New fundings in China on May 10, 2017 News Break, a 2-year-old, Beijing-based news and information mobile application targeting English speakers, has raised tens of millions of U.S. dollars in Series B funding led by NetEase (网易), with participation from IDG Capital Partners (IDG资本) and ZhenFund (真格资本). Meiwei Shenghuo (美味生活), a 3-month-old intelligent vending machine […]
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Weekly Briefing: Mobile payments, O2O, and the IoT economy
Editor’s note: This originally appeared in our weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get our updates straight to your inbox. This week’s briefing starts off a bit personal. I’ve been in and out of Chinese media and tech since 2010. Since I joined TechNode last November, I’ve told many people the same thing: There’s no […]
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Meituan expands O2O business into homestay
China’s O2O giant Meituan announced yesterday the launch of its homestay business – Zhenguo Homestay (榛果民宿 in Chinese), taking another step to branch out into more O2O verticals, local media is reporting (in Chinese). The homestay service has listed some properties in tier-one cities as well as some popular travel destinations on its app and plans […]
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China’s karaoke apps turn O2O on its head in favor of “new retail”
The market of mobile karaoke apps that combine characteristics of live streaming and music sharing has been maturing. In a reversal of O2O, they are expanding into the “new retail” offline market. The mobile karaoke apps have been capitalizing on the popularity of live streaming in China as well as the decline of conventional karaoke […]
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[Updated] O2O bike-rental deposits in China may not be as secure as users think
You must have noticed the boom bike-rental companies in China as an increasing array of rainbow colored bikes mushrooming on streets across the country. Endless financing rounds from big names like Tencent, Didi, and Foxconn have been injected into one or another of the startups that involved in a heating field. Despite the initial “wows” […]
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Ping An’s O2O Healthcare Service Arm Raises Half A Billion USD
Chinese O2O healthcare services startup, Ping An Health Cloud Co. Ltd., announced a hefty round of Series A funding on Friday. The Ping An Insurance subsidiary raised $500 million USD, putting the company at a valuation of around $3 billion USD. The company did not disclose its investors, though it said that funds were sourced from “well-known overseas private […]
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GOME, Amazon Enter Strategic Partnership To Push O2O Shopping
China’s electronics appliance maker GOME and Amazon have entered a strategic partnership, they announced last week. As a top home appliance retailer in China, GOME operates 1,800 offline stores across more than 400 cities in China. Its offline and logistics resources will allow Amazon to upgrade their logistics services, especially into lower- tier cities. The offline […]
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Baidu Records Steady Growth In Q4, Still Bullish On O2O Expansion
Baidu’s stock rose about 11 percent in after hours trading following the company’s fourth quarter results, which showed better than expected revenue growth despite a slowing economy. The company’s total revenue for the fourth quarter was 18.7 billion yuan ($2.9 billion USD), beating analyst expectations. Mobile revenue represented 53 percent of the company’s total revenue for the fourth quarter […]
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Didi, Uber Competitor eDaijia Cuts 20% Of Staff As O2O War Takes Its Toll
Chinese designated driver app eDaijia is cutting one fifth of their staff in an attempt to stay competitive, as market giants Didi and Uber expand aggressively. According to multiple Chinese media outlets who cite an internal letter from the company’s CEO, Yang Jiajun, the company will be laying off approximately 20% of their staff to curb […]
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China’s Meituan and Dianping Merge To Form O2O Giant
Meituan and Dianping, the two leading group-buying providers, often dubbed the respective Groupon and Yelp of China, have agreed to form a joint venture with equal shares valued between $15 billion and $17 billion USD, according to statements from both companies and their investors. The match-up marks the end of another O2O service war in China, […]