China Roundup: Alibaba’s Hong Kong listing and Tencent’s new fuel
Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch’s China Roundup, a digest of recent events shaping the Chinese tech landscape and what they mean to people in the rest of the world…. Read more »
Category: Tencent
Tesla V10.0 car software update adds Smart Summon, Netflix/YouTube, Spotify, karaoke and more
Tesla is rolling out a new software update that adds a slew of new features to its cars. These include the new “Smart Summon” feature, which will allow cars equipped… Read more »
India’s Milkbasket in talks to raise over $50M
Milkbasket, a Gurugram-based micro-delivery startup, is in talks to close a new financing round as it looks to expand its footprints in milk, groceries, fruits, and vegetables delivery market that… Read more »
How Zhihu’s become one of China’s biggest hubs for experts
Zhihu may not be as well known outside of China as WeChat or ByteDance’s Douyin, but over the past eight years, it has cultivated a reputation for being one of… Read more »
Mobile gaming is a $68.5 billion global business, and investors are buying in
By the end of 2019, the global gaming market is estimated to be worth $152 billion with 45% of that, $68.5 billion, coming directly from mobile games. With this tremendous growth… Read more »
TikTok-parent is getting into mobile search
China’s ByteDance, which owns popular video sharing app TikTok, is already working to enter the smartphone business and the music streaming space. It appears the world’s most valued startup also has… Read more »
Lessons from the hardware capital of the world
A week is obviously not enough time to truly understand a market as massive and fascinating as China. Hell, it’s not really even enough time to adjust to the 12-hour… Read more »
Alibaba to help Salesforce localize and sell in China
Salesforce, the 20-year-old leader in customer relationship management (CRM) tools, is making a foray into Asia by working with one of the country’s largest tech firms, Alibaba. Alibaba will be… Read more »
White Star Capital eyes Asia growth with new Hong Kong office
For western startups looking to enter Asia and Asian startups expanding globally, more funding has become available as investors are increasingly looking to export local tech solutions to overseas markets…. Read more »
After Baidu tie-up, BMW taps Tencent for autonomous driving in China
China is BMW’s largest market, and the German automaker knows in order to capture the country’s demanding consumers, its future models must support robust autonomous driving capability. But to build… Read more »
Online shopping guide SMZDM surges 44% on China stock market debut
When Chinese internet companies seek initial public offerings, they tend to look to the United States where rules for profitability are less strict. SMZDM, an online shopping guide that few… Read more »
Snap is channeling Asia’s messaging giants with its move into gaming
Snap is taking a leaf out of the Asian messaging app playbook as its social messaging service enters a new era. The company unveiled a series of new strategies that… Read more »
China’s Tencent is raising $6 billion through a bond sale
Tencent, Asia’s largest tech firm, is raising $6 billion after the Hong Kong-listed firm announced a new note sale today. Tencent last tapped the markets when it raised $5 billion… Read more »
Google reshuffles its leadership in Asia Pacific
There’s a changing of the guard within Google’s Asia Pacific business. In recent weeks, personnel changes within two of its most important roles show the search giant is entering a… Read more »
China’s grocery delivery battle heats up with Meituan’s entry
Fast, affordable food delivery service has been life-changing for many working Chinese, but some still prefer to whip up their own meals. These people may not have the time to… Read more »
Cross-border fintech startup Airwallex raises $100M at a valuation of over $1B
Australia-based Airwallex is the latest tech startup to enter the billion-dollar ‘unicorn club.’ The company announced today that it has closed a $100 million Series C round that values its… Read more »
Razer hooks up with Tencent to focus on mobile gaming
Razer is summoning a big gun as it bids to develop its mobile gaming strategy. The Hong Kong-listed company — which sells laptops, smartphones and gaming peripherals — said today… Read more »
Spotify rival Tencent Music posts maiden quarter loss of $130M on one-off costs
Tencent Music Entertainment Group, the Chinese answer to Spotify that Tencent spun out and floated on the New York Stock Exchange in December, reported a net loss of 876 million… Read more »
Camera maker Insta360 raises $30M as it eyes 2020 IPO
Insta360, one of the pioneers in making 360-degree cameras, just raised $30 million in a Series C+ funding round from Chinese investors, including Everest Venture Capital, MG Holdings and Huajin Capital…. Read more »
TikTok parent Bytedance is getting serious about games
A turbulent 2018 for China’s gaming market hasn’t held back newcomers. Bytedance, the world’s most valuable startup behind a collection of rising new media apps including TikTok and Jinri Toutiao,… Read more »
This YC-backed startup preps Chinese students for US data jobs
In recent years, data analysts have gone from optional to a career that holds great promise, but demand for quantitative skills applied in business decisions has raced ahead of supply… Read more »
The “splinternet” is already here
Keith Wright Contributor Share on Twitter Keith Wright is a Villanova School of Business instructor of Accounting and Information Systems, founder of Simplicity On-Demand LLC and former Senior Vice President… Read more »
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… Read more »
China’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…. Read more »
Bike sharing pioneer Mobike is retreating to China
In a telling sign of the state of bike sharing, Mobike, a once red-hot startup that attracted billions in investment capital, is closing down all international operations and putting its… Read more »
Moka raises $27M led by Hillhouse to make hiring more data-driven in China
Moka, a startup that wants to make talent acquisition a little more data-driven for China-based companies that range from smartphone giant Xiaomi to Burger King’s local business, announced Monday that… Read more »
India’s Ola spins out a dedicated EV business — and it just raised $56M from investors
Ola, Uber’s key rival in India, is doubling down on electric vehicles after it span out a dedicated business, which has pulled in $56 million in early funding. The unit… Read more »
Alibaba challenger Pinduoduo is bringing imported goods to rural homes
Pinduoduo, the latest challenger to China’s ecommerce dominators Alibaba and JD.com, wants to bring affordable, imported items to shoppers in China’s smaller cities and rural areas. The three-year-old Tencent-backed ecommerce… Read more »
Two former Qualcomm engineers are using AI to fix China’s healthcare problem
Artificial intelligence is widely heralded as something that could disrupt the jobs market across the board — potentially eating into careers as varied as accountants, advertising agents, reporters and more… Read more »
First China, now Starbucks gets an ambitious VC-funded rival in Indonesia
Asia’s venture capital-backed startups are gunning for Starbucks . In China, the U.S. coffee giant is being pushed by Luckin Coffee, a $2.2 billion challenger surfing China’s on-demand wave, and… Read more »