2018 third quarter
China’s startups
- An intro look at Robot.He, automated restaurant in Shanghai
- An intro to Ratio, robot-powered cafe chain
- 3 multi-billion-dollar companies dominate the internet landscape, from news media to AI
- China’s Alibaba unveils AI copywriter which can produce up to 20,000 lines of copy a second; passes Turing test
- WeChat expands service fee for ‘card repay’ in digital wallet, aiming for sustainable payments model
- Google launches its first WeChat mini program as China experiment
- An intro to Makeblock, startup teaching coding and robotics to kids worldwide
- An intro to Guangzhou’s tech-driven smart city ambitions
- An infographic look at China’s tech stats, mid-2018
- Approximately 118 P2P lenders have failed so far in July in response to financial risk clampdown
- OKCoin cryptocurrency exchange launches fiat-to-crypto trading services in the US
- Toutiao news aggregator app aims for much more – live game streaming, money lending and beyond
- A look at Futu, enabling Chinese investors to trade overseas stocks via their bank accounts abroad
- Tiger mobile securities broker secures valuation of US$1.06BN
- A look at Peking University’s installation of a facial recognition system
- An intro to VeChain’s blockchain-based building supply chain solutions, backed by PwC
- Tuya Smart one-stop AI-driven IoT firm secures $200M
- An overview of Alibaba’s City Brain project, aiming to help governments manage cities domestically and beyond
- noon, Middle East digital marketplace, launches China and Hong Kong operations
- Bolome startup uses social media stars to sell Japanese goods to 80 million followers
- Haoyiku social commerce startup raises ‘hundreds of millions of RMB’ in Tencent-led round
- China’s Tencent aiming to expand WeChat Pay payments footprint in the US
- A look at China’s use of facial recognition and other technologies
- Bad ‘social credit’ rating? Your kids won’t get into college.
- An overview of Alibaba’s Dingtalk, China’s largest enterprise messenger app with 100M users
- Zuoyebang online tutoring startup secures $350M, claiming over 70M users
- Meitu selfie app aims to build a full ecosystem – and empire – around beauty
- Snowball Finance fintech startup secures $120M for ‘social investment platform’ approach
- An intro to Yingtan, a benchmark city for how government can use technology
- China’s Pinduoduo ecommerce platform files for $1BN IPO in the US
- Tikin Media marketing startup secures $17.6M for elevator projection advertising method
- Alibaba to launch Global E-commerce Talent Network, aiming to train 1M students and 200K SMEs inside 5 years
- Toutiao news app to implement partial paywall, allowing outlets to monetize content
- WeWork coworking space operator secures $500M, aiming for 6-city growth
- An intro to Zhongwei city, aiming to become a big data hub
- Nanjing city launches $1.5BN blockchain fund aiming to support public projects
- Nervos Network blockchain startup secures $28M for enterprise-level solutions
- A look at APEX Technologies, state-backed China Internet Weekly’s top AI company
- Chain Future Digital FinTech launches blockchain incubator and accelerator
- Keep fitness app secures $126M for social focus
- A look at Chengdu, Nanjing, and Xiamen, tier 2 cities aiming to reinvent themselves as future tech hubs
- Megvii, owner of Face++ facial recognition system, reportedly raising $600M
- TRON blockchain startup to acquire BitTorrent for $140M
- The China Internet Report 2018
- Bilibili animation streaming apps the latest to be struck by state ban for ‘vulgar’ content
- Yitu AI startup to aid new Beijing airport with facial recognition technology for security screenings
- Why web, tech and mobile people need to pay attention to China, from the China Internet Report 2018
- Xiongan New Area gov’t partners Ethereum’s ConsenSys to develop blockchain innovation hub
- China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom partner for industry-level blockchain applications
- An overview of the recent TechCrunch Hangzhou 2018 conference
- Douyin short video platform to launch Star Map Platform matching service for key opinion leaders and businesses
- Zhihu Q&A platform reportedly secures $300M for Quora-like approach
- China Creation Ventures raises $200M fund to focus on tech, media and telecomms
- China’s Cango, online marketplace for new and used cars, aims for $300M IPO in the US
- A look at how Chinese authorities shapes the country’s tech industry
- China Merchants Group and SPF Group partner UK’s Centricus to launch $15BN fund to invest in technology companies
