Muslim Pro charts new course with first external raise

More: Alibaba pumps more capital into Lazada amid fierce ecommerce competition. [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](.  --------------------------------------------------------------- IN FOCUS In today's newsletter, we spotlight: - [Bitsmedia’s plan to be “the digital home for all things Muslim”]( - TikTok taking a controlling stake in Tokopedia - Other newsy highlights such as Lazada receiving a hefty capital injection from Alibaba --------------------------------------------------------------- Hello {NAME} It’s hard to swim against the tide of prevailing opinion. Waters in the tech ecosystem today are strongly pulling in one direction: profit. With funding hard to come by, founders are under increasing pressure to prioritize profit over growth. Bitsmedia, the company behind the Islam-focused lifestyle app Muslim Pro, at one point, emphasized growth over profit. Now, though, the firm is moving in a new direction as it aims to both grow and hit profitability. The company recently raised external funding for the first time to the tune of US$20 million, which it plans to use to fuel its ambitious expansion plans. -- Peter  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THE BIG STORY [Gobi-backed $20m round paves way for SG Islamic lifestyle app’s expansion plans]( Bitsmedia will be launching an AI-based search engine for Muslims soon and plans to offer ecommerce and financial services through partnerships. --------------------------------------------------------------- TRENDING NEWS [TikTok takes controlling stake in Tokopedia, to pour $1.5b in merged biz (Update)]( The partnership would see the merged entity run and maintain the shopping features within TikTok’s app in Indonesia. [Alibaba pours $634m into Lazada as competition heats up]( With this investment, the Chinese tech titan has injected over US$1.8 billion in total into Lazada this year. ---------------------------------------------------------------  VISUAL STORY OF THE DAY [Capital SEA: Southeast Asia’s funding landscape]( Who are the new active investors on the block? Which funding rounds look like outliers? This visual story answers all this and more. ---------------------------------------------------------------  IN PARTNERSHIP WITH The hidden red tape of selling online We live in a globalized, digital world. A software firm in Singapore, for instance, can sell its solution to businesses in places as far away as Texas or Amsterdam, and it can do this entirely online. However, selling goods online is not as easy as it seems. Firms have to be registered in the foreign markets it operates in, ensure that they accept local payment methods, put in place the right sales tax or value-added tax, and align with local rules and taxes on the sale of digital goods, among other requirements. That’s a huge undertaking, especially for businesses trying to scale. If you’re devoting essential resources to compliance, what happens to growth? That’s where merchants of record like FastSpring come into the picture. It helps facilitate payments between buyers and sellers, taking care of all the nitty-gritty details of selling online. Check out [FastSpring’s website]( to learn more about how it can help you on your journey. ---------------------------------------------------------------  EVENTS HAPPENING You can also check out a curated list of trending tech events [over here](. - [The Future of MarTech: Trends Shaping 2024 and Beyond on January 16]( On January 16, senior marketing, product and growth leaders in Singapore are invited to kickstart the year at The Future of MarTech: Trends Shaping 2024 and Beyond, an executive roundtable and networking lunch. Limited to just 15 guests, register for a chance to -Gain insights into the problem of rising customer acquisition costs and the shift from adtech to martech -Learn the latest best practices in hyper-personalization by leveraging genAI tools for customer engagement -Explore the potential of AI and data intelligence in predicting customer behavior -Discover emerging trends in 2024 to stay ahead of evolving consumer needs [Full details & registration here!]( ---------------------------------------------------------------  PRESS PEEKS The following press releases were published as they were received, without any editing from the Tech in Asia team. You too can publish your own press release on Tech in Asia by simply filling in [this]( page](. Our team will get back to you by the next business day. - Ninety-Eight - [Viction Horizon – A Startup Hackathon with over $300,000 in prizes]( The official Submission form for Viction Horizon Startup Hackathon is now open from December 4th to December 27th, 2023. ---------------------------------------------------------------  WHO'S HIRING You can post a job [here]( or search for jobs [here](. - [Android Developer]( at Indocyber Global Teknologi Jakarta, Indonesia - [Front End Engineer (Remote)]( at Adzymic Jakarta, Indonesia - [IT Desktop Engineer]( at Graha Karya Informasi Jakarta, Indonesia - [Digital Marketing Senior Associate]( at Deliveree Indonesia Jakarta, Indonesia - [Legal Supervisor]( at Scout.inc Jakarta, Indonesia - [General Affairs Associate]( at Hangry Jakarta, Indonesia [ADVERTISE]( | [SUBSCRIBE]( P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Tech in Asia thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Too many emails? Switch to a different frequency or get new content through our [preference center]( or [unsubscribe](. You can also break our hearts and remove yourself from all Tech in Asia emails over [here](  ---------------------------------------------------------------  Copyright © 2023 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 63 Robinson Road, Singapore 068894