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Huawei to spend £3B in UK; SoftBank-led group invests US$865M in US startup

S&P Global Market Intelligence provides a roundup of recent investment deals and updates in the Asia-Pacific technology, media and communications sector.

TOP NEWS

* Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. said Feb. 5 that it will spend £3 billion on procurement in the U.K. over the next five years, the result of a meeting between Huawei Chairwoman Sun Yafang and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, Reuters reported Feb. 6.

* A SoftBank Group Corp.-led group invested US$865 million in U.S. construction technology startup Katerra Inc., Katerra said Jan. 24.

* India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley allocated 100 billion Indian rupees in 2018 to 2019 for the "creation and augmentation of telecom infrastructure" when he presented the country's general budget for 2018 to 2019 before parliament, according to a Feb. 1 press release. He also doubled the budget on the Digital India program to 30.73 billion Indian rupees for 2018 to 2019.

* As expected, Alphabet Inc. unit Google Inc. on Jan. 29 confirmed that it invested in Go-Jek, an Indonesian on-demand mobile platform provider, for an undisclosed sum as it aims to improve its commitment to Indonesia's internet economy.

STARTUP FUNDING

* SoftBank Group's Vision Fund is investing US$300 million in U.S. dog-walking app Wag!, the latter said Jan. 30. It also participated in a US$175 million funding round for the newly launched AI Fund, created by Andrew Ng, co-founder of Coursera, former head of Google Brain and of Baidu Inc.'s AI group.

* The South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT said Feb. 5 that it will invest 77 billion South Korean won to support startups and ventures in 15 IT sectors, via its "K-Global" project.

* Israeli smart dashcam developer Nexar said Jan. 24 that it completed a US$30 million financing round backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. unit Alibaba Innovation Ventures.

* Google, Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Sequoia Capital's China unit participated in a US$15 million series B funding round for pharmaceutical technology company XtalPi Inc., according to a Jan. 23 press release.

* Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial Services Group and Fosun International Ltd. participated in a new US$1 billion funding round for Dutch bike-sharing company Hellobike, 36Kr reported Jan. 22.

CAPITAL INVESTMENTS

* Indonesian mobile operator XL Axiata is allocating US$500 million to develop its own pay TV, broadband and fixed line services, CNN Indonesia reported Feb. 2.

* U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. invested another 19.50 billion Indian rupees in Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd., or Amazon India, in its efforts to outpace Indian rival Flipkart India Pvt. Ltd., The Economic Times (India) reported Jan. 29.

* Naver Corp. also plans to invest 60 billion won in its webcomics subsidiary Naver Webtoon Corp. and 53.5 billion won in its U.S.-based streaming service affiliate Wave Media, The Korea Economic Daily reported Jan. 25.

OTHER FUNDING

* Foxconn Technology Group, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., plans to invest NT$10 billion in AI over five years, according to Focus Taiwan News on Feb. 2.

* Tencent Holdings made a strategic investment in U.S.-based Skydance Media as part of a production and distribution partnership, according to a Jan. 25 press release.

* Chinese IT company Inspur signed a strategic partnership framework agreement with the Tianjin municipal government to invest 7 billion Chinese yuan in its northern China headquarters, People's Daily reported Jan. 23.

* Telstra Corp. Ltd. said Jan. 22 that it agreed to invest in two new international subsea cable systems that will connect Hong Kong and the U.S. West Coast.