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Business changes,before it hits your market.

While the world stares at the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, China's electric car industry is recording its biggest success in history.

What began as an energy crisis has developed within a few weeks into a "turbo moment" for brands like BYD, Geely, and VinFast.

The reason is simple: In Asia and the Pacific region, gasoline prices have risen so drastically that the switch to electricity is no longer just an ecological, but a naked economic necessity.

The "Hormuz shock" at the pump

Since around 80% of crude oil for the Asia-Pacific region flowed through the now-blocked Strait of Hormuz, a state of emergency prevails in many places:

• Price jumps: In New Zealand, the gasoline price rose by 20% since early March to over 3 NZD per liter.

• Panic buying: In China and the Philippines, miles-long lines formed; first gas stations began rationing.

• Emergency measures: Laos reduced registration fees for e-cars by 30% and simultaneously increased them for combustion engines.

"What we used to sell in two weeks now goes out in one day."

Analysts from Bloomberg and Macquarie agree: The Iran war could cement China's position as a green superpower. While the US under Donald Trump is dismantling subsidies for e-cars, China is filling the gap with affordable high technology.

All Details & Data: SCMP, Nikkei, Japan Times 

South Korean chip startup Rebellions has raised $400 million in a pre-IPO round, valuing the company at $2.34 billion. 

The round was led by Mirae Asset Financial Group and the Korea National Growth Fund, the South Korean government's investment vehicle.

• Total fundraising: $850 million, with $650 million raised in the last six months alone.

The details

Rebellions was founded in 2020 and builds Neural Processing Units (NPUs) specifically for AI inference, meaning running AI models rather than training them. CEO Sunghyun Park names Meta and xAI as target customers, not hyperscalers like Amazon or Microsoft.

The flagship: The Rebel100 chip, which Rebellions claims offers "the best performance per dollar per watt" on the market.

The company also unveiled two new products:

• RebelRack: a production-ready inference compute unit

• RebelPOD: scalable clusters for large-scale AI deployments

The investor roster stands out: Samsung, SK Hynix, Arm and Saudi Aramco are all on board. Park says that thanks to Samsung and SK Hynix as backers, Rebellions has better access to scarce memory chips than other startups. Mirae Asset, the lead investor, is also invested in SpaceX.

K-Nvidia:

$165 million of the round came directly from the Korea National Growth Fund. It's the first direct investment under the "K-Nvidia" initiative, a joint program between the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Science and ICT.

• The goal: build a globally competitive chip champion.

• An IPO is on the agenda: Bloomberg reports JPMorgan has been mandated as lead underwriter, with a timeline of late 2026 or early 2027.

Context

The AI chip market is reshuffling fast: Nvidia acquired Groq in December for roughly $20 billion. Cerebras is valued at $22 billion and targeting a Q2 2026 IPO.

At $2.34 billion, Rebellions is playing in a different league, but it has one advantage neither Groq nor Cerebras had: a national government that has made its chip sector a top priority.

The inference bet is a smart one: while Nvidia dominates training with its GPUs, running AI models is becoming its own market with different demands around efficiency and cost. That's exactly where Rebellions is positioning itself.

Sources: CNBC, DealStreet Asia, TechCrunch

For 20 years, Prof. Martin Schell headed the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute in Berlin, one of the world's leading centers for optical communication. At the end of February, he posted on LinkedIn "Fraunhofer Goodbye."

His new employer: Huawei.

The switch

Schell wasn't just any researcher. As executive director of the HHI and chair holder at TU Berlin, he was responsible for cutting-edge research on photonic circuits and optical chips. Technology that flows directly into 5G networks and data centers.

• The HHI is tax-funded, Schell's knowledge comes from two decades of German research funding.

His new position: Head of R&D at the Huawei Bragg Research Center in Ipswich, Great Britain.

• Around 200 researchers there work on next-generation optical chips. In Cambridge, Huawei is planning another optoelectronics center for £1 billion.

