Hong Kong Startup News Round Up - 20180223

TravelTech startup KKday raises US$10.5M

Taiwan-based TravelTech startup KKday has raised US$10.5 million in a Series B round led by Japanese travel operator H.I.S. with the participation from existing investor MindWorks Ventures. KKday is a travel tour and activities marketplace that allows travellers to discover and reserve travel experiences online. KKday is looking to grow its customer numbers in various markets like China, Europe and the U.S.

KKday has previously secured US$11.5 million in Series A from AppWorks Ventures, 91Capital, Monk’s Hill Ventures, Mindworks Ventures, Cathay Venture and Substance Capital (HK).

China surges ahead of US in AI startup funding

 According to CB Insights, artificial intelligence startups worldwide has raised a record $15.2 billion in 2017, Chinese startups accounted for 48% of the total.

Chinese AI startups like Megvii Technology, Yitu Technology,  CloudWalk Technology and Hong Kong-based SenseTime are some of the big players in the sector.

South Korea's Kakao Mobility acquires carpool startup Luxi for US$23.4M

South Korea's Kakao Mobility acquired local carpool startup Luxi for US$23.4 million. Luxi is one of the major carpool services in Korea, the startup has raised US$470,000 in investment.

Kakao Mobility, a mobility business spin-off of mobile service provider Kakao, provides online taxi-hailing and parking services.

Egg Substitute Just Scramble enters Hong Kong to test market for Asian expansion

San Francisco-based JUST, formerly Hampton Creek, debuted Just Scramble, its new vegan scrambled “eggs” in Hong Kong to test the Asian market. Just Scramble was introduced to the menu at Green Common,  a Hong Kong chained vegan restaurant and shop.

Founded by CEO and Founder Josh Tetrick, JUST has raised US$90 million in a Series C round led by Li Ka-Shing's Horizons Ventures and Khosla Ventures in December 2014. In February 2014, Horizons Ventures has also put $15.5 million into the company.

500 Startups partners with blockchain incubator Huobi Labs

500 Startups has partnered with Huobi Labs to support the growth of blockchain startups that participated in their Batch 23.  500 Startups and Huobi Labs will team up to design the programme as well as select startups for the Batch 23 blockchain track.

Huobi Labs, a blockchain incubator created by Huobi in Singapore, incubates pre-ICO projects. 500 Startups announced its launch of its blockchain track as part of the March 2018 accelerator program in early February.