What could change in Malaysia’s tech scene post-elections

More: A Malaysian nutrition company’s US$270 million SPAC deal and Akulaku’s potential US$200 million funding from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. [Read from your browser]( Daily Newsletter --------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to Tech in Asia's free Daily Newsletter! Get full access to our subscribers-only Daily Newsletter and other insightful analysis on the big and messy topics of Asia’s tech and startup community by [registering here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Hello {NAME} At university, I did a double major in communications and political studies. Communications was always going to be my top choice, and the second major was a toss up between politics, sociology, and linguistics. Shout out to the University of Melbourne for having introductory lectures that help undergrads figure out what majors they wanted to commit to. That year, the linguistics lecture was canceled, the sociology one was just okay, but the politics session really caught my attention. It was also a nice little bonus that I got the same lecturer for a US politics module that I took a couple semesters later. So yes, I do have a general interest in politics, albeit mainly in the mechanisms of the various forms of government and how they’ve been employed. I had no intention of being a politician myself. In the words of Obi-Wan Kenobi, “I’m not brave enough for politics.” This academic interest has persisted, so you can imagine my delight when I started reading my colleague Emmanuel’s Dan Lain-Lain weekly column, which looks at the goings-on in the Malaysia tech scene and comes with a healthy dose of current affairs, policy, and politics. With elections in the country having concluded just recently, it’s been very intriguing to read about how the political shifts could affect the country’s tech sphere. The latest edition of his column likens the new government to a startup. Read on to see what that means exactly. -- Winston  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THE BIG STORY [3 things about Malaysia’s new ‘startup’ government]( The country is open for business, but reforms may be slow. --------------------------------------------------------------- TRENDING NEWS [Ant-backed Akulaku reportedly in discussions to raise $200m]( Japan-based Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is considering investment in the Indonesia-based unicorn, Bloomberg reported. [Grab to freeze hiring, forego merit increases for senior positions]( There were no mentions of layoffs in the company’s plans to cope with the economic downturn, according to a Reuters report. [Malaysian nutrition firm enters SPAC deal for $270m]( Following the transaction with SPAC firm Kairous, Wellous plans to list on Nasdaq. [SG healthtech firm bags $10m from Mitsui, others]( Aktivolabs uses real-time data from smartphones and wearable devices to predict and prevent chronic diseases. [Korean webtoon platform banks $7.6m]( Postype helps content creators monetize their work and connect to fans. [SG website builder raises $9m in series A money]( Plugo was established by the founder of CodeBrick, a South Korea-based firm that ran a similar service in Indonesia called TokoTalk. ---------------------------------------------------------------  TECH IN ASIA SCHOOL Perfect your pitch Leverage TIA School’s connections with Southeast Asia’s finest founders and investors by signing up for our Fundraising Program, where you’ll get a leg up in your fundraising journey. This program is for early-stage founders to sharpen their pitch and get them investor-ready within six weeks. 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