Alarm in Berlin

The domestic intelligence service has been warning for years: Huawei uses "aggressive tactics and generous salary promises" to poach European researchers.

Kiesewetter (CDU): "Highly critical." 5G networks are "the central nervous system of our economy."
Von Notz (Greens): "Very bad taste."
Research Ministry: "Concerning." State-funded research must not "benefit a systemic rival."

Background: The EU has excluded Huawei from Horizon Europe. Chancellor Merz wants to ban the group from future mobile networks.

The answer from Shenzhen: If we're not allowed to participate in your programs, we'll get your minds.

Structural problem in academia

The debate goes beyond Schell. Germany's Fixed-Term Academic Contracts Act forces academics to secure permanent positions within six years after their doctorate. Those who fail are out.

Huawei offers what many universities cannot: labs, resources, prospects.

All Details & Data: Wirtschaftswoche, Nikkei, Handelsblatt

SoftBank has taken out an unsecured $40 billion bridge loan to fund its $30 billion commitment to OpenAI's mega-round.

The move pushes SoftBank's total investment in the ChatGPT maker past $60 billion.

The details

Six banks arranged the financing: JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs on the US side, plus Mizuho, SMBC and MUFG from Japan.

• Term: 12 months, due March 2027. Unsecured.

The loan primarily covers SoftBank's $30 billion share of OpenAI's $110 billion funding round from February, the largest private raise in history. SoftBank now holds an estimated 13% stake in OpenAI.

Masayoshi Son is running an all-in strategy on AI: In December 2024, alongside then President-elect Trump, he announced $100 billion in US AI infrastructure investments over four years.

• A centerpiece: the Stargate project, a joint venture with OpenAI for data centers that could scale to $500 billion.

SoftBank's stock sold off on the news. Markets are increasingly worried that Son is overextending the balance sheet.

Why the loan term tells the whole story

Twelve months for $40 billion, no collateral: That only makes sense if the banks believe in a concrete liquidity event. Multiple reports indicate OpenAI is preparing an IPO in Q4 2026, at a current valuation of roughly $500 billion.

For SoftBank, that would be the exit mechanism: An OpenAI IPO would make the loan easily refinanceable. If the listing gets delayed or the valuation drops, Son is sitting on a $40 billion problem with no safety net. The banks are betting alongside him that it works out.

Sources: TechCrunch, Bloomberg, Japan Times

Volkswagen's Czech subsidiary Skoda is withdrawing from China by mid-2026. What was the brand's largest market for years is now just a shadow of its former self. The numbers are brutal.

The free fall in 7 years:

For comparison: China is a 30-million car market.

• Skoda's share was recently under 0.1%. Skoda didn't have a single electric vehicle on offer in China. In a market where 54% of all new cars were already electric in 2025, that's a death sentence.

• Skoda still grew globally by 12.7% to over one million vehicles in 2025.

Strategic pivot: India is the new China

Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer is radically reordering priorities. Instead of fighting a hopeless price war against 150 competitors in China, capital is now flowing into markets with "combustion engine durability" and growth potential.

• India focus: Skoda is building India into a global export hub. With locally developed models (Kushaq, Slavia), the brand achieved record numbers there in 2025.

• Southeast Asia: Market entry in Vietnam and expansion in ASEAN states are to close the China gap.

• Service guarantee: Existing customers in China will continue to be supplied with spare parts and maintenance via regional partners.

Retreat as strategy

The VW Group emphasizes: China remains "at the very core" of the group's strategy. Skoda is the sacrificial lamb, VW and Audi continue to invest.

Skoda joins the list: Suzuki (2018), Jeep (2022), Mitsubishi (2025). Analysts expect that by 2030, even more Western automakers will have left China. The exceptions: Tesla, Toyota, VW.

All Details & Data: SCMP, China Daily

Pony AI has posted its first profitable quarter ever. At the same time, the company plans to deploy robotaxis in more than 20 cities globally this year.

• Net income in Q4 2025: $75.5 million.

• Full-year 2025 revenue: $90 million (+20%).

