Daily Briefing: Orchard Road to be smoke-free zone from January 2019; Go-Jek rolls out its beta app for car-hailing

And cybersecurity startup CloudSEK bags $1.97m in pre-seed funding.

From Channel News Asia:

The National Environment Agency (NEA) announced that the Orchard Road precinct will be designated a ‘No Smoking Zone’ from 1 January 2019.

NEA added that smoking will only be allowed at Designated Smoking Areas (DSAs) while smoking corners at food and retail establishments within the No Smoking Zone will also be rescinded by 31 December 2018. About 40 DSAs have been set up.

The transformation of Orchard Road into a smoke-free zone was originally scheduled to start in July 2018.

One month before the implementation, NEA announced that the smoking prohibition will be delayed to the end of the year to give businesses more time to prepare for the transition.

Read more here.

From Bloomberg:

Indonesia’s Go-Jek is said to roll out the preliminary version of its highly anticipated ride-hailing app, bringing fresh competition to the hometown of arch-rival Grab.

Go-Jek’s beta app will be available to a limited number of consumers before expanding it to a wider population as testing progresses, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information is not public.

Many consumers and drivers have looked forward to Go-Jek’s entry after Grab cemented its grip on the city-state by agreeing in March to acquire the Southeast Asian business of Uber Technologies Inc., eliminating its primary competition in the region. Uber’s departure was followed by rising complaints from users about higher prices, delays and lapses in customer service. Drivers expressed frustration about reduced income.

Go-Jek Chief Executive Officer Nadiem Makarim has said the company will enter the Singapore market with promotions, without disclosing specific timing.

Read more here.

From Deal Street Asia:

Artificial intelligence (AI) cybersecurity startup CloudSEK clinched $1.97m in its pre-series A round which will be used to expand into India and Southeast Asia.

It also plans to dedicate proceeds to develop XVigil, its risk management platform, and to target new industries such as pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals and retail.

Founded in 2015, CloudSEK offers a cybersecurity platform powered by machine learning. The company was seed funded by ME Meeran Foundation, the investment arm of Kochi-based Eastern Group. Today, CloudSEK’s clients include Federal Bank, Go-Jek, Bank Bazaar, HDFC Bank and Grab.

“Being a product-only organization, our revenues are primarily generated through license sales. This investment for us is a vote of confidence from some of the eminent architects of the Indian IT Industry,” said CloudSEK CEO Sourabh Issar.

Read more here.