= First quarter 2018 =
China’s startup news
Below is an uncategorised summary of broad China-focused tech and startup news reported across January, February and March 2018.
We also deliver a monthly China-focused startup news update.
Accompanying this, we also deliver a daily startup news report
via social media, posting China’s startup news on Twitter,
on LinkedIn and via StartupAsiaNews on Facebook.
The collected quarterly items – spanning all countries in South and Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand – can also be ordered as a 90+ page publication in full-colour hardopy.
- Plenty, Silicon Valley agriculture startup, preparing to build 300 vertical farms across China
- Didi Smart Transportation Brain AI system set to manage city traffic
- China set to build $2.1BN technology park to develop AI tech
- Xinhua will build a ‘new kind of newsroom based on information technology and featuring human-machine collaboration’
- Bitcoin miners shift outside China in response to clampdown
- Bingobox checkout-free convenience store operator gains $80M backing
- A look at little-known giant, Meituan Dianping – valued at $30BN
- Byton set to launch ‘intelligent’ cloud-connected electric car at CES 2018 in Las Vegas
- A look at China’s digital wallets may show the future of digital payments
- Chushou live-streaming mobile game platform secures $120M from Google and others
- Guangzhou now uses WeChat for digital ID for online and offline government services
- A brief look at Tongji-Bauhinia Valley Startup Camp, bringing together students from China, Hong Kong and Macau
- Alibaba’s UC Browser overtakes Google’s Chrome in some emerging markets
- Chengdu High-Tech Industrial Development Zone commits around $300M for elderly-care IoT solution
- China saw $9TN in mobile payments volume across 2016
- Lizhi-FM podcast sharing platform & radio mobile app developer secures $50M
- Alibaba aiming for 6M bricks-and-mortar stores via Ling Shou Tong retail management platform
- Xiaohongshu e-commerce platform sets sights on South Korea
- China’s DiDi Chuxing confirms acquisition of Brazil’s 99 on $1BN valuation for Latin America expansion
- Shenzhen completes transition to 100% electric buses – 16,359 of them
- Magma Partners launches Sino-Latin American early-stage accelerator
- Alibaba brings artificial intelligence to pig farming, monitoring full life cycle
- An look at China’s moves into customer-focused VR, AR and holograms
- Chinese-Israeli incubator opens in Xiamen, Fujian province
- A look at how Tencent’s medical ecosystem will shape the future of healthcare in China
- XtalPi AI-driven biotech startup backed to $15M by Sequoia, Google, Tencent
- InsChain blockchain-driven startups partners with UK’s iXledger for peer-to-peer insurance
- Beijing Frontier International AI Research Institute launched, led by former Google, Microsoft exec
- A look at how Daigou purchasing is changing how Australia and China do business
- Alibaba to take $486M stake in big data firm focused on hotels and retail in offline push
- Ant Financial believed to be planning fundraise on $100BN valuation
- Tech giants creating their own labels to conquer the digital music market
- Chinese cities compete to woo overseas entrepreneurs, offering space, cash, advice, logistics and more
- A video intro to China-US incubator InnoSpring
- A look at how China’s online retailers are focusing on rural locations
- Ping An, China’s largest insurer, set to invest up to $1BN in early-stage fintech and healthcare startups
- Kr-Vision smart glasses maker for the blind secures backing for sound-based tech
- A look at China’s growing use of facial recognition technology
- A look at Chengdu’s moves to place itself as a world-class new economy launchpad
- Broadlink smart home devices startup secures $54.4M for growth into IoT and AI
- Ping An Good Doctor diagnosis and appointment booking app sets for IPO on $1BN valuation
- Sino-Latin America Accelerator launched to boost LatAm/China entrepreneurship
- Baidu Ventures nears close of AI-focused 2nd fund at $317M
- World’s first AI-powered straddle carrier created and under testing
- Alibaba retail giant to market Ford electric vehicles in China via massive vending machine and shopping app
- A look at Pinduoduo social commerce app, fastest growing ecommerce firm, with a $1.5BN valuation
- 688M people used WeChat hongbao to send money on Chinese New Year’s Eve
- Toutiao acquires Faceu augmented reality-based selfie app for $300M
- Momo pays $601M for Tantan Ltd for dominance in China’s online dating and hook-ups space
- Blockchain-based apartment rental platform to be developed by Ant Financial and others
- Alibaba moves into digital transformation for furniture retail, after supermarkets
- JD retailing giant sees artificial intelligence as central to future expansion
- A video look at China’s reshaping of bricks-and-mortar retail using tech
- Club Factory backed to $100M for direct-from-factory e-commerce
- Startups Pony and JingChi road-testing self-driving taxis
- More than 500 cities aiming for smart city transformation, in part due to energy issues
- China plans Hefei hub focusing on speech recognition tech and artificial intelligence growth
- UCOMMUNE, China’s largest coworking space, on the path to $9BN valuation
- ZCool platform for designers and creatives backed to $15M by Shutterstock
