Business and technology quick bites: 24.05.2021

Updated version at 8.10 am

The highlighted words in red are links to the news article.

May 24, 2021,

Business News

1. US equity futures dipped and Asian contracts pointed to a muted start Monday as traders weighed the volatile slump in cryptocurrencies and the inflation outlook.
2. Bitcoin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, is down 48% from the year’s high of US$64,895.22 on April 14, to US$33,747.21 at 1400 GMT (10am ET) on Sunday, losing US$3,753.33 from its previous close.
3. Genting Hong Kong is assessing whether it will have “sufficient financial resources to continue as a going concern” after the pandemic nearly wiped out its cruise business, it reported a net loss of US$1.7 billion and net operating cash outflow of US$629 million for the year ended December.
4. Asset bubbles are forming in China, as home prices are soaring, prompting officials to revive the idea of a national property tax.
5. Garuda Indonesia plans restructuring that will potentially reduce the number of planes it operates to less than half its main fleet as the airline seeks to survive the crisis wrought by the pandemic.

Technology News

1. TaniHub Group, which operates e-commerce and P2P lending platforms for farmers in Indonesia, raised a US$65.5 million Series B round of financing, led by MDI Ventures.
2. Microsoft’s venture fund arm M12 injected US$6.25 million into NextBillion.ai, an Artificial Intelligence powered hyperlocal solutions startup in Singapore. The fresh funds will be for hiring, building vertical specific AI-first capabilities, and expanding into new domains like neuro-linguistic programming and facial recognition.
3. Malaysian drone-startup Aerodyne partners with AI and Robotics Ventures (ARV), a subsidiary of Thailand’s national oil company PTTEP, and IT solutions firm Digital Creation to provide drone-based enterprise solutions across Thailand.
4. Indian social commerce firm CityMall to raise $30 million in new Series B funding, with a valuation over $150 million.