April, May & June 2020
Startup China
Startup News Asia’s quarterly collection of China’s startup news collected across April, May and June 2020.
Each item listed here is a technology-focused or startup news headline from Q2 2020 connected with China’s startup ecosystem in some way, whether announcements by Chinese startups around a product, pivot or funding, or an article detailing an impact on China’s startup space.
The focus here, of course, is on China, but wider-world technology and related startup news headlines are included where useful to deliver points-of-reference, food for thought for China’s early-stage startups, and to provide wider industry knowledge.
June 2020 | May 2020 | April 2020
June 2020
- China’s Kuaishou steps up competition with Bytedance, taking top position on US app store charts with Zynn, TikTok clone
- China: Kuaishou and JD partner to enable Kuaishou users to buy JD products directly, aiming for new e-commerce ecosystem built on short video live streaming
- China: Internal documents show Skycom Tech Co Ltd, firm that attempted sale of prohibited equipment to Iran, effectively controlled by Huawei
- ICYMI: China Telecom and US-sanctioned ZTE Corporation recently partnered for 6G technology and standards development, eyeing satellite, IoT and other applications
- Canada’s major telcos, Bell and Telus, lock China’s Huawei out of 5G build, instead choosing Ericsson and Nokia, another step in excision from Five Eyes nation presence
- ICYMI: China’s Baidu completes autonomous driving and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications testing site, claiming world’s largest research-to-testing facility
- China: OO Eyetech gains $1.3M funding from Foxconn with AI-based diagnostic solution targeting early-stage myopia
- China: ByteDance, owner of TikTok video sharing giant, closes down TopBuzz news aggregator app, the international version of China-focused Jinri Toutiao
- China: VeChain blockchain traceability platform partnered by Shenzhen Yuhongtain Foods Company to monitor and verify lifecycle of pork products
- China: ByteDance, TikTok parent firm, reportedly splitting domestic from overseas operations, cutting Chinese employee access to code and ‘sensitive data’ of overseas products
- Twitter shuts down state-linked information disinformation networks tied to China, Russia and Turkey; network of 23,750 and 150K ‘amplifiers’ connected with China alone
- China: Tongcheng Life eCommerce platform raises $200M with online-to-offline community group buying focused on fresh food and ingredients
- Alibaba Group cloud-computing division preps to hire 5000 tech staff globally over the next 10 months, across roles in networks, databases, servers, chips and AI
- China: Sam’s Club, high-end membership-only shopping chainand subsidiary of Walmart, partners VeChain for Blockchain Traceability Platform project, backed by PwC
- Japan’s virtual idol, Hatsune Miku, joins China’s Taobao as live-streaming ambassador for upcoming 618 online shopping festival
- China: Xiaomi launches Xiaomi Huzhu, mutual aid platform, crowd-funding healthcare cover with focus on low/middle income rural populations
- China: An intro to Maskbook, web3.0 layer over web2.0 that enables users to post encrypted, surveillance-free messages onTwitter and Facebook
- China: Miaoshou Doctor raises $85M with ‘online hospital’ platform, including health insurance and prescription management
- China: Qualcomm Ventures, VC arm of US chip supplier, adds 3 startups working in IoT, AI and 5G, adding to over 60 existing investments in play for 5G position
- China: “…technologies also suggests darker visions of a more imperial, neo-colonialist China actively supporting authoritarian governments…The BRI may develop Xinjiang characteristics”
- Social media: The top 50 content creators on TikTok have more followers than the populations of Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia – combined
- China: Blockchain-Based Service Network gains SmartContract and Iris Foundation partnerships around streamlining, interoperability and big data
- TikTok launches TikTok For Business, aimed at marketers and taking on Snapchat with suite spanning AR ads, In-Feed Videos, Hashtag Challenges and Branded Effects
- China: Tencent social media and entertainment giant to buy control of SE Asia’s Iflix, streaming firm with operations in 13 countries
- China: Kunming unveils country’s first blockchain-based bidding platform for public resource transactions, claiming delivery of near 60K blockchain certificates for official data
- China: Brinc and Lever VC partner to launch fund and accelerator to support plant-based, cultivated, dairy-based meat firms and food tech across China
- China: Tencent investment portfolio has surpassed $66BN with stakes in music, fintech and more, increasingly resembling an investment bank
