For the last two years, Didi has been the dominant car-hailing force in China and its success has spawned a handful of competitors initiated by both internet firms and old-school carmakers. Just last week, another notable challenger has stepped up. T3, which is short for “top 3”, officially launched after a dozen entities, including three […]
View More Alibaba, Tencent and other major names form $1.45B ride-hailing ventureCategory: Beijing
China’s Qutoutiao is burning millions of dollars to take on TikTok parent
Chinese startup Bytedance is finding itself surrounded by challengers as its empire of new media products, including global video app TikTok and Chinese news aggregator Jinri Toutiao, gather steam. Tencent tried to play catch-up with a handful of new short-video services, and a Facebook clone of TikTok was reportedly in the making. Less famous players also […]
View More China’s Qutoutiao is burning millions of dollars to take on TikTok parentMeituan confirms Mobike’s retreat from most overseas markets
TechCrunch reported last Friday that Mobike has scrapped operations across the Asia Pacific region as a key step towards a long-term plan to scale back its international business. On Monday, its parent company Meituan confirmed that the pioneer in China’s bike rental sector will shut down most of its foreign markets. “Mobike international business is […]
View More Meituan confirms Mobike’s retreat from most overseas marketsChina’s authorities propose to keep minors out of live streaming
China is getting serious about the way live streaming videos affect tens of millions of youngsters, so much so a top authority has proposed to tighten restrictions on underage use. According to a report from the China Youth Daily, the Communist Party-controlled All Youth Federation recently submitted a proposal during the once-a-year parliamentary session, urging […]
View More China’s authorities propose to keep minors out of live streamingWhat critics get wrong about the “American AI Initiative”
Sujai Hajela Contributor Share on Twitter Sujai Hajela is co-founder, president and CEO of Mist, which develops self-learning wireless networks using artificial intelligence. There’s been a bit of hysteria – AIsteria, if you will – over the Trump administration’s recently issued American AI Initiative, formally known as ‘Executive Order on Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial […]
View More What critics get wrong about the “American AI Initiative”This $550M fund is bringing green tech from the West to China, despite trade tensions
Escalating trade frictions between the U.S. and China have a range of businesses and investors in both countries sweating, but some believe there remains a bright spot where the antagonists can find common ground — fighting environmental issues. One of them is the U.S.-China Green Fund, which does exactly as the name suggests — financing […]
View More This $550M fund is bringing green tech from the West to China, despite trade tensionsTiger Global and Ant Financial lead $500M investment in China’s shared housing startup Danke
A Chinese startup that’s taking a dorm-like approach to urban housing just raised $500 million as its valuation jumped over $2 billion. Danke Apartment, whose name means “eggshell” in Chinese, closed the Series C round led by returning investor Tiger Global Management and newcomer Ant Financial, Alibaba’s e-payment and financial affiliate controlled by Jack Ma. […]
View More Tiger Global and Ant Financial lead $500M investment in China’s shared housing startup DankeSoftBank’s Vision Fund invests $1.5B in Chinese second-hand car startup Chehaoduo
SoftBank’s Vision Fund is taking a bet on China’s auto market after it agreed to pour $1.5 billion into online car trading group Chehaoduo, which literally means “many cars” in Chinese. The Beijing-based company operates two main sites — peer-to-peer online marketplace Guazi for used vehicles, and Maodou, which retails new sedans through direct sales […]
View More SoftBank’s Vision Fund invests $1.5B in Chinese second-hand car startup ChehaoduoKorean conglomerate SK leads $600M round for Chinese chipmaker Horizon Robotics
Horizon Robotics, a three-year-old Chinese startup backed by Intel Capital, just raised a mega-round of fundings from domestic and overseas backers as it competes for global supremacy in developing AI solutions and chips aimed at autonomous vehicles, smart retail stores, surveillance equipment and other devices for everyday scenarios. The Beijing-based company announced Wednesday in a […]
View More Korean conglomerate SK leads $600M round for Chinese chipmaker Horizon RoboticsChina wants its rural villages to go cashless by 2020
Residents of even the tiniest far-flung villages in China may soon be able to pay on their phones to run daily errands as Beijing announced this month that it aims to make mobile payments ubiquitous in rural areas by the end of 2020. The plan arrived in a set of guidelines (document link in Chinese) […]
View More China wants its rural villages to go cashless by 2020Baidu’s video site iQiyi adds 37M subscribers in 2018 amid mounting losses
China’s Baidu, which is often compared to Alphabet’s Google, is showing no signs of slowing down its pace of betting on video content as its core advertising unit feels the squeeze from rivals. The company’s latest financial results show its video streaming business iQiyi posted a net loss of 9.1 billion yuan or $1.3 billion in 2018, […]
View More Baidu’s video site iQiyi adds 37M subscribers in 2018 amid mounting lossesAs shared kitchens heat up, a China-based startup, Panda Selected, nabs $50 million led by Tiger Global
A few weeks ago, we told you that former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick looks to be partnering with the former COO of the bike-sharing startup Ofo, Yanqi Zhang, to bring his new L.A.-based company, CloudKitchens, to China. Kalanick didn’t respond to our request for more information, but according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), his […]
View More As shared kitchens heat up, a China-based startup, Panda Selected, nabs $50 million led by Tiger Global