- Ganesh Ventures to launch $250M India-focused fund
- WeChat now has over 1.5M third-party mini-apps from 1M developers
- Washlava wins Electrolux Future of Laundry Challenge in China
- An overview of China’s moves towards social credit ratings using AI, surveillance and big data
- China’s Tencent reportedly to JV Korea’s Samsung to develop AI devices
- Waymo, former Google self-driving car business, establishes China subsidiary
- A look at how Chongqing and Singapore are linking China to SE Asia
- Tianrang AI and big data startup secures $26M, launches ML project focusing on urban development
- Tianrang AI startup secures $26M for enterprise-level data analysis
- An intro to the Huawei-backed Tianjin Smart City project (pdf)
- Bitmain cryptocurrency mining giant reportedly aiming for $18BN IPO in Hong Kong
- Wangjiahuan agriculture startup secures $58M, targets blockchain-based food quality control and analytics
- China shuts down blockchain-related WeChat channels as part of cryptocurrency crackdown
- China reportedly building a $145M superconducting computer
- China’s Bitmain, world’s largest bitcoin mining firm, sets sights on US$18BN Hong Kong IPO
- imToken launches venture arm, DApp ecosystem and in-house exchange one month after $10M fundraise
- JD retail giant launches blockchain-as-service platform, allowing enterprise customers to build, host and deploy their own solutions
- An intro to China’s StoneTicket, solutions for ticketing using blockchain tech
- 1Yaowang online pharmacy aims for $200M NYSE IPO with sights on $2.5TN in-country market by 2022
- China’s JD opens first overseas cashierless store in Indonesia
- Makeblock STEM firm secures $44M with all-in-one solutions package
- Pulsion startup lets retailers use ‘virtual fitting room’ tech to boost clothing sales
- Ahi Fintech secures $15M for enterprise AI-powered risk control and anti-fraud services
- Shenzhen restaurant issues China’s first blockchain-based invoice
- Tencent pulls top-selling Monster Hunter game in apparent state content crackdown
- ‘Illiberal’ AI tech growth provides a blueprint for autocratic regimes around the world
- Google in talks with Tencent and others around launch of cloud services in China
- Medlinker mobile platform for physicians secures $147M
- How Tencent made WeChat the success it is now using ‘micro-innovation’
- Manbang Group ‘truck hailing’ firm aiming for $1BN fundraise, in part focused on autonomous tech
- McDonald’s issues ‘MacCoin’ tokens equivalent to one Big Mac – and now traded online
- China’s Ping An Good Doctor partners Singapore’s Grab in mutual benefit JV
- Google reportedly also developing AI-powered news app for China, alongside censorship-based search
- 12 Shanghai fintech startups to watch
- ‘Are You China Ready?’ Startup Contest 2018 applications close tomorrow
- Ximalaya audio streaming platform secures $580M with 470M user base
- County in Sichuan set to manage forestry industry using blockchain
- Ultrain blockchain company secures $20M, taking valuation to $200M
- China’s digital English education market expected to reach US$1.4BN value by 2022
- New foreigner-focused ‘business startup visa’ piloted in selected districts in Shanghai
- Weidai early-stage personal credit / loan platform files for US$100 IPO
- Qutoutiao content aggregator files for US IPO, targeting $300M
- XPeng electric car startup raises $587M
- MyDreamPlus coworking space startup secures US$120M
- An analysis of China’s Pinduoduo e-commerce app with 195M monthly active users
- A look at how e-commerce is transforming rural China
- Regulators freeze game license approvals in state-driven content shake-up
- An intro to the 10 SE Asian startups competing at Google Demo Day Asia in Shanghai
- Beijing Bytedance Technology news aggregator is equity-fundraising, potentially valuing at $75BN
- Y Combinator China to be headed by former Baidu exec
- Xloong AR glasses enable police to cross-reference against national faces database
- Tencent leads $50M pre-A funding in AI chip maker Suiyuan Technology
- China expected to overtake US as leading blockchain developer in 3-5 years
- Without national regulation standards, local governments compete for blockchain supremacy
- China’s mobile game-makers made over $600M in the US market in first half of 2018
- Google employees protest work on unethical censored search engine for China
- The challenges, beyond censorship, for Google and other tech companies in entering China
- DingTalk, Alibaba’s workplace communication software used by over 7M employers, creating worker frustration
- A look at WeChat, China’s most popular mobile app with 1BN monthly active users