- A look at TikTok short-form video app, and the data privacy problems it is believed to represent
- China: Zuoyebang raises $750M with AI-backed online tutoring service focused on kindergartners to 12th-graders, and claiming 170M monthly active users
- A look at the 7 entrepreneurs selected under the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards working on social impact issues
- India: T-Hub incubator partners China’s OPPO to aid startups scale up, seeking those working in fields including artificial intelligence, 5G, hardware and gaming
- India: OneTouch AppLabs startup’s ‘Remove China Apps’ passes 1M downloads in 10 days of launch due to China’s border incursions in the Himalayas
- India: A brief overview of Google’s reason for deleting Remove China Apps from the Play Store
- Singapore: Huawei announces new initiatives including 5G-powered AI lab, virtual AI academy with over 140 free courses, and training for AI developers
- Singapore: Nokia and Ericsson edge out Huawei in building Singapore’s main 5G networks, tho Huawei may be involved in broader ecosystem in a reduced capacity
- Thailand: Huawei Pay mobile payment service launches in collaboration with UnionPay, introducing support for Near Field Communication payments in retail stores
- ICYMI: Bipartisan US lawmakers group propose CHIPS Act to deliver 40% tax credit for semiconductor equipment, $10BN state funding, and $12BN in R&D funding
- ICYMI: UK proposes a D10 grouping of democratic partners, including G7 nations, Australia, South Korea and India, to focus on 5G and critical supply chains
- Hong Kong marks the Tiananmen Square massacre anniversary for what many fear may be the last time as ‘authorities’ ban commemoration
May 2020
- China’s TikTok passes 2BN downloads, building on record-breaking Q1
- China: Tencent launches Tencent Industrial Accelerator for blockchain-focused startups and companies, with applications closing June 6th
- China’s Alibaba gains US patent for blockchain-based system to identify and protect music copyright
- China: TikTok’s mainland version, Douyin, now testing Connections, function enabling users to video call strangers to play games
- China: Xiaomi mobile giant browsers found to be recording millions of people’s private web and phone use worldwide
- China: Inceptio autonomous trucking startup raises $100M with over 100 logistics and freight firms already signed up for Smart Truck Asset Service
- China: TikTok owner Bytedance launches Viamaker video-editing app overseas, building on presence in the video-streaming space
- China: Merck pharma giant backs SynSense AI-focused chip startup via China Seed Fund, focusing on next-gen ‘neuromorphic computing’
- China: Nervos Network launches $5M virtual incubator for early-stage startups and blockchain teams building decentralized applications
- China: WeChat found to monitor international user content in order to build censorship algorithms imposed on China-registered accounts, further fuelling data security concerns
- China’s TikTok now testing in-video ‘shop now’ ad format for influencer videos, splitting revenue from video-driven sales
- China: Shanghai’s Double Five shopping festival delivers major boost to consumer spending in COVID-19 outbreak – $2.2BN sales inside 24 hours
- China: E-sports market breaks $16BN value, with 470M consumers; 47% in mobile games and 24% in PC games
- China: “…in February alone Taobao, the platform which sees the largest number of live-streaming sales, saw an increase of 719% in new sellers across the country”
- McKinsey’s take on how COVID-is 19 accelerating underlying trends in China’s medtech industry, and the new business models that may emerge
- China: TikTok to launch new augmented reality advertising format, introducing interactive effects to user videos taking cues from the user’s physical environment
- China: Motovis autonomous driving tech firm secures $14.1M
- China: A look at Huawei’s moves with HiCar, Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything, 5G and more, aiming for central presence across vehicle movement, charging and built environment
- ICYMI: British Telecom signs US supplier to help limit reliance on China’s Huawei in construction of nationwide fiber-optic system
- China: “…so many…retailers ended up embracing livestreaming that they’ve kicked off a new boom in Chinese ‘shoppertainment’ that lets retailers interact with distant customers…”
- China: ByteDance, parent company of TikTok, leads $6M investment in Lingxi, AI startup applying machine intelligence to financial services including debt collection and insurance
- China: Fiscal package $1.4 trillion set for sign off, aiming to reduce dependence on foreign technology and echoing objectives of ‘Made in China 2025’ program
