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Curated business and financial news from top sources across Asia — banking, fintech, healthcare, enterprise, and markets.
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HSBC says AI will create jobs. Southeast Asia should read the fine print first
The most revealing thing about HSBC’s latest survey of the world’s entrepreneurs isn’t the headline number. It’s who is spending it. On the surface, the Global Entrepreneurial Wealth Report 2026 reads like a hype cycle in spreadsheet form. Business owners across 17 markets plan to spend a combined US$367 billion on AI over the next [] The post HSBC says AI will create jobs. Southeast Asia should read the fine print first appeared first on e27 .
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The consumer is still human. The gatekeeper isn’t
For most of my career in marketing, the basic equation was simple: Brands compete for consumers’ attention. We built campaigns to reach people, influence them, persuade them and ultimately get them to buy. Search changed that equation. Social media changed it again. Algorithms changed it further. Now AI is changing something much more fundamental. The [] The post The consumer is still human. The gatekeeper isn’t appeared first on e27 .
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AI tool predicts cancer survival chances with single face photo
Trained on over 40 million images of faces, the model assigns risk scores to those with the illness
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Betagro takes majority stake in Freshket as Thai corporates tighten grip on startups
Betagro has stopped watching from the sidelines. Four years after its family holding company took a slice of Freshket’s Series B, the Thai integrated food giant has taken majority control of the Bangkok-based platform that supplies ingredients to hotels, restaurants and caterers. The deal was made through Betagro Ventures, the company said in a statement [] The post Betagro takes majority stake in Freshket as Thai corporates tighten grip on startups appeared first on e27 .
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Malaysia has made no commitment to provide financing support to AirAsia, says ministry
An earlier report claims the carrier was in talks with the government over potential support
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How I use AI to keep the details straight in international partnerships
Even after a good meeting with an overseas partner, writing the follow-up email takes thought. What interested them? What did we actually agree to? What still needs to be clarified before we can move forward? Things that seemed clear in conversation can become ambiguous on the page. When several people and organisations are involved, those [] The post How I use AI to keep the details straight in international partnerships appeared first on e27 .
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Every company grows through thorns. Know when one has gone too deep
Nobody builds a company without picking up thorns. An investor who pushes too hard. A customer who demands everything and pays late. A high performer who leaves damage behind every meeting. Most of that friction is useful. It forces decisions a comfortable company would keep putting off. The hard investor sharpens the plan. The demanding [] The post Every company grows through thorns. Know when one has gone too deep appeared first on e27 .
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From cash loans to motorbikes: Salmon bets US$140M on secured lending in the Philippines
Salmon Group has raised a fresh US$140 million, its second financing in six months and the largest in its four-year life, as the Manila-based lender bets that motorcycles and small businesses can carry its next leg of growth. The announcement on Monday is notable for what it leaves out. Salmon describes the money only as [] The post From cash loans to motorbikes: Salmon bets US$140M on secured lending in the Philippines appeared first on e27 .
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As venture funding retreats, Thailand’s corporate investors gain more power
In Thailand, many of the most visible startup investors carry the names of the country’s largest banks and business groups. SCBX operates SCB 10X. Kasikornbank established Beacon Venture Capital. Bank of Ayudhya created Krungsri Finnovate, while Bangkok Bank has Bualuang Ventures. Investment vehicles linked to telecommunications, energy, retail and industrial groups extend the network further. [] The post As venture funding retreats, Thailands corporate investors gain more power appeared first on e27 .
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Ibrahim Arief is building a legal AI startup from city detention
Ibrahim Arief did not set out to found a legal tech startup. He set out to stay out of prison. The former VP (Engineering) at Bukalapak, widely known as Ibam in the startup circle, is a defendant in Indonesias Chromebook procurement case, the graft prosecution that also ensnared former education minister and Gojek co-founder Nadiem [] The post Ibrahim Arief is building a legal AI startup from city detention appeared first on e27 .