- An overview of how the US-China trade war will impact the Made in China 2025 initiative
- Rural internet users reportedly reached 209M in the last 12 months
- An intro to Xloong, making AR-driven facial recognition glasses for police
- Dada-JD Daojia online grocery service backed for $500M in Walmart-led round
- 51zhaoyou B2B oil and hazardous chemicals e-marketplace secures $150M
- Igengmei consumer medical beauty platform secures $50M
- Toutiao news app owner, Bytedance, reportedly seeking up to $3BN
- Chinese Cities of Opportunity, a PwC report (pdf)
- China’s AI startups raised $5BN in funding last year, compared with $4.4BN in the US
- WeChat mini programs break the 200M daily-active-users mark
- SinoSwiss TechnoPark in Chongqing seeks Canton Zurich-based companies and startups for entry to the China market
- An overview of how China’s banks are turning to tech companies for help
- Miotech AI startup pulls investment insights from financial data
- Crypto crackdown continues with WeChat blocking mining and price prediction accounts
- TianTianXueNong secures ‘tens of millions of RMB’ for agricultural education in lower-tier cities
- China’s cybersecurity market expected to hit $15BN value by 2022
- Chongqing city to establish $7.3BN semiconductor industry focused fund
- China’s Xiaomi awaiting regulatory approval to launch Mi Pay in India
- Cocos-BCX game developer backed for $40M with blockchain-based approach
- An intro to Yidu Cloud, making sense of the medical records of 1.3BN people
- Jianke online healthcare platform lands $130M with underserved regional focus
- Online hotel bookings hit 91M monthly active users in Q2 2018
- Alibaba Cloud partners myDevices for cloud-based ‘IoT in a box’, focusing on retail, healthcare and hospitality
- Supreme People’s Court recognizes blockchain-derived evidence as legally binding
- Beijing Internet Court unveiled, powered by facial and speech recognition technology
- 3 trends to consider regarding WeChat mini-apps
- Huawei Pay pilots electronic IDs in government-focused integration move
- Google’s China search engine to link every user search to their phone number
- An intro to BingoBox, 24-hour cashier-free convenience store chain
- China’s largest insurer to adopt blockchain via partnership with Singapore’s VeChain
- China’s Import-Export Bank set to offer $328M loan to Nigeria aimed at ICT sector growth
- Banma, Alibaba’s IoT and internet-connected car startup, raises $233M, valuing at $1BN
- Liulishuo AI-powered English language learning app preps for $100M US IPO
- Miss Fresh e-commerce food startup lands $450M
- Regulators to limit number of new online games and total titles as state targets ‘gaming addiction’
- Vivo smartphone maker launches IoT move with smart home Jovi IoT platform
- MotionEco startup turns ‘gutter oil’ into green fuel to tackle problem of reuse by eateries
- Viomi internet-connected home appliance maker preps for $200M NASDAQ IPO
- Baidu search giant launches subsidiary to research blockchain applications with $7.3M funding
- Laidian power-bank sharing startup partners blockchain solution for online and offline applications
- Maoyan Weying movie ticketing app aims for $1BN HK IPO
- GSR Ventures raises $400M fund to focus on early-stage tech startups
- An intro to Shanghai’s use of ‘entrepreneurship visas’ to lure foreign talent
- A look at Meituan Dianping – 340M users ordering groceries, paying bills, renting bikes and booking hotels – and aiming for $52BN valuation
- An overview of Shanghai’s Yangpu district – 19 innovation parks, 21 scientific parks, 1200 entrepreneurs
- Alipay and UnionPay partner for cardless and barcode payments
- Microsoft establishes Asia AI research center in Shanghai
- Zhongshan city now using blockchain-based system to track convicts on parole
- Liulishuo AI-driven language learning app sets sights on IPO in $100M-$300M range
- The world of the future likely to have two separate internets – one heavily censored, the other warts-and-all
- An interview with GoGoVan’s founder on the challenges of expanding into mainland China
- Haidilao hotpot firm sets sights on $963M Hong Kong IPO
- China’s iQiyi online video giant takes stake in Vin Diesel’s forthcoming xXx4 movie production
- India: Xiaomi smartphone maker to open thousands of retail outlets in rural India for in-country growth
- China’s tech news website 36Kr to enter Japan, aiming to grow two-way awareness
- Japan’s SoftBank Ventures Korea arm launches $300M fund focused on China’s early stage tech startups
- RUSH! bike ride-hailing app wins Startup Weekend Macao Women Edition