- China: Advisers propose regional digital currency for trade backed by Japanese yen, Korean won, HK dollar and the yuan, essentially a knock-off of original vision for Facebook Libra
- China: A look at how Luckin Coffee’s collapse highlights and amplifies China’s Wall Street-related issues around false accounts, financial information and verification
- China: Missfresh reportedly on the verge of closing $500M in new financing to expand in response to bolstered demand for fresh groceries due to COVID-19
- China: Tencent tech giant announces plan to invest $70BN over 5 years in tech infrastructure including cloud computing, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity
- Israel reportedly likely to join ranks of countries rejecting bids from China for role in 5G network infrastructure due to security concerns
- China: City of Hangzhou announces plans for code-and-scoring system to monitor citizen health status at all times – regardless of whether there is a public health emergency
- China: AliExpress, Alibaba’s cross-border e-commerce business, to enlist over 100K online influencers globally this year alone to create content to attract new customers
- China’s Tencent acquires 5% stake in Australia’s Afterpay buy-now-pay-later consumer lending startup
- An intro to the 9 startup solutions selected under the UN Environment Programme’s 2020 Asia-Pacific Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge
- Myanmar: Wave Money mobile financial services platform gains $73.5M investment from China’s Ant Financial, operator of Alipay
- ICYMI: US gov’t imposes new restrictions on China’s Huawei, severely limiting ability to use American tech in semiconductor design and manufactured overseas
- Big tech: YouTube found to be automating deletion of Chinese-language comments critical of the Communist Party, even though YouTube is officially banned in the country
- Myanmar: A look at how China’s Tencent has taken the lead in the country’s music streaming space with its Joox service
- ICYMI: Estonia parliament approves new Electronics Communications Act to ensure security reviews for telecom gear, dubbed the ‘Huawei law’
April 2020
- China’s Rokid looking to deploy infra-red thermal imaging wearables in US to detect COVID-19 symptoms
- ICYMI: UK Gov’t selects Ericsson as vendor to replace China’s Huawei for Britain’s 5G network and equipment
- China: Hainan rolls out 350 facial recognition-backed public service terminals dealing with over 150 tasks and applications, aiming for faster, streamlined gov’t services
- China: Shenzhen’s MicroBT to roll out 3 news bitcoin miners in competition with Bitmain, focusing on electricity efficiency in the mining process
- China Mobile Blockchain Association Committee and tech firm Chongqing Jinwowo to collaborate on creation of ‘blockchain and e-commerce ecology’ lab
- China: XiaoduoAI raises $28M with AI-driven customer service chatbots focused on e-commerce
- China: Suzhou municipal government employees to receive 50% of their May transportation subsidies in DCEP digital currency as state-owned banks step up testing
- China: Intellifusion AI chipmaker secures $141M with surveillance platform applications spanning jaywalking fines to COVID-19 identification
- People’s Bank of China, country’s central bank, has said that its digital currency could be used in the 2022 Winter Olympics event, hinting at CBDC launch schedule
- China: Alibaba Cloud to invest additional $28BN into its infrastructure over the next 3 years, building on 63 existing availability zones internationally
- MIT terminates research partnership with China’s iFlytek AI firm over supply of technology for surveillance, repression and detention of Uighurs in Xinjiang
- China: Bytedance, parent of TikTok and Toutiao, to recruit for 10K new positions, with sights on 100K staff globally by year-end and aiming to match Alibaba headcount
- China: Baidu internet giant launches Apollo free robotaxi service in Changsha, Hunan, becoming one of the country’s first firms to carry passengers in autonomous vehicles
- RIPE NCC, the regional internet registry for Europe, West Asia and former USSR, is formally against China’s authoritarian-focused New IP proposal
- China: Red Date, little-known tech firm but a key component in state-supported Blockchain Service Network, effectively the e-commerce facet of the Belt and Road initiative
- China: Pinduoduo group-buying e-commerce major sets sights on rural China with agricultural goods-focused $7.1BN campaign spanning the next 5 years
- China: Codemao online programming education platform raises new $35M round with focus on coding education for children from 7 to 16 years
- China: An overview of the issues for the country’s Bitcoin mining space presented by the approaching Bitcoin halving event
