Grab and Uber both make moves in Southeast Asia; ezbuy ends relationship with Alibaba

Ride-hailing movements

Uber inks deal with BBM Messenger [Reuters]

Uber announced yesterday that it has struck a deal with Blackberry Messenger (BBM) to allow users on that platform to book rides, according to Reuters. The move is a play towards Indonesia, where BBM remains incredibly popular.

Now, BBM users can book a ride without leaving the app, a function that will also work on Android and iOS. They won’t need to download an Uber app to use the service.

The partnership is with Creative Media Works, the company that operates BBM in Indonesia.

Grab launches in Cambodia, its eight Southeast Asian country [e27]

The Southeast Asian ride-hailing unicorn, Grab, has launched its service in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, making the country the company’s eighth in the region.

The service will start with “just grab” which sets a negotiation-free price for the ride. Users can pay either via GrabPay or through cash if they prefer. The loyalty points programme will also be available with the launch.

The company has partnered with Wing Money to build the financial infrastructure for its driver payment service.

Also Read: From validation to profitability, here are 5 tips for launching a saleable product

Grab now operates in Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Startup deals and initiatives

Supernewsroom partners Cradle to help with media exposure [Press Release]

Cradle, the Malaysian startup investment programme, announced today it has signed a strategic partnership with the PR firm Supernewsroom to provide media exposure for startups.

Supernewsroom is a PR firm that specifically targets startups and works with their limited budgets. The company follows a do-it-yourself approach that provides companies with a directory full of media organisations across Southeast Asia.

Cradle has relationships with about 800 startups and partners and will push them towards Supernewsroom for their PR efforts.

EMQ raises US$6.5 Million to build remittance network across Asia [DealStreetAsia]

EMQ, a Hong Kong based remittance company, has raised US$6.5 million from unnamed investors, according to a report in DealStreetAsia.

The company will use the money to help pay for the costs around regulatory approvals, finance R&D and build out its network across Asia.

EMQ works by partnering with financial institutions across Asia to make remittance payments more efficient. One strategy is to create a variety of options for account top-ups and last-mile logistics. One such example is the partnership it struck with the Hong Kong version of WeChat Pay to help Indonesians and Filipinos in the city send money home.

The company has a presence in Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

ezbuy ends relationship with Taobao [StraitsTimes]

After ezbuy CEO He Jian directed his anger at Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace, the e-commerce company has confirmed it has ended its buy-for-me services on Taobao, according to the Straits Times.

ezbuy has come under criticism an immense backlog of Single’s Day orders made for Taobao. The backlog has been cleared but ezbuy claimed Alibaba was bullying after it froze 300 accounts the company uses to allow international people to buy from Taobao via ezbuy. Alibaba said the ezbuy business model is a form of scalping.

For people who want to buy Chinese goods, they can still go through the buy-for-me service for JD.com and Mogujie. They can also use the service in other countries like Japan South Korea and the US.

Also Read: Inside the guts of a hardware startup: Meet the team behind Rotimatic

—

The post Today’s top tech news: December 19 appeared first on e27.