• Annual loss: narrowed 72% to $76.8 million.

The details

There's an asterisk on that profit: the $75.5 million didn't come from the robotaxi business. Pony AI holds an early stake in Chinese chip designer Moore Threads, whose stock surged 425% at its IPO in December.

The core business is growing fast regardless. Robotaxi revenue jumped 160% in Q4, paid rides surged over 500%. The fleet has grown from under 300 to 1,446 vehicles in just one year.

In Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the Gen-7 model hit per-vehicle break-even within four months of launch. Peak day in Shenzhen: RMB 394 in daily revenue, 25 rides per robotaxi.

• Users in China: nearly one million, triple year-on-year

• Cash on hand: $1.5 billion

• 2026 target: double the fleet to 3,000+, across 20+ cities globally

• Toyota is producing 1,000 bZ4X robotaxis for Pony AI this year

Zagreb + Uber:

In the Croatian capital, Pony AI is teaming up with Uber and local startup Verne to launch Europe's first commercial robotaxi service. Test rides are already underway with Arcfox Alpha T5 vehicles running Pony's Gen-7 system.

Verne operates the fleet, Uber integrates the service into its app and is investing in Verne. In parallel, Pony AI runs commercial services in Doha and launched in Singapore in March. Driverless approval is pending in Dubai.

Bigger Picture

The quarterly profit is a paper gain, not an operational breakthrough. But the trajectory is clear: five times more paid rides, break-even in two cities, and an international push no other Chinese robotaxi player can match.

While Baidu's Apollo Go dominates the home market, Pony AI is building a global network with Uber as its distribution channel.

CFO Leo Wang calls it "front-loaded investment to drive commercialization at a quicker pace." The expensive scaling phase is still ahead.

Sources: Bloomberg, Yicai Global, GlobenNewswire

China's most viral AI stars are stuck. The government has banned the two Manus founders Xiao Hong and Ji Yichao from leaving the country after Meta acquired the startup for an estimated $2 to 2.5 billion.

China increasingly views the sale of AI elite technology to US giants as a threat to national security.

The ten-day deal

The numbers behind the acquisition are breathtakingly fast:

• In April 2025, Manus was still worth $500 million, Benchmark Capital led the Series A of $75 million.

• Eight months later, Meta closed the acquisition, negotiated in just ten days. For early investors Tencent and HongShan Capital (formerly Sequoia China): a 4x return.

• Manus had already reached $100 million in annual revenue by then, faster than any startup before.

Operation "Singapore-washing"

Manus was founded in China in 2022 (Beijing Butterfly Effect Technology), but relocated headquarters and team to Singapore in 2025 – shortly after a funding round from US VC Benchmark Capital.

The strategy is called "Singapore-washing" in the industry: Chinese founders, Chinese technology, but a Singapore mailbox address.

The NDRC charges:

• FDI violations: Manus allegedly failed to properly report ownership changes and Singapore relocation

• User data risks: Potential endangerment of Chinese user data

• "Selling young crops": Beijing fears other startups will follow this model

The extreme scenario: unwind the deal

An "insider" to the FT: "One extreme outcome would be to unwind the transaction." Problem: Meta has already integrated Manus AI agent software into its platform.

"The transaction complied fully with applicable law. We anticipate an appropriate resolution." Meta's statement

All Details & Data: Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance

Chemical giant BASF has officially opened its new Verbund site in Zhanjiang, southern China. At roughly 8.7 billion euros ($10.4 billion), it is the largest single project in the company's 160-year history.

The details

The site covers four square kilometers in Guangdong province, making it BASF's third-largest Verbund globally after Ludwigshafen and Antwerp.

At its core: a steam cracker with 1 million metric tons of ethylene capacity per year, operational since January 2026. It is the first cracker worldwide to run its main compressors on 100% renewable electricity.

Several downstream plants are already running: ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, polyethylene. First production started in November 2025, months before today's official ceremony. 2,000 employees work at the site.

Revenue target by 2030: up to 1.2 billion euros from the Zhanjiang site alone.