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US allows dark-fleet oil tankers to shed sanctions amid bid to boost oil supply
Move to convert sanctioned vessels to lawful ones aims to expand fleet available for carrying crude
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Riyadh Airport restricts jet traffic in wake of Houthi attacks
Several airlines have halted flights in the wake of attacks
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Fed sees AI boom adding to inflation headache
The Fed meets on Oct 27-28 and is expected to keep rates steady at 3.75% to 4%
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China signals overnight rate set to become main policy benchmark
Overnight repos are the most heavily traded product in the interbank money market
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The AI exit window is wide open. Southeast Asia isn’t standing anywhere near it
Last week, Amazon was reported to be in talks to pay around US$7 billion for Decart, a three-year-old startup valued at just under US$4 billion in May. Cohere signed a letter of intent to buy AI security startup AISLE. Prime Intellect snapped up Moondream. Bumble agreed to a US$1.3 billion take-private. And that was a [] The post The AI exit window is wide open. Southeast Asia isnt standing anywhere near it appeared first on e27 .
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Australia central banker sees signs of labour market easing
But he cautions against reading too much into a month of data
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Indonesia stock exchange to meet MSCI on Monday, seeking clarification on downgrade warning
The unexpected nature of the downgrade risk has triggered massive selloffs
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Points beat percentages: Why three in four Singaporeans think their spare cash is underperforming
A Singaporean who will argue over a 50-cent difference in cashback at a hawker centre may have no idea what their savings account pays. New research suggests that person is the norm. Some 89 per cent of Singapore residents hold spare cash, according to a survey of 1,000 people conducted by research firm Milieu. Among [] The post Points beat percentages: Why three in four Singaporeans think their spare cash is underperforming appeared first on e27 .
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BOJ chief says underlying inflation ‘quite close’ to price goal
Ueda adds that ‘very strong’ AI demand is boosting capex, exports; his remarks come ahead of the central bank’s key October meeting
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Singapore employers say they offer burnout support. Half their staff say they’ve never seen it
Many Singapore companies offer a peculiar kind of workplace benefit: one that exists mostly in the HR handbook. Managers will tell you it is there. Employees, asked the same question, will tell you they have never come across it. That gap sits at the centre of the Jobstreet by SEEK Singapore Workplace Culture Study 2026. [] The post Singapore employers say they offer burnout support. Half their staff say theyve never seen it appeared first on e27 .
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Will the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting crush the bullish push toward the US$84,000 target?
Global financial ecosystems present a fascinating landscape today, as virtual currencies are in a modest recovery phase. Bitcoin leads this upward trajectory, up 0.94 per cent over the past 24 hours. The premier cryptocurrency trades at exactly US$82,204.31. This price action slightly outperforms a broadly flat digital asset sector. The total cryptocurrency capitalisation registers a [] The post Will the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting crush the bullish push toward the US$84,000 target? appeared first on e27 .
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Beyond play-to-earn: 14 Southeast Asian gaming and sports-tech startups still in the game
Southeast Asia has spent the last decade trying to turn its obsession with play into businesses. Some bets worked spectacularly, some blew up just as spectacularly, and a surprising number of the best ones never raised much venture money at all. The Web3 gaming boom of 2021 is the cautionary tale everyone remembers: blockchain games, [] The post Beyond play-to-earn: 14 Southeast Asian gaming and sports-tech startups still in the game appeared first on e27 .
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Gen Z is bringing its own AI to work. Singapore’s SMEs need rules, not bans
Young workers in Singapore are not waiting for their employers to roll out AI. They are already using it, often on personal devices and often without anyone watching. According to “What Gen Z Workers Want 2026”, a study commissioned by Deel and conducted with YouGov and ThinkerTank, 49 per cent of Singapore workers aged 18 [] The post Gen Z is bringing its own AI to work. Singapores SMEs need rules, not bans appeared first on e27 .
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