Also, cooking startup YoRipe launches smart eating app, and MadThread raises seed funding

LINE Bank permitted to operate internet-only bank [Press Release]

LINE Bank Preparatory Office announced today that it has been granted a permit to establish an internet-only bank by Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission.

The statement read: “The consortium members of the LINE Bank Preparatory Office appreciate the positive response by the Financial Supervisory Commission, and we are pleased to have been successfully granted an internet- only banking permit.”

Going forward, LINE Bank noted that they will continue the plan to introduce banking services involving AI, big data, and financial technologies, as it develops secure personal finance experiences that can improve banking for all consumers.

Taiwan is an important market for LINE, with a significant user base of 21 million people.

The LINE Bank Preparatory Office consortium is comprised of LINE Financial Taiwan (49.9 per cent), Taipei Fubon Bank (25.1 per cent), CTBC Bank (5 per cent), FarEasTone (5 per cent), Standard Chartered Bank (5 per cent), Taiwan Mobile (5 per cent), and Union Bank of Taiwan (5 per cent).

Cooking and grocery startup YoRipe introduces mobile apps for personalised smart cooking [Press Release]

Singapore-based cooking and grocery lifestyle startup YoRipe announced that it has launched its mobile application today. Bagging partnership with household brands such as Lee Kum Kee and Knorr, and local artisanal brands such as Kroodi and Modern Mum, the app will offer recipes for smarter cooking targeted at families.

Also Read: Perx secures US$5M Series B funding from LINE Ventures

According to 2018 National Nutrition Survey, Singaporean diet has made a transition, towards one that is of lower carbohydrates and of better quality. As a result, more Singaporeans are transitioning to cooking at home instead of eating out to have more control over what they eat, which prompted the idea of YoRipe.

YoRipe seeks to encourage and educate Singaporeans to prepare meals with healthier choices that’s still tasty and easy to make.

“YoRipe simplifies the fragmented planning, buying and cooking steps into a one-stop solution,” said Xinyan Fang, Founder of YoRipe.

Features of YoRipe include the ability to keying in dietary preferences – such as avoiding certain food or the kind of diets that the users are on, level of cooking skills, and highlight desired outcomes – such as weight loss or muscle building, and YoRipe will filter out the recipes based on the preferences to cook. Users can also generate a smart grocery list from the selected recipes in the application for easy reference when shopping.

As of its official launch today, YoRipe said it has already clocked over 4,000 users and has attracted around US$300,000 in pre-seed funding from talent incubator Antler, National University of Singapore’s entrepreneurial arm NUS Enterprise, and angel investors.

Singapore rental fashion startup MadThread secures US$500K in seed funding [Inside Retail Asia]

MadThread, rental fashion startup, announced that it has received US$500,000 worth of investment from AngelCentral, an angel investment community that supports startups in Southeast Asia, and Phey Teck Moh. It’s reported that eleven other investors also participated.

MadThread was founded in 2018 and offers rental fashion via a subscription model. Its model is an unlimited ‘closet in the cloud’ consists of various fashion brands at a monthly flat fee, as explained by Nicole Hu, founder, and CEO of MadThread.

Prior to this seeding round, MadThread had received a six-figure investment.

OCBC Bank launches ATM-cash withdrawals using QR Code in Singapore [Press Release]

OCBC Bank has announced the launch of QR Code that will enable customers to withdraw cash from 655 OCBC ATMs in Singapore directly by scanning the QR code on its OCBC Pay Anyone app.

The ranks of OCBC Bank’s customers who used mobile banking at least once, in the last three months, the company noted, may have grown by 25 per cent since last year.

By just scanning a QR code using the OCBC Pay Anyone app, customers can withdraw cash after following through with authenticating the transaction via fingerprint, faceprint, or mobile banking login credentials.

Using a QR code has been hailed as a safer alternative to keying in a PIN because it can use biometric authentication instead of an easily stolen PIN number. Another reason is that a physical ATM card can be easily skimmed while a mobile device cannot.

Also Read: LINE, iPrice Group join forces to launch LINE SHOPPING in Indonesia

“As we accelerate our drive to go cashless, we also recognise that ATMs are still an essential and frequently used touchpoint for our customers. Increasingly, more of these customers are getting familiar with and scanning QR codes to pay, and we wanted to bring them the same ease, speed, and security when they get cash at our ATMs” said Aditya Gupta, Head of Digital Business, Singapore and Malaysia, OCBC Bank.

Thailand launches new regulations, pledges to dedicate a fund to support tech innovations [DealStreetAsia]

Thailand has issued three new regulations that will kickstart the set up of the Young Startup Fund to support tech innovation in the country.

The three key laws will include the Startup Act to facilitate the establishment of local and international startups through tax incentives and foreign shareholders, the Regulatory Sandbox Act that will pilot innovative ideas, and the Bayh-Dole Act which will protect researchers’ intellectual properties.

According to Thailand higher education, science, research and innovation minister Suvit Maesincee, the Young Startup Fund will provide grants for students who have innovative ideas that can later contribute to startups. The fund will be drawn from the government, private partners and the 2-billion-baht technology and innovation-based Enterprise Development Fund.

The move came as a result of industry experts asserted the need for education incentives in Thailand to generate more tech talent for startups.

Singapore blockchain firm Perlin buys out Dispatch Labs [Token Post]

Perlin, Singapore-based blockchain firm that ties to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), reportedly has bought Dispatch Labs.

There have been reports that Dispatch Labs is suffering from several setbacks, including losses after a market slump. Dispatch Labs has been experiencing troubles in recent months, even after receiving US$13 million in additional funds courtesy of private rounds.

Perlin has built a reputation around being involved in several blockchain pilots and has affecting distributed ledger technology (DLT) sector in APAC. It has also been working with the ICC to establish a Center of Future Trade (CoFT) – an open digital platform and support blockchain and DLT adoption in the fields of agriculture, energy, household goods, metals, and minerals.

Dispatch Labs CTO Zane Witherspoon pointed out that this new deal came out of necessity. He explained that the firm was “too slow reacting to the bear market”.

“We’ll be working together from this point onward to marry the technology, business partnerships, and revenue strategies of our now unified organizations,” said Witherspoon.

The amount that went into buying the startup has not been revealed.
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Photo by Muhammad Raufan Yusup on Unsplash

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