BP Network is a female social network that has been active in the social influencer space in Indonesia for more than two years

Hip acquires Indonesia’s female influencer network BP Network [press release]

Hiip, a social influencer platform in Vietnam and Thailand, has announced its expansion into Indonesia by acquiring BP Network, a female influencer network.

BP Network has been active in the social influencer space in Indonesia for more than two years.

Shintaries Nijerinda, Co-founder and CEO of BP Network, said: “After the merger, BP Network will rebrand to Hiip Indonesia and become part of this highly successful regional company. This will give our customers and influencers access to Hiip’s proprietary AI technology and international cross-market opportunities. We are very excited with the journey ahead.”

Also Read: Vnet Capital leads Series A financing in Vietnam’s social influencer platform Hiip

Phi Nguyen, Co-founder and CEO of Hiip Asia, added: “We are very pleased to work with BP Network, the largest female influencer network in Indonesia, to provide full access to our AI technology-based platform and support them with regional management experience. Also, Hiip Indonesia will expand our influencer marketing offering in almost all categories, segments and social networks. Our hope is to give more values to the existing local influencer ecosystem and provide more opportunities for influencers to connect with both international as well as important local brands.”

MaGIC’s global accelerator programme is back [press release]

Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) is accepting applications for the third cohort of MaGIC’s signature Global Accelerator Programme (GAP) which will be open until 10 May 2019.

Back for its third year now, GAP is looking to handpick 30 startups from across the globe to participate in the four-month long programme to run out of the MaGIC Campus in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. GAP equips local and global startups, keen on expanding in Southeast Asia, with the necessary skills, tools and network to be investment-ready in four months.

GAP provides selected entrepreneurs with a head start to break into the Southeast Asian market, a region that is often touted as the world’s next consumer powerhouse.

During the programme, MaGIC will be equipping participants with benefits worth over USD500,000 from various programme benefit partners including Amazon Web Services, HubSpot, Usability Hub and many others; industry-specific training, an opportunity to learn from world-class technical and business mentors; a stronger route-to-market focus with extensive corporate support, and partnerships in place with private sector champions such as DiGi, Maybank, Media Prima and Allianz Malaysia as well as a co-working space, accommodation, monthly stipend, a 6-month professional visitor pass and marketing allowance.

Essence launches Essence Global Ventures supported by the Singapore’ EDB [Reuters]

Essence, a global data and measurement-driven media agency which is part of GroupM, today announced the launch of Essence Global Ventures (EGV).

Based in Singapore, EGV is the first innovation, research and development hub for Essence in Asia Pacific, with a vision to advance the agency’s product proposition to be the global market leader in predictive, intuitive and growth-driven business solutions for its clients.

The hub is supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). EGV will develop and incubate industry-leading marketing technology products that use predictive data signals and automation to improve business performance, customer experience and brand governance. These solutions will be commercialised and deployed across 106 markets via Essence’s offices worldwide. An executive council, comprising senior global and regional leaders from Essence, will oversee the strategic direction and delivery of EGV’s research and development.

EGV’s strategic initiatives will include talent development programmes to grow and support Singapore’s next generation of industry leaders through professional development and training programmes in high-demand fields, including data science, advanced analytics, data and product engineering, creative technology, user experience design, and data integrity and privacy.

Tesla’s Musk ‘sees merit’ in capital raise [Reuters]

Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested on Wednesday a capital raise could be imminent, as the electric vehicle maker lost $700 million in the first quarter and predicted a return to profit in the third.

Also Read: Golden Equator Group of Singapore raises US$18M led by Taizo Son

Tesla plans to resolve logistics issues with global vehicle deliveries after weathering a challenging few months, also marked by staff layoffs and a public spat between Musk and US financial regulators.

Shares of Tesla, which are down 22 per cent this year, were about flat after the results, which came more than an hour after they were expected.

Musk is still battling to convince investors that demand for the Model 3, the sedan hoped to propel Tesla to sustainable profit, is “insanely” high, and that it can be delivered efficiently and swiftly to customers around the world. Lower deliveries had added to worries over Tesla’s cash situation and increased speculation a capital raise was coming soon.

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Image Credit: Hip

The post Today’s top tech news, April 25: Hiip buys BP Network in Indonesia; MaGIC’s global programme is back appeared first on e27.

Source: E27