A Chinese VR headset producer raises funding while a new chapter in oBike’s deposit drama has opened
Apple is the first US company to reach US$1 trillion market value – Bloomberg
US tech giant Apple has become the first US-based company with a market value of US$1 trillion after its shares rose 2.9 per cent to close at US$207.39 in New York on Thursday, Bloomberg reported.
Before this, Chinese oil giant PetroChina Co had “briefly” crossed the mark in late 2007. But its market value was then affected by the slumping oil prices during the financial crisis.
JD launches cashier-less store in Indonesia – Tech In Asia Indonesia
Chinese e-commerce company JD has opened its cashier-less store JD.ID X-Mart at PIK Avenue, North Jakarta, Tech In Asia Indonesia reported.
The first the company has opened outside of China, the store offered products ranging from food, cosmetics, to clothes.
To enter the store, customers need to use the QR code available on their JD mobile app and have their face identified by a camera. Once the door opened, customers can begin shopping.
Once they are done, customers will then have their face being identified again by the camera, and have their purchases paid using the credit card that has been inputted to the mobile app. The door will only open after the customers go through this process.
Also Read: Today’s top tech news, August 1: Huawei overtakes Apple to take number 2 spot
Chinese VR headset company Pico raises US$24.7M Series A funding round – Dealstreet Asia
Beijing-based VR headset company Pico announced that it has raised a US$24.7 million Series A funding round led by GF Qianhe and GF Xinde Investment, Dealstreet Asia reported.
Jufeng S&T Investments and other investors also participated in the funding round.
The company said that the funding has enable it to increase investment in 3D sensing and augmented reality (AR) technologies; it is also the first public financing for the company since its establishment in 2015.
The company claimed to hold 435 domestic authorised patents and 192 authorised overseas patents. It is run by a team of 300 employees in Beijing, Qingdao, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Barcelona.
Liquidators aim to regain oBike users’ deposit hits roadblock – Today
Liquidators’ effort to retrieve oBike users’ deposit has hit a roadblock, Today reported.
Owing S$8.9 million (US$6.4 million) to about 220,500 users in Singapore, oBike has received S$11.7 million (US$ 8.5 million) in customer deposits and top-ups. The company has transferred about S$10 million to its Hong Kong business as “pre-payments,” according to FTI Consulting senior managing Director Joshua Taylor on Thursday at a meeting with creditors.
The money offset a loan of S$11 million from oBike Hong Kong and it was purportedly used to buy 70,000 bicycles for oBike Singapore. However, calling the move as “inappropriate,” Taylor believes that the money transferred to Hong Kong was not used to purchase the bicycles as there was a separate account that showed the funding for bicycles.
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