Hong Kong Startup News Roundup - 26 May 2019

Korean accelerator Hashed leads investment in HK’s Animoca Brands

Hong Kong-based gaming startup Animoca Brands and its subsidiary Pixowl announced that its forthcoming decentralized blockchain gaming platform, The Sandbox, has completed an investment round and token sale of US$2.5 million, led by South Korea’s crypto assets fund and accelerator Hashed. 

The investment will accelerate the growth of user-generated content (UGC) gaming platform that will empower creators through digital ownership and monetization of 3D voxel creations made and shared by users around the world.

Crunchbase and e27 promote HK FinTech scene through WHub’s White Paper

Crunchbase and e27 have released articles to promote Hong Kong’s FinTech scene through WHub’s FinTech White Paper.

The paper outlines the growth of Hong Kong’s FinTech ecosystem while providing detailed insights on specific areas including the Fintech startups, Greater Bay Area, unicorns, government initiatives, corporate initiatives, and community builders

Download your FREE copy: https://whub.io/s/0kp2Sbw 

IDG leads funding round for KR Space of RMB 1B

Financially troubled co-working space provider Kr Space announced on Wednesday that it has completed a $1 billion RMB ($145 million) round of funding, jointly led by IDG Capital, Gopher Asset Management and Hubei Yixing Capital. The funds will be used to implement a new strategy centred on acting as an asset manager. 

Under this new approach, Kr Space will “complete its transformation from a co-working space operator to a provider of comprehensive office services as well as a new type of asset management.”

Dubai start-up acquires Hong Kong based Guiltless.com

Dubai-based start-up The Luxury Closet, an e-commerce platform for pre-owned luxury goods, has closed an $11 million growth funding round, which it will use to expand into Hong Kong.

The expansion will see The Luxury Closet acquire Hong Kong-based Guiltless.com, an e-commerce platform that was founded in 2014 by Yen Kuok and which also specialises in new and second-hand luxury goods.

The Luxury Closet founder and CEO Kunal Kapoor said the acquisition of Guiltless.com will provide the Dubai start-up with a “strong foothold in the rapidly growing Asian market” and allow it offer delivery, and concierge services customers in Hong Kong.

Amazon leads Deliveroo Series G funding round

Deliveroo, a unicorn food delivery startup and U.K.’s largest online food delivery company, has raised $575 million Series G funding investment led by Amazon. The latest round of latest investment, which was also backed by existing investors T Rowe Price, Fidelity Management and Research Company, and Greenoaks, brings total funding raised to date to $1.53 billion. Deliveroo is an international competitor to Uber Eats.

“This funding round will enable Deliveroo to further develop our offer for restaurants and riders and means we will serve even more people amazing food, when and where they want it. This is an exciting moment in the company’s journey. Richard has been working with us since our Series A investment and he and his dedicated team have always provided valuable support and advice,” said Thea Rogers, Chief Communications, Policy and Legal Officer of Deliveroo.