Today was a busy day in the world of tech, so let’s get to it

Go-Jek announces its Vietnamese and Thailand brands, GO-VIET and GET respectively — [e27]

Today may mark the date in which Go-Jek publicly went international after it announced the incorporation of two new companies under its umbrella. In Vietnam, the new brand will be called GO-VIET while in Thailand it will be known as GET.

The companies will be run by local management teams and the beta testing phase in Vietnam is expected to start as soon as July. GET will launch in Thailand after Vietnam.

Both companies will start with ride-hailing and on-demand logistics in the beginning. Go-Jek has raised US$500 million to fuel this expansion effort.

oBike shuts down in Singapore — [e27]

The Singaporean bike-sharing company, oBike, announced today its service will no longer be available in its home city.

The company cited difficulties meeting regulations set by the Land Transit Authority (LTA), which involved applying for a license to operate by July 7 or face a shutdown.

The regulations will mean that if users cannot park their bike in a designated area, they will continue to be charged. Haphazard parking of bike-shares is a legitimate issue in Singapore as residents do complain about bikes being strewn about with seemingly little care for the surrounding environment.

Meituan-Dianping files for IPO in Hong Kong – [HKEX]

Meituan-Dianping, the one-stop-shop for online-to-offline bookings in China, officially filed for its IPO today, making it the second major Chinese technology company to pursue and IPO in the city in recent weeks. The other is the smartphone maker Xiaomi.

Meituan allows users to buy things like movie tickets, dance studio bookings or KTV evenings online. The company is 19 per cent owned by Tencent.

The prospectus revealed startling losses of US$2.9 billion last years, which was spent on marketing in research as it expands into as many Chinese cities as possible.

Aahaa Stores raises US$2 million to expand and hire talent — [Press Release]

Aaha, a New Dehli-based e-commerce platform focussed on office supplies, announced today it has raises US$2 million to expand into additional markets and hire the requisite employees. This brings the startups total funding to US$4 million.

“In all, this step should enable us to provide superior customer experience resulting in enhanced trust & confidence, gain priority from quality suppliers and attract talent. We are well on course to achieve the first milestone of Rs. 100 million per month sales,” said Asokan Sattanathan the Founder and Chairman of Aahaa Stores. said

“Using these funds, we plan to expand the full range of curated assortment of products across all major brands in Stationery, Printed materials, Housekeeping, Electronics & IT, Food & Beverage, Packaging and Company specific consumables.”

PropertyGuru Co-founder joins Wavemaker as Venture Partner – [e27]

Wavemaker Partners, an active VC firm in Southeast Asia, has announced the appointments of PropertyGuru Co-founder Steve Melhuish as a Venture Partner, and veteran investment banker Sui Ling Cheah as an Operating Partner.

Melhuish will help part-time to source for new investments, evaluate potential deals and advise portfolio companies, while Cheah will help the more mature companies in the portfolio with business development, follow-on financing and exits.

Melhuish was the long-time CEO of PropertyGuru, Southeast Asia’s leading property portal. He is one of the rare entrepreneurs in the region who has built a company into leadership in five markets. He stepped down as the CEO of the company in 2016.

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The post Today’s top tech news, June 25: Go-Jek reveals expansion brands and oBike closes in Singapore appeared first on e27.