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Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has joined a $4.5 million funding round in Eternal, an NFT marketplace for trading popular clips from game streamers. Streamers can sell top clips, which are already tracked by platforms like Twitch, as well as videos from their social media, “immortalizing” the moments on the blockchain. A big selling point of the platform is that it’s built on Dapper Labs’ Flow, a consumer app-friendly blockchain which cuts back on complexity. The marketplace has done nearly $300,000 in transactions this summer.
Firework, a California-based short-form video-sharing platform competing with TikTok, has formed a partnership with Albertsons, the second-largest supermarket chain in North America. The goal is to encourage shoppers to buy more by showing them videos with recipes and serving ideas as they browse on the retailers’ website, and to give retailers a new way to boost ad revenue by letting brands purchase video ads on their websites. Firework is also in talks with five of the 10 largest U.S. retailers about potential partnerships. Previously, IDG Capital led a $30 million funding in Firework and was also an early investor in Loop Now Technologies, Firework's parent firm
Xiaoice, a China-based AI chatbot developer valued at $1 billion, has announced a series of new features, such as natural language processing and smart recommendations in Windows 11 and Microsoft search services. The firm also launched new cooperation deals and AI systems for art creation, smart cabins in cars and the Internet of Things and a new social app – Xiaoice Island – with immersive experiences and interaction with virtual characters. Other partnership deal announced includes AI calculation capacity cooperation with Nvidia, smart device services with firms such as Huawei, Xiaomi and NIO. IDG Capital invested in Xiaoice this year.
IDG Capital has co-led a $186-million Series E funding round in eSign, a Chinese provider of electronics signature services. Founded in 2002, eSign can help clients process electronic contract with legal effect, saving contract’s full life cycle from couple of days to only tens of seconds. eSign will leverage the new capital to build a collaborative network, scale its business and promote the use of electronic signature service.
Anker, a Shenzhen-based manufacturer of power banks, wall chargers and in-home robotic products, plans to develop more sophisticated new products and making the core line faster and lighter. Founded a decade ago, Anker reverse-engineered popular items on Amazon by studying the thousands of reviews and complaints about electronic products posted on the e-commerce platform daily. Anker now sells $1.5 billion worth of smartphone accessories and other consumer electronics products a year. IDG Capital invested in Anker in 2016.
Chinese autonomous driving company WeRide has unveiled its first cargo van, the vessel upon which it will self-drive into urban logistics. The company will work with Chinese automobile manufacturer Jiangling Motors (JMC) and Chinese express delivery company ZTO Express to commercialize its first self-driving van at scale. As part of the agreement, WeRide and JMC will jointly design purpose-built models of the Robovan for mass production on JMC’s assembly lines, and ZTO will put the Robovans to good use in their urban logistics service. IDG Capital joined WeRide’s Series C funding round this May.
Opay, a mobile payments firm founded by browser company Opera Ltd., has raised $400 million, driving up the company’s valuation to $2 billion. According to OPay, the company’s technology is designed to replace cash and other legacy payment methods, helping local governments “improve financial and information security.” OPay’s monthly transaction volumes exceