Kate Park

Reporter, Asia, TechCrunch

Kate Park is a reporter at TechCrunch, with a focus on technology, startups and venture capital in Asia. She previously was a financial journalist at Mergermarket covering M&A, private equity and venture capital.

Kate Park

Latest from Kate Park

The ruling confirmed an earlier decision in April from the High Court of Podgorica which rejected a request to extradite the crypto fugitive to the United States.

Terraform Labs co-founder and crypto fugitive Do Kwon set for extradition to South Korea

Sybill, a startup that has built an AI assistant specifically for sales reps, has raised $11 million in a Series A round led by Greycroft.

Sybill raises $11M for its AI assistant that helps salespeople reduce administrative burden

During an emergency hearing held by the South Korean government, Young-bae Ku, Qoo10’s founder said he would secure the amount over the next 30 days.

Qoo10’s CEO pledges personal assets worth $58M to compensate Korean merchants affected by its liquidity crisis

The e-commerce market in South Korea ranks as one of the largest in the world, but it’s also proving to be a precarious one. On Thursday, South Korea’s Fair Trade…

Singaporean e-commerce firm Qoo10’s Korean units face probe due to payment delays to merchants

Singapore’s ride-hailing and food delivery company Grab is expanding its services beyond ride and food delivery by doubling down on the competitive restaurant booking industry in Southeast Asia. Grab confirmed…

Grab acquires Singapore’s restaurant reservation platform Chope  

A Seoul court issued an arrest warrant for Brian Kim, the founder of South Korean internet giant Kakao, on allegations of stock price manipulation related to the company’s takeover of…

Kakao founder issued arrest warrant by Seoul court

The Korean tech giant is acquiring Oxford Semantic Technologies, a U.K.-based knowledge graph startup that has built an AI reasoning engine.

Samsung to acquire UK-based knowledge graph startup Oxford Semantic Technologies

The warrant is part of an investigation into alleged stock market manipulation related to a high-profile bidding war for music label, SM Entertainment.

Korean prosecutors file warrant to arrest Kakao founder for stock manipulation

Wittaya Aqua enables seafood farmers to consolidate existing data points across the seafood supply chain.

Wittaya Aqua’s data-driven AI helps seafood farmers increase aquaculture production

Visual effects (VFX) have emerged as essential in filmmaking and have transformed storytelling and creativity in the film industry with its diverse digital techniques. However, the high cost of VFX…

Beeble AI raises $4.75M to launch a virtual production platform for indie filmmakers

The round was led by KKR and Teachers’ Ventures Growth, an investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

Japan’s SmartHR raises $140M Series E as strong demand for HR tech boosts its ARR to $100M

SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son announced on Thursday that the Japanese tech giant has set up a joint venture in the country with Chicago-based health tech company Tempus. Together, the…

SoftBank forms AI healthcare JV in Japan with Tempus

Samsara Eco makes and sells fossil-free polymer resins. These resins can be integrated into supply chains and potentially replace plastic packaging and textile products with more sustainable alternatives. The Australian…

Samsara Eco is working to replace plastic packaging with fossil fuel-free alternatives

k-ID’s platform makes it easy for game devs to comply with child safety and data privacy regulations.

k-ID wins $45M to help game devs speedrun the child safety compliance puzzle

Self-driving vehicles rely on many sensors to detect objects and the world around them. The conventional approach is to work with cameras and lidars. But some tech companies and startups…

Bitsensing raises $25M for its high-resolution radar in autonomous driving

With the advent of generative AI, AI applications are transforming and reshaping various industries and changing how people work. Software development is no exception. San Francisco- and Tokyo-based startup Autify…

Autify launches Zenes, an AI agent for software quality assurance

After announcing a strategic partnership with SoftBank in April, Perplexity — the AI search engine that has ambitions to take on Google — is now using the deal to expand…

Perplexity AI searches for users in Japan, via SoftBank deal

South Korea’s fabless AI chip industry saw a slew of fundraising events over the last couple of years as demand for hardware to power AI applications skyrocketed, and it seems…

Fabless AI chip makers Rebellions and Sapeon to merge as competition heats up in global AI hardware industry

When generative AI tools started making waves in late 2022 after the launch of ChatGPT, the finance industry was one of the first to recognize these tools’ potential for speeding…

Linq raises $6.6M to use AI to make research easier for financial analysts

We caught up with Antler founder and CEO Magnus Grimeland about the startup scene in Asia, the current tech startup trends in the region and investment approaches during the rise…

VC firm Antler’s CEO says Asia presents ‘biggest opportunity’ in the world for growth

Fertility remains a pressing concern around the world — birthrates are down in many countries, and infertility rates (that is, the inability to conceive) are up. Rhea, a Singapore- and…

Rhea reaps $10M more led by Thiel

Government officials and AI industry executives agreed on Tuesday to apply elementary safety measures in the fast-moving field and establish an international safety research network. Nearly six months after the…

In Seoul summit, heads of states and companies commit to AI safety

More money for the generative AI boom: Y Combinator-backed developer infrastructure startup Recall.ai announced Thursday it has raised a $10 million Series A funding round, bringing its total raised to over…

YC-backed Recall.ai gets $10M Series A to help companies use virtual meeting data

Uber Technologies announced Tuesday that it will buy the Taiwan unit of Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda for $950 million in cash. The deal is part of Uber Eats’ strategy to expand…

Uber to acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan unit from Delivery Hero for $950M in cash 

The Series C funding, which brings its total raise to around $95 million, will go toward mass production of the startup’s inaugural products

AI chip startup DEEPX secures $80M Series C at a $529M valuation 

Line Man Wongnai, an on-demand food delivery service in Thailand, is considering an initial public offering on a Thai exchange or the U.S. in 2025.

Thai food delivery app Line Man Wongnai weighs IPO in Thailand, US in 2025

Samsung Medison, a medical device unit of Samsung Electronics that specializes in developing diagnostic imaging devices, said on Wednesday it plans to acquire Sonio, a Paris-based startup that makes AI-powered software…

Samsung Medison to acquire French AI ultrasound startup Sonio for $92.7M

Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday that its operating profit surged more than 930% in the first quarter of 2024, driven by soaring demand for its servers, memory chips and storage used…

Samsung’s operating profit soars 930% as AI tailwinds drive demand for memory chips

Carv, a data layer platform that lets web3 gaming and AI companies, as well as gamers, control and monetize their data, has raised a $10 million Series A round led…

Carv raises $10M Series A to help gamers monetize their data

Zypsy, a design firm with a track record of helping early-stage startups, has launched a new and somewhat unique venture investment program. It will be offering 10 startups up to…

Design firm Zypsy will do $100K worth of work for 1% equity for early-stage startups