Startup News
China
A broad round-up of China’s tech startup news from July 2019.
- China: Sichuan province, bitcoin mining powerhouse, preps for boost driven by rainy-season drop in hydro power costs
- 2019 SLUSH Shenzhen Pitch Competition applications open for August event
- China: Alibaba marketplace Tmall aiming to attract international brands looking to sell in China with introduction of English language website
- HP, Dell, Microsoft and Amazon all set to shift substantial production capacity out of China, joining a growing exodus
- China: Border authorities install surveillance app on tourists’ phones entering Xinjiang, gathering personal data
- China: NIO electric vehicles startup recalls near 5K SUVs after battery fires
- China’s Ucommune cowork space operator reportedly planning $200M US IPO as soon as 2020
- China: Cailu blockchain-backed media company secures $10M pre-A funding with focus on smart cities
- Citcon cross-border payments firm expands to Europe to provide merchants with payment options focusing on China’s e-wallets and app-based payment services
- China: Baidu search giant looks to early stage autonomous-vehicles income via valet parking concept, noting drivers spend 30% of their time seeking parking
- China: MassChallenge Nanjing launched by MassChallenge zero-equity accelerator network and Qixia District of Nanjing City
- China: Geek+ raises $150M for warehouse robotics and automation
- China: Synyi medical AI startup raises $36.3M
- China: Tencent-backed Douyu livestreaming startup raises Nasdaq IPO target to $629M
- China: Baidu’s autonomous cars have now driven 1.2M miles across 13 cities in-country
- China: NIO EV startup recently started supercharging station trial in Suzhou, charging from 20% to 80% in 30 minutes
- The China Internet Report 2019 now available to download
- China: Social credit system is becoming a reality as local governments scramble to implement Beijing’s coercive, carrot-and-stick vision
- China: Illicit bitcoin miners arrested and 4000 mining rigs siezed over $3M of stolen electricity
- China: A look at Megvii AI firm’s facial-recognition mobile app for tracking lost dogs using their nose prints – with uncomfortable social credit implications
- China: Huayang Search search engine aimed at brainwashing children and teens – state-run, sanitized results, heavily censored, limited site referrals
- China: BJEV electric vehicle unit of BAIC recalls near 1400 minivans following battery overheating issues
- China: Cyberspace Administration pulls 26 audio apps in clean-up around audiobooks, anime, podcasts and more
- China: Semptian revealed to be selling mass surveillance tech via front company to authoritarian regimes from ME to Africa, alongside aiding citizen surveillance
- UK’s MQA partnered by Alibaba’s Xiami Music to bring lossless audio streaming to China
- China: CloudMinds files for $500M listing on NYSE with cloud-based robotics system
- US tech supplier announces ban on sales of software compatible with Chinese drones to clients in law enforcement and public safety, citing security concerns
- China: 17000 students across 60 schools in Guangzhou now monitored via GPS, backed by multiple gov’t agencies
- How China’s WeChat users unwittingly aid censorship as the platform analyses, categorizes and learns from images sent in one-to-one and group chats
- China’s DouYu live-streaming platform for gamers launches IPO with $775M target
- China’s SenseTime AI and facial recognition startup to open development hub in Abu Dhabi
- China: Huishoubao gadget recycling startup preps for 5G boom, expecting 5G-ready smartphone sales to hit 110M units by 2021
- China: An intro to Kuaishou short-video giant – 300M monthly active users, valuation nearing $25BN, and now looking at game livestreaming and long-form video
- China: WeChat Pay launches in-flight payments trial with Spring Airlines – as long as flyers have a high-enough rating on WeChat’s own social credit program
- Toyota to invest $600M in China’s Didi, plus JV to develop connected and electric vehicle tech
- China’s Douyu live-streaming platform sets sights on Japan’s burgeoning esports market via JV with Mitsui trading house
- China: Joy Capital closes $700M fund focusing on early-stage investments
- An overview of the state of play in China’s burgeoning self-driving car industry – has it been overestimated?
- Xinjiang Victims Database is seeking crowdfunding support for their important work
- A detailed look at China’s moves into genome editing of food crops using CRISPR
- China’s ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, preps for smartphone launch as part of potential broad infrastructure and ecosystem play
- China: A brief look at 15 of the country’s fast-growing wealth-tech and fintech startups
- India: MPs accuse China’s TikTok short-video app of redirecting user data into China, alongside spreading fake news and malicious content in India
- ByteDance planning to replicate its China playbook in India by investing in local content startups, creating a suite of everyday apps
- Japan’s Itochu trading house partners China’s Citic state conglomerate for $1.8BN VC fund to introduce Japanese startups into China
- A brief look at how robotics startups from China and India are capitalizing on Japan’s labor and logistics challenges in responding to online shopping’s growth
- Lagos’ Flutterwave partners China’s Alibaba for digital payments between Alipay and African merchants
- Australia: Major universities announce reviews over links to surveillance tech used by Chinese Government
Each month, Startup News Asia also delivers technology-specific summaries for the month past:
Blockchain & DLT news
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AI news
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Fintech news
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Bitcoin & crypto news
And you can also get today’s startup news from across Asia
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