- Xbed startup secures $15M for staffless hotel system
- South China Morning Post launches Abacus, focusing on China’s tech scene
- Ant Financial to invest $31.5M in mobile app-based ‘smart parking’ firm
- Yangpu District announces 10 major policies for startup support
- Major retailer JD launches startup incubator to lure foreign blockchain projects
- A look at the ongoing consolidation of China’s tech giants
- China overtakes US in AI startup funding, focusing on facial recognition and chips
- World-first ‘mimic’ Domain Name System server now online in Henan province
- Codoon sports-tech startup eyes AI after raising $20M
- A brief look at the Ford/Alibaba partnership around car vending machines
- Vision of the Chinese economy based on artificial intelligence presented by government and industry
- An intro to how China is addressing food safety with IoT and blockchain technologies
- Kujiale VR-based interior design portal backed to $100M
- Researchers working to develop emotion-sensing artificial intelligence for devices and wearables
- Beijing to set national committee for standardisation of blockchain and distributed ledger tech
- Xiaomi jumps on blockchain pet bandwagon with Cryptorabbits, following Baidu’s Cryptodoggies launch
- China Mobile accelerates 5G plans, targets 5 major test cities
- 17zuoye education platform backed to $200M by Toutiao mobile news and content platform
- Wecash fintech backed to $60M for AI-driven credit ratings system
- People’s Bank of China research institute launches blockchain-based platform
- China’s Alipay expands US network with 35,000 new merchants
- IBM, Walmart to launch Blockchain Food Safety Alliance with China’s JD ecommerce giant
- Beijing Police reportedly testing smart glasses enabled with license plate and facial-recognition tech
- Huawei unveils patent for blockchain-based intellectual property control system
- Qutoutiao news app secures pre-IPO investment of $100M
- Drone deliveries are making their mark in rural and remote areas
- Baidu AI research team develops neural network that can mimic a voice from less than a one-minute sample
- China to allow foreign players to enter the country’s $27TN payments market
- WeChat hits 1BN active monthly users
- Tencent adds ‘digital contracts’ for parents to let kids trade grades for screen time
- Mobile Go in-car vending machine startup secures $9.5M
- Can AI alleviate China’s doctor shortage?
- China’s DataMesh demo’s mixed reality at SXSW
- China’s Alipay rolls out payments and more in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and the Philippines
- NewsDog mobile news aggregator set to to expand app platform across India
- 3 in 4 surveyed concerned over increasing impact of artificial intelligence on privacy
- China’s first blockchain-enabled house rental goes live in Xiongan
- Danke apartment rental website secures $100M on 80K rooms managed
- A look at YI Tunnel, unattended store e-commerce driven by AI
- Ieemoo smart shopping cart startup gains funding
- Alibaba Cloud partners Xiamen ZhongChuan IoT Industry Research Institute for smart city solutions and blockchain applications
- An overview of tech firm moves into blockchain-driven smartphones
- A look at how China’s social and e-commerce sites are converging
- Guizhou province focuses on blockchain tech in effort to boost regional growth
- UCommune absorbs cowork rival Woo Space towards $1.7BN valuation
- A look at the challenges and opportunities in bringing rural China into the digital realm
- Cloud Helios, SaaS-driven business travel and expense management platform, secures $7M
- HiTomorrow fresh food startup secures $15.8M to develop supply chain
- Douyu online game streaming platform backed for $632M
- Chehaoduo auto retail services platform raises $818M
- An intro to Lean In China, platform for over 100K women across 25 cities and 50 universities
- Edianzu IT product rental startup secures $320M
- Telefonica and China Unicom partner to develop and simplify IoT deployment
- XEV expects 3D-printed car 2-seater to be available by 2019 for under $10K
- 550 blockchain tech patents filed by companies in 2017
- Kr Space coworking startup raises $94.6M to add 300K square metres to portfolio
- Lvji secures $19M for location-based ‘smart tourism’ via apps, WeChat, website and service terminals
- SenseTime nears raising $790M AI-focused fund
- WeChat banned by Australia’s Department of Defence, citing security concerns
- Uber founder launches innovation fund for India and China startups
- The world’s 10 biggest cities in 2030, and none are in the US or Europe
- Malaysia: China’s Alibaba to implement AI-powered traffic control system in Kuala Lumpur in first foreign project
- Malaysia’s MYEG to invest $2.4m in China’s Ximmerse mobile AR/VR startup
- New Zealand: A look at Trademonster, helping NZ businesses send over 1 million retail parcels to China
- New Zealand: Centrality blockchain firm partners China’s Dalian Wanda to develop ecosystem connecting consumers and retailers
- Pakistan: China’s Ant Financial invests US$185M into Pakistan’sTelenor Microfinance Bank mobile finance platform
- Singapore: Lu International online wealth management launches, backed by China’ insurance giant Ping An
- New centre opens in Thailand as part of China’s Digital Belt and Road program
