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Secoo, a Shanghai-based luxury retailer, is using its partnership with LuisaViaRoma, a Florence-based luxury e-commerce platform, to target China’s booming market for high-end online shoppers. Secoo said it plans to expand its domestic product portfolio by leveraging 600+ luxury fashion brands from LuisaViaRoma. It will also support LuisaViaRoma by providing expertise in mobile payment, order tracking and logistics. IDG Capital previously invested in Secoo's Series A, B and C funding rounds. The firm went public on Nasdaq in 2017. In April, Secoo reported $783.6 million in total revenues for 2018, a 44 percent increase over the previous year.
Razer, a $438 million video gaming company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, makes laptops, wearables and smartphones. Now, in response to the enthusiastic demands of 44,000 fans – a dozen of whom have posted photos of themselves on Facebook sporting “Razer toaster” tattoos – Razer is also expanding to its own astonishment into the toaster industry. "It will take a few years,” admitted Singapore-born CEO Min-Liang Tan, who thought the toaster suggestion was a joke at first, ”but I'll be sure to share the progress – and make it a community affair.” Razer was founded in 2005 in San Francisco. IDG Capital-Accel China invested $50 million in the company in 2011.
Waterdrop Inc., a healthcare crowdfunding startup, is seeking financing at a new valuation of more than $1 billion. Waterdrop said it plans to use its latest funding to automate reimbursements and develop blockchain technology for the Chinese insurance industry. Since its launch in 2016, the Beijing-based medical alternatives provider has already paid out $65.3 million in claims to more than 3,000 of its 70 million active users. Waterdrop also markets traditional insurance products provided by more than 50 third-party financial institutions in China. IDG Capital joined Waterdrop’s $74 million Series B funding in March.
Olympique Lyonnais, a French professional football club based in Lyon, promotes gender equality by providing its female players the same treatment and respect as it does its male players, starting with its treatment of girls at the club’s Youth Academy. To date, Lyon’s women team has already won five Champions League titles, making it the most successful women’s team in European history. It also recently claimed its 13th consecutive domestic crown. In 2016, IDG Capital invested $110 million in the football club for a 20 percent stake.
Food delivery giant Meituan-Dianping, headquartered in Beijing, is partnering with Chinese ride-hailing players Shouqi Limousine & Chauffeur, Caocao, and UCarinto to offer rider-hailing services throughout the country. Users now can book a taxi or private ride in dozens of Chinese cities where the three ride-hailing firms operate. IDG Capital was an early investor in Meituan, which raised $4.2 billion in its initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2018.
Lime, the San Francisco-based electric scooter and bike-sharing provider, announced that its global fleet of scooters and bicycles have completed 50 million trips since the startup first opened its doors in mid-2017. The bike-and-scooter-sharing network currently operates in more than 100 cities on five continents. IDG Capital has backed Lime a unit of Neutron Holdings, since 2017. The firm is now valued at more than $1 billion.
Tongdun Technology, a Hangzhou-based intelligent risk management firm backed by IDG Capital, has raised $100 million. Tongdun’s core products – based on artificial intelligence cloud computing and big data – include anti-fraud analysis for a variety of industries, including finance, logistics, healthcare, retail and the Internet. Chinese government agencies are also a Tongdun customer. IDG Capital was an angel investor in Tongdun in 2013 and joined the firm’s $320 million Series B+ round in 2016.
IDG Capital has joined a Series C funding round in Tangdou, a Chinese square dance app targeting middle-aged and older women. To date, Tangdou has raised nearly $100 million. Previously, IDG Capital joined the firm’s $20 million Series B funding round, as well as a Series A investor in BokeCC, the Beijing-based incubator which helped transform Tangdou’s app into a leading entertainment product for senior citizens. Tangdou currently claims more than 200 million users in China. The firm’s latest Series C round was led by Tencent, the Chinese Internet giant, in which IDG Capital was also an early investor.
SenseTime, a Hong Kong-based artificial intelligence company, will build an $1 billion artificial-intelligence hub in Malaysia, utilizing robots and speech recognition. Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak welcomed the project. SenseTime said it will also provide technology and support to G3 Global, a Malaysian jean manufacturer developing its own AI-based projects. In addition, SenseTime will provide educational materials about AI for Malaysian schools. IDG Capital led SenseTime's initial Series A funding round in 2014 and also joined the company's Series B round in 2017.
Mei Gao, a New York City-based IDG Capital partner, believes there are still excellent investment opportunities in China for U.S. and other overseas businesses. “China has the best infrastructure,” Guo told a panel discussion about Sino-American trade at the 2019 Penn Wharton China Summit in Philadelphia. “Its consumers are very ready to embrace new technology.” China, she said, is also “already the global manufacturing hub, and it has a great supply chain.” Founded in 1992, IDG Capital has made more than 750 investments in the U.S., Europe and Asia, including more than 170 exits, and it currently has more than $20 billion in accumulated assets under management.
Serena Williams, one of the world’s best-known tennis players, said her venture capital firm is now investing in Coinbase, a San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange platform. Since 2012, Coinbase, backed by IDG Capital, has raised a total of $546.6 million. Coinbase’s Series E round in October 2018 also raised $300 million, at which time the firm was valued at $8 billion.
Autonomous driving startup Pony.ai announced at the Shanghai Auto Show that it is now operating a test project for driverless cars in a 50-square-kilometer geofenced area in the city of Guangzhou. Pony.ai said riders – either employees or “select affiliates” – can now use a smartphone app to hail cars at any predetermined point within the test area. The Silicon Valley- and Chinese-based company is also currently testing driverless cars in Fremont, California and Beijing. IDG Capital was a seed investor in Pony.ai and also joined a $112 million Series A funding round in 2018.
Acne Studios, a global fashion retailer based in Sweden, has reopened a Tokyo concept store with a new collection of leather accessories. Founded in 1996, the fashion brand started as a niche supplier of denim wear but has since grown into a diversified upscale brand with more than 50 stores in 13 countries. IDG Capital acquired 30.1% of Acne Studios in 2018.
Coinbase, a San Francisco-based cryptocurrency trading platform, generated an estimated $520 million in global revenues in 2018, according to Reuters. The news agency reported that it based its estimate on recent Coinbase’s filings with the U.K.’s corporate registry. Coinbase’s submission also indicated that its U.K. revenue grew 20% in 2018 to $173 million. IDG Capital was an angel investor in Coinbase in 2013.
Anker, a multinational consumer electronics manufacturer with operations in U.S., Japan and Germany, recently unveiled a two-port car charger with a built-in Google Assistant function. Anker’s Android-compatible charger allows users to activate Google Assistant through voice commands. The company said it is also developing a beta model for iPhone users. IDG Capital led a $47 million funding in Anker in 2016.
KuCoin, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange, will now enable traders in selected countries outside the U.S. to control their accounts trading on centralized exchanges using private keys. Traders, however, must first register for a special verified KuCoin account. IDG Capital co- led KuCoin's $20 million Series A round in November 2018.