Why Southern China:

BASF currently generates only 13% of its global revenue in China, despite the country accounting for over 50% of worldwide chemical demand. Between 2024 and 2035, BASF expects 75% of global chemical market growth to come from China.

• Asia board member Stephan Kothrade calls the company's China share simply "too low."

The bet behind it

Back in Ludwigshafen, BASF is simultaneously cutting billions in costs and slashing jobs. In Zhanjiang, the company is making the largest single-site investment in its history.

The contrast is deliberate: BASF is shifting its growth focus to Asia.

The company is knowingly accepting the geopolitical uncertainties that come with it. Whether the 8.7 billion euro bet pays off depends less on the technology in Zhanjiang and more on whether China actually delivers 75% of global chemical growth over the coming decade.

Sources: Handelsblatt, Der Aktionär, Chemie.de

LG Electronics is making 2026 a pivotal year for its transformation.

At the general meeting in Seoul, CEO Lyu announced the radical expansion of the B2B robotics business.

The key: LG doesn't just want to build finished robots, but become the world's most important supplier for their "muscles." For this, the group uses its decades of experience from household appliance production.

"We will designate this year as the beginning of full-scale implementation of the robot business."

Strategy: "Axium" – hardware dominance

The centerpiece of the new strategy is actuators (drive elements). These account for over 40% of a robot's production costs.

• Economies of scale: LG already produces 45 million motors annually for washing machines and refrigerators. This infrastructure is now being used for the new "Axium" actuator line.

• Goal: LG wants to establish itself as a key supplier for global robot manufacturers, while its own brand CLOiD goes into commercial testing in 2027.

The 4 pillars of the "Physical AI" vision 2026

LG is leaving the pure consumer market and focusing on high-margin B2B sectors:

Growth & efficiency: the AI transformation

CEO Lyu is planning a company-wide "AI transformation" to increase productivity by over 30% in the next three years.

• Design automation: AI is to shorten development cycles and reduce costs.

• Investor bonus: As a sign of confidence, LG increased the dividend by 35% to 1,350 won per share.

All details & data: Korea Times, The Korea Herald

The Asia-Pacific private equity market is moving at two speeds.

Fundraising dropped to $58 billion in 2025, a 12-year low and down 37% year-on-year. At the same time, exit values climbed 24% to $150 billion.

The details

Asia's share of global PE fundraising: just 5%, down from 12% in 2021. New fund count dropped 44%. LPs have become pickier, backing managers with proven track records over newcomers.

Bright spot Japan: $15 billion raised (+12%), the only major market with growth in both deal value and count.

Deal activity was mixed overall: value down 8%, but count up 6%. Average buyout size shrank to $438 million (from $630 million the year prior), a five-year low. Multiples, though, climbed to 13.4x EV/EBITDA (from 11.9x).

Exits tell the real story

IPO and open-market exits jumped over 70%, trade exits over 60%. Large exits above $1 billion roughly quadrupled. Net distributions to LPs turned positive for the first time since 2021.

Greater China reclaimed top spot as the largest exit market, with exit volume up 76% year-on-year. South Korea's exits rose 38% despite political turmoil.

• Sector shift: Tech fell to 25% of deal value, a 10-year low. Capital is flowing into advanced manufacturing (22%), energy (15%) and healthcare (14%) instead.

• Dry powder: $240 billion sitting uninvested, down from a $315 billion peak in 2023.

What 2026 Looks Like

2020 to 2022 was the peak: low rates, high valuations, plenty of FOMO. Many GPs overpaid. Now, three to five years later, exits are due, and the math isn't working out for over a third of those deals.

Funds that bring their 2020-2022 investments to a clean exit now will get the next fundraise.

And the pipeline points to recovery: KKR (Asia V, $15 billion), EQT BPEA ($12.5 billion) and Blackstone (Asia III, $10 billion) are in market with mega-funds. Combined, the largest funds are targeting $61 billion.

Sources: SCMP, BusinessTimes, Bain