Baidu has taken the wraps off an in-vehicle infotainment platform CarLife, joining China’s escalating battle for car tech supremacy. The Chinese search engine giant has teamed up with three top automakers Audi, Hyundai and Shanghai General Motors in manufacturing cars equipped with internet access and in-vehicle infotainment services. Hyundai plans to showcase its Sonata sedan compatible with Baidu […]
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[Korean Startup Interview] BioTech Startup Avellino Pioneers Eye Exam Technology
Avellino, a biotech startup based in Seoul, has developed a pioneering technology that has so far protected over 460 people from losing their sight. Avellino Corneal Dystrophy is a genetic condition which weakens eyesight over time, leading to visual impairment or even total blindness. Avellino’s proprietary DNA testing solution has been used by over 460,000 patients […]
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MyChi, Your Personal Food Therapy Advisor Enabled by Eastern Wisdom
It’s clear that technology is reinvigorating the healthcare industry, from better connecting doctors and patients to crunching big data for optimal diagnosis. Amongst the dizzying potential for technology to transform healthcare, mobile apps and hardware which helping people to stay active, sleep well, or eat healthier are emerging as a major trend. MyChi (Chi or Qi is […]
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Tencent-Cloudary Merger Reshapes Chinese Online Publishing
Tencent has confirmed its long-rumored merger of Cloudary, the online publishing business of Shanda. Both companies internally yesterday announced their joint venture, named Yuewen Group, which will include all online publishing sites and digital reading services owned by the two, as first noted by Tencent’s online news site QQ.com. Tencent thus will become the biggest online book […]
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Online Food Takeout Service Ele.me Books Landmark US$350M Round Led by Tencent
We don’t often hear of startups raising multiple massive fumding rounds within several months, but that’s exactly what happened today when Chinese online food ordering service Ele.me announced another landmark US$350 million in Series E funding from CITICPE, Tencent, JD, Dianping and Sequoia Capital. It will remain an independent company after this round. Ele.me (“Are you hungry?” […]
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Cross-border Shopping Site Ymatou Pockets US$100M Series B Funding
Chinese cross-border e-commerce site Ymatou has landed US$100 million of Series B financing led by Sailing Capital International, the investment arm of Shanghai International Group, according to an internal letter (via NetEase) from company CEO Zeng Bibo. This is so far the largest investment in China’s booming overseas shopping sector. The firm has received RMB5 million (US$799,000) […]
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Jack Ma’s Yunfeng Capital to Invest RMB500 million in Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical
After the announcement of its RMB100 million (around US$16.3m) plan to set up a pharmaceutical production joint venture, Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical has further revealed that it has recently received RMB500 million funding via a private placement from Yunfeng Capital, the investment vehicle co-founded by Alibaba‘s Jack Ma. Baiyunshan said that it has signed a letter […]
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Chinese Celeb Investors Betting on Tech Startups
Internet startup investment is no longer a game just for geeks as the tech market swells. From Ashton Kutcher to Novak Djokovic, celebrities all over the world are racing to invest in innovative tech projects or bootstrapping their own startups. This trend is also in full swing in China. Chinese singer-songwriter Hu Yanbin (Tiger Hu) […]
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China’s Crowdfunding Market as of 2014
There were 116 crowdfunding platforms (excluding those for nonprofits) in China as of the end of 2014, up from 78 a year ago, according to a report on China’s crowdfunding market by online financial product search service Rong360. Of these, 27 are equity crowdfunding sites. A total of RMB915 million (about US$148m) was raised through crowdfunding […]
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Who is Alibaba’s biggest shareholder? Clue: they invested 14 years ago
In 1999, Jack Ma persuaded an investor take a stake in the company he had founded a few months earlier. It took six minutes for Masayoshi Son, the founder and current CEO of SoftBank, to invest US$20 million in the company. It proved to be a golden moment for both Alibaba and SoftBank. The subsidiary of Softbank, SoftBank […]