Besides Phandeeyar, the eBay founder's "philanthropic investment firm" has given grants to the Open Myanmar Initiative for election monitoring activities, Yangon Journalism Institute and Myitmaklia News Agency. It also supported a Global Witness report on labour conditions in Myanmar jade mines.
* Malaysia’s Anthony Tan Leads GrabTaxi in Regional App Race—Forbes Asia
GrabTaxi may have won the first rounds. At the end of 2014 Easy Taxi pulled out of Indonesia and was laying off staff in Malaysia, while GrabTaxi Holdings had raised almost $340 million in venture capital and loans; Japan’s SoftBank is its biggest investor.
* 2014 in Review: Thailand’s startup scene—Digital News Asia
It difficult to know whether there actually have been more charges or prosecutions this year relating to lèse majesté – that is, insulting the king or immediate members of the royal family. The previous elected government, led by Yingluck Shinawatra, also oversaw long trials ...
* Myanmar Digital Startup NEX Wins 2nd Round Funds From Blibros—Forbes
The company is also about to release the Nexy Keyboard, the country’s first iOS 8 keyboard in Myanmar that allows typists to use Roman fonts (“Burglish”) to produce words in Myanmar (Burmese) script.
* Rocket’s Asian Ups and Downs—Forbes Asia
By Susan J. Cunningham Forbes Asia Philippine Long-Distance Telephone's 8.6% stake in Rocket Internet is a no-brainer: Telecom and Internet giant PLDT is a pioneer in online and mobile payments, and Rocket’s own payment system, Payleven, quickly foundered in 2012 when the first Rocket e-commerce sites were being established in Asia. For many poorer residents... Continue Reading →
Susan J Cunningham 