Alibaba says the membership and its exclusive discounts could on average save RMB 2,000.
Posted inTurf Wars
Ele.me denies rumored merger with Koubei
Rumors started on Wednesday, August 8 that Alibaba, the holding company of Ele.me and Koubei, would merge these two companies and seek to raise $3 billion. Japan’s SoftBank was said to lead the investment.
Posted inHeavy Hitters
ofo pulls operation from South Korea
The Korea Herald first broke the news that ofo has begun retreating from the market and has already suspended most of the employees, which is regarded as part of a general layoff process.
Posted inTurf Wars
Ele.me partners with HelloBike amid escalating battle with Meituan
Ele.me and HelloBike have moved into a new partnership for sharing users base with each other.
Posted inThe Numbers
China’s Quora Zhihu raises $270 million in series E funding
Chinese question-and-answer site Zhihu announced have raised $270 million in series E funding on August 8 and will use them to boost artificial intelligence related technology and building a better content eco-system.
Posted inWith Chinese Characteristics
Chinese app owner gets 7 years in prison for spreading pornography
A 27-year-old man received 7 years in prison for 28 pornographic video on his app—that’s one year in prison for every four indecent videos.
Posted inThe Numbers
Dianrong pockets $40 million funding amid mounting P2P defaults in China
Dianrong announced that it has raised $40 million of funding from Dalian Financial Investment Group.
Posted inUp and Comers
NIO rumored to file for IPO in US in September
NIO is said to file for an IPO to raise more than $2 billion in the US. A successful IPO would boost NIO’s valuation to $37 billion.
Posted inTurf Wars
Pinduoduo beware: Alipay just launched a group buying function
Alibaba is hoping to catch up with the trend of social media-enabled group buys.
Posted inTurf Wars
Alibaba plans to merge food delivery units amid competition from Tencent-backed Meituan
Alibaba intends to merge its food delivery units and raise funds for the new mega-entity.