-Series B funding round from a number of investors including Indonesian ride-hailing giant Go-Jek.
Go-Jek has previously participated in a Series A funding round for the company.
Openspace Ventures (formerly known as NSI Ventures), Osiris Group, and Battery Road Digital Holdings also participated in the current round, which is said to put the startup’s valuation to over US$100 million.
Pathao CEO Hussain M. Elius said that the funding will be used to support growth in more cities in the country, expansion of its food delivery vertical, and the launch of its cashless payment feature PathaoPay.
Indonesia urges ride-hailing companies to add SOS system to app – Tempo.co
West Jakarta Police Chief Sr. Comr. Hengki Haryadi urged ride-hailing companies operating in Indonesia to include an emergency system in their app in order to prevent criminal incidents, according to Tempo.co.
The call followed a recent criminal incident when a GrabCar passenger was robbed and trapped in a vehicle for seven hours, on a journey between her home in West Jakarta to her office in Central Jakarta.
Haryadi also called for companies to develop a system that will prevent fraudsters to pose as GrabCar driver, as the alleged robber is reported to have borrowed his stepfather’s GrabCar vehicle and logged in to his account to pose as a driver.
The police had shot dead the alleged robber on Thursday.
Also Read: Indonesian ride-hailing giant Go-Jek to launch online content production house, streaming service
Huawei mulls building Android alternative following US-China trade tensions – South China Morning Post
Chinese smartphone giant Huawei is developing its own smartphone OS, according to a South China Morning Post report.
Citing four anonymous sources, Huawei is said to have been developing the OS following an investigation into the company and ZTE in 2012. The development of the OS is seen as a “worst case scenario” as the US government tightens scrutiny over trade relations with China.
The OS was not released as it was considered “not as good as” Android.
#MeToo activists in China utilise blockchain to defeat censorship – AFP
Proponents of the anti-sexual harassment movement #MeToo in China has been using the Ethereum service to dodge censorship against the movement on local social media channels, AFP reported.
The case began when a student named Yue Xin wrote an open letter calling Peking University to release details of an investigation into a sexual harassment case that had happened in 1998. Yue then began receiving threats from the university to take down the petition; the student then decided to move the letter into the blockchain to prevent it from being censored.
Leonhard Weese, president of The Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong, commented that in order to see the letter, users would need to “download the entire blockchain and search for it with special software tools.” He sees the action as a “symbolic move” to keep the message up “forever,” though it may not help with the distribution of the message itself.
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Image Credit: Štefan Štefančík on Unsplash
The post Today’s top tech news, April 27: Pathao closes pre-Series B funding round from Go-Jek, Openspace appeared first on e27.