In Brief

Tencent’s Weisihi tops Apple App Store’s free apps Source: Technode

Tencent’s short video app Weishi has become the most popular free app on the Apple App Store.

The development comes after the social media and gaming giant quietly allowed some of its WeChat users to directly share and post videos from the app on WeChat starting September 15.

Videos from Bytedance’s Tik Tok and other popular platforms remain blocked due to ‘Maliciously induced sharing’.

Amazon struggles to combat bribery in Chinese operations

Source: The Epoch Times

Amazon, the world largest internet retailer, shuffled its Chinese business recently, to crack down on bribery among its employees in country.

Reports say that its independent sellers paid employees for customers’ data as well as deleting negative reviews etc.

Vietnam-China trade fair in October

Source: Vietnam News

The Vietnam-China international trade fair will begin in Vietnam's border province of Lạng Sơn from October 30, its organising board informed.

The event is expected to feature about 300 booths, including 250 domestic and 20.

Nguyễn Công Trưởng, vice chairman of Lạng Sơn People’s Committee, said the trade fair would serve as a platform for displaying and selling products, fostering better relations between the two countries and for signing commercial contracts.

Ho Chi Minh pledges support to ICT companies

Source: Vietnam News

Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh (HCM) city authorities have pledged continued assistance to Information Communication Technology (ICT) companies.

At a meeting held in the city on Tuesday Trần Vĩnh Tuyến, vice chairman of HCM City People’s Committee, said: “The city is committed to having no monopoly in the ICT sector. Implementation of any ICT project must be based on bidding.”

Flipkart gets Rs 34.62 bn from its Singapore parent Source: PTI

Flipkart Internet, the online marketplace arm of the Walmart-backed company, has received an infusion of Rs 34.62 billion from its Singapore parent.

The development comes ahead of India’s upcoming festive season, when e-commerce companies are expecting higher sales on their marketplaces. According to a RedSeer Consulting report, about 20 million people are expected to shop on various e-commerce platforms during October, translating into sales of around $3 billion for players like Amazon and Flipkart.

In a statement shared with The Passage on Tuesday, Flipkart said it expects to see a surge of 8-10X in sale of perfumes on its platform during the festive season. And, hence the company has revamped its product called ‘ Authenticated’, which will ensure originality of the perfume sold on the marketplace.

Livspace raises $ 70 mn Series C funds

Source: The Economic Times

Online home design startup Livspace has received Seriec C funding of $70 million led by private equity firm TPG Growth and Goldman Sachs. Existing investors including Jungle Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Helion Ventures also participated in the round.

The company will use the fresh capital to strengthen the company’s offline footprint along with marketing and branding spends.

Livspace operates four large and 20 mini experience centres in India currently, and it aims to double it by end of FY19. The company is also planning to expand in international markets.