China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba Group discussed raising at least $1 billion for its Southeast Asian arm Lazada before calling off negotiations with potential investors when talks bogged down over Lazada’s valuation, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, quoting people familiar with the matter.
Group M Australia has become the latest country in the Group M network to launch Inca, an AI-powered influencer and content marketing platform designed to promote brand safety and return on investment. The platform was first rolled out for APAC in 2019, and launched in New Zealand in early 2021 and – with the addition of Australia – now spans across 30 countries.
Philippines’s fintech and online payments company PayMongo has secured US$31m in funding from their series B funding, which they aim to serve local SMEs more. Said investment round participants include Justin Mateen’s JAM Fund, Philippine VC firms ICCP-SBI Venture Partners and Lisa Gokongwei’s Kaya Founders, together with existing investors Global Founders Capital and SOMA Capital.
Changes in marketing channels and data access have made advertising measurement more important, and challenging, than ever. Taking advantage of growing interest in the topic, Bain Capital is selling Kantar Group’s audience measurement division, Kantar Media, to global investment firm H.I.G. Capital for “approximately $1 billion”. Kantar Media accounts for 4,500 of Kantar Group’s 25,000 employees.