CloudyRec, a mobile backend-as-a-service, will be shutting down

CloudyRec, a Singapore-based startup building a backend platform for mobile apps and games, has decided to call it a day. The service will be shutting down on 30 April this year. Current users should retrieve their data before it’s too late. Here’s the official announcement, first published on the CloudyRec blog by its Burmese founder: Read more

Google’s plans in Myanmar

Myanmar could be the Internet’s next great frontier. Once a closed society, internet users are finding that censorship is no longer as rampant as it used to be. It is in this context that Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is visiting the country this week on a business trip.

Officially, Google has kept mum on its plans for the frontier economy.

However, according to business publication Quartz, it already has several initiatives in the works, including Burmese language versions of the Google search engine, Android and other Google services, as well as access to Google Play and possibly Google Wallet, which were banned in the country. Read more

Singapore companies SingTel and ST Telemedia could eventually run Myanmar’s phone network

SingTel, Southeast Asia’s biggest telco, and ST Telemedia, a unit of Temasek Holdings, have indicated their interest in the telecommunications licenses that Myanmar will issue to boost its phone penetration rates, one of the lowest in Asia, reported Bloomberg.

Axiata Group, Malaysia’s largest mobile operator by market value, and Norway’s Telenor ASA have also submitted expressions of interest before the deadline on 25th January. Read more

Rocket Internet

Company

Rocket Internet is a Berlin headquartered company that is well-known for cloning successful online startups (usually from the US), replicating them elsewhere, and turning them into million-dollar businesses. It was founded in 2007 by the Samwer brothers — Alexander, Marc, and Oliver, who have together created and sold a number of successful Internet businesses before starting Rocket Internet. Most of their businesses are e-commerce related.

The company tends to hire MBA-trained executives and management consultants to become ‘founder’ and ‘managing director’ of its businesses. However, unlike startup founders, they do not hold as much equity or have as much decision-making power to shape the direction of their companies. They are primarily executors who could be fired for underperforming.

Rocket Internet has polarized observers in the startup and technology community for its practices. Critics pour scorn on the company for blatant copying, mischaracterizing its ventures as startups, an over-aggressive and results-oriented corporate culture, and rapid turnover rates. At the same time, it is widely admired for its rapid execution ability. Read more

Android Boot Camp happening in Yangon, Myanmar this August

For those interested in learning Android application development, a full-day intensive workshop is happening this August in Myanmar. It will hold a series of lectures from experienced developers and guided self discovery hands-on sessions to coach and guide participants about coding and programming their own application ideas. This workshop will serve as a useful platform for participants to not only learn Android app development together, but also share knowledge and connect with new Android developer friends. Read more