In today's daily news digest from ExchangeWire: SenseTime are forced to postpone their IPO; IndiaTech are  hoping for stricter gaming regulations for children; and Anakin have raised USD$2m (£1.5m) in Seed funding.

SenseTime forced to postpone IPO

Chinese AI startup, SenseTime Group, have postponed their initial public offering (IPO) after being added to a US blocklist, labelling the firm as a “non-SDN Chinese military-industrial complex company”. SenseTime were added to a US blocklist due to fears that they have developed facial recognition to determine a users’ ethnicity, specifically focussing on identifying ethnic Uyghurs. The platform have denied these claims and reassured that they have “complied with the applicable laws and regulations”. The Hong Kong-based company addressed the announcement on Saturday (12 December), commenting that they “strongly oppose” the allegations and “regret to have been caught in the middle of geopolitical tension.” They remain committed to accomplishing their USD$767m (£579) IPO, which is expected to be the biggest listing in Hong Kong in months, aiming to publish a supplemental prospectus and an updated listing timetable.

According to their regulatory filings, SenseTime were intending to sell around 1.5 billion shares, priced between HK$3.85 (£0.37) and HK$3.99 (£0.39). They had hoped to set the listing price last Friday (10 December), but instead were liaising with their lawyers and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange about the future of the deal. It has been suggested that the platform hopes to complete the IPO in the near future to avoid having to refile the IPO after 9th January.

India hoping for stricter gaming regulations for children

Industry association for India’s consumer internet start-ups, unicorns, and investors, IndiaTech, are urging the government to set age and genre-based grouping guidelines for the online gaming industry. The organisation have written to the Minister of Information and Electronics, Ashwini Vaishnaw, outlining their requests which are similar to the age and content ratings that the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) assign to video games in Canada, Mexico, and the US.

According to a report conducted by multinational professional services network, KPMG, the gaming sector in India is continuously growing at pace due to the impact of Covid-19. Mobile game downloads rapidly increased from 1.8 billion during Q1 of 2020, to 2.7 billion in Q3. However, IndiaTech are pushing these regulations due to concerns that gaming could negatively impact young children’s behavior. Rameesh Kailasam, president and CEO of IndiaTech, has commented, “people from the civil society feel that online gaming may be addictive and lead to behavioural issues besides causing financial stress.” The Ministry of Education agreed with the comments, describing the addiction as a “gaming disorder”.

Back in 2018, “gaming disorder” was listed in the 11th edition of the International Classification of Disease by the World Health Organisation, who view the addiction as a clinical condition. It is framed as an “impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.” Due to the increase in gaming, and the negative effects it can have on children, it’s evident why IndiaTech are raising concerns and hoping for these age restrictions to be implemented sooner rather than later.

Anakin have raised USD$2m (£1.5m) in Seed funding

SaaS startup, Anakin, have raised USD$2m (£1.5m) in Seed funding to enhance their software which provides e-commerce platforms with data and intelligence to develop their revenue and products. According to reports from TechCrunch, the company secured the round from Y Combinator, HOF Capital, Austen Allred, ACE & Company, Integrity, Pioneer Fund, and a group of angel investors. The firm, who have offices in San Francisco, Singapore, and Bengaluru, are hoping to eventually expand with the help of the new investment.

Anakin was founded in September 2020, with focus on using pricing and trends data from other companies to help e-commerce brands increase their revenue. Mohit Prateek, CEO and co-founder, told TechCrunch, “we started in the middle of COVID, and we were scared that it would shut us down, but even mom-and-pop stores are online and competing with Amazon.” The name, although resembles a character from the movie franchise Star Wars, was chosen for name recognition according to reports.

In further e-commerce news, advertising platform Quartile have acquired e-commerce marketing firm Sidecar. The deal will allow Quartile to branch away from potential over-reliance on big tech platform Amazon, as well as expand their e-commerce marketing footprint. The terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.