- China: Starbucks and McDonald’s reportedly among 19 restaurants and retail stores to be involved in testing central bank digital currency in Xiong’An new district
- China: An overview of LiBiao, fast-growing robotics firm focused on operational efficiency of e-commerce distribution centers
- China: Dao Foods cross-border impact investment firm partners New Crop Capital early stage VC fund to launch incubator for plant-based startups
- ICYMI: Lair East Labs’ Supernova Global Pitch Competition applications open, seeking startups with a global vision looking for market-entry opportunities in China
- China’s Alibaba Cloud infrastructure-as-a-service market share in APAC broke 28% in 2019 (9.1% globally), with 63 availability zones across 21 regions
- China: Guangzhou’s public buses now feature tablets requiring passengers to be photographed and monitored for temperature in new addition to surveillance tech
- China: TikTok short-video platform diversifying into long-form with addition of full movie streaming and experiments with audio
- China: Shanghai courts launch 6-month pilot program to use AI assistants to transcribe case notes, pull out files and present digitised evidence
- China: 4Paradigm AI firm, founded by former Baidu engineers, raises additional $230M, taking valuation to $2BN and adding to backing of China’s 5 largest banks
- China: Yuanfudao online education platform secures $1BN in new funding round as coronavirus outbreak drives up demand for e-learning from home
- China: A look at Unity Drive Innovation, autonomous delivery vehicle startup delivering fresh produce to 16 communities locked down by coronavirus in Zibo
- China: Qcraft self-driving vehicle startup, founded by former Google Maps and Waymo engineers, closes seed round
- China: An overview of VC firm NGC Ventures, the country’s most active crypto investor
- China: Binance cryptocurrency exchange launches Blockchain Technology and Industry Research Institute in Shanghai
- China: Livestreaming commerce sales value in China expected to hit $129BN in 2020, more than double the figure for 2019
- Huawei open-sources MindSpore AI framework, aiming to take on Google’s TensorFlow and Facebook’s PyTorch in application development
- China: Ksher mobile payments aggregator secures $10M with over 100K merchants, annual transaction volume of over $1BN, POS solutions and more
- China: Country’s 3 largest telcos unveil plans for rich 5G messaging using RCS, expanding on SMS services and seen in part as competition move focused on WeChat
- China: Ministry of Industry and Info Tech, Huawei and state-run telcos propose New IP internet protocol, essentially making internet infrastructure an arm of the state
- China Mobile issues $5.2BN in 5G contracts, near all going to Huawei and ZTE and aiming for 28-province coverage and an estimated 232K basestations
- China: Bilibili video-sharing and entertainmennt platform gains $400M investment from Sony, in exchange for a 5% share in ownership
- ICYMI: US Gov’t prepares to revoke and terminate China Telecom services to and from US, citing potential for malicious cyber activity, economic espionage and more
- China: AutoX autonomous driving startup opens Shanghai gigafactory, at 80,000 square feet the biggest robotaxi data and operations centre in Asia
- China’s TikTok found to have security vulnerability that allows hackers to swap fake videos into a TikTok users’ social feed
- China: National blockchain committee launches with Huawei, Baidu, Tencent, Ant Financial, JD, People’s Bank and technical university delegates
- China: Huawei to launch Huawei Card, physical and digital consumer credit card service backed by UnionPay payments giant for NFC and QR code payments
- China: A brief intro to 10 of Guangzhou’s gaming startups
- China: dForce Foundation secures $1.5M seed funding with Lendf, platform for lending fiat-backed stablecoins, and synthetic fiat stablecoin USDx
- China: State-owned Agricultural Bank of China now trialing test front-end interface for the country’s central bank digital currency
- Australia: Washington Post highlights University of Queensland’s actions regarding student critical of China over Hong Kong, Tibet, Uighurs and free speech
- ICYMI: Japan earmarks $2.2BN of record economic stimulus package to help its manufacturers shift production out of China as coronavirus disrupts supply chains
- Singapore’s NIUM fintech platform partners Geoswift to allow customers to remit money directly into bank accounts in China via UnionPay
- Huawei partners China’s UnionPay bank card clearing service provider to launch Huawei Pay service in Singapore
- Taiwan gov’t bans all official use of Zoom, citing cybersecurity concerns over data routed through China
- Thailand: Siriraj Public Hospital to implement AI and 5G solutions provided by China’s Huawei in the fight against COVID-19
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