Top tech startup news stories you need to know this Monday, May 14

Good morning! Here are some of the top tech startup news stories for today, Monday, May 14

Southeast Asia-based ecommerce marketplace startup Carousell raises $85 million. Carousell, the e-commerce site for new and used goods, confirmed it has raised$85 million series C funding. The investment was led by DBS and co-led by current shareholder Rakuten Ventures and the investment arm of Singapore’s Economic Development Board, EDBI. Previous backers 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures, and Sequoia Capital’s India fund also participated. Carousell plans to use part of the capital on technology development and talent acquisition.

Japanese marketplace app Mercari files for  $1.1 billion IPO. The Japanese C2C marketplace, Mercari, has received approval to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Mothers market, with its IPO slated for June 19. Mercari is the only Japanese company to appear in the Global Unicorn Club, CB Insights’ list of startups with billion-dollar-plus valuations.

Israeli cryptocurrency startup CARAT raises $1.6 million. Israeli startup Carats.io has received first-round funding for its diamond cryptocurrency venture, the company said Monday. The enterprise, which is working in partnership with the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE), raised $1.6 million from Net Capital Ventures, an Israel-based venture-capital fund. Carats.io has created the first digital coin — named CARAT — backed by real, certified diamonds, which provides the stability of a diamond alongside the liquidity of cryptocurrency, Avishai Shoushan, its CEO, said.

IoT startup Filament hits milestone for blockchain hardware. Filament, a startup that focuses on Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, announced Monday that it has successfully created a USB-compatible form factor for its blockchain semiconductor. The new hardware allows technologists to launch blockchain projects simply by plugging it into a compatible port.

Former Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit makes $100 million Investment in credit card startup. Vikram Pandit, the former Citigroup Inc. chief, is making a big bet on credit cards. The Orogen Group, an investment firm headed by the former bank executive, is committing $100 million in equity to Fair Square Financial LLC, the two companies are expected to announce on Monday. Fair Square, based in Wilmington, Del., issues credit cards under the brand name Ollo and targets consumers with less pristine credit scores.

M17 Entertainment, the parent company of Singapore-based dating app Paktor, files for US IPO. M17 Entertainment has filed for $115 million IPO in a US listing. Paktor is one of M17 Entertainment assets. The dating service only account for a small fraction of M17’s income, so it’s capitalizing on its live-streaming video service. The company’s net revenue grew from US$7.68 million in 2016 to US$90.1 million in 2017, around 90 percent of which was accounted for by its live-streaming app Live17.

Tesla Engineering Chief Takes Break After Musk Displaces Him. Doug Field, the automaker’s engineering chief, said he’s taking time off to recharge, while its regulatory point person defected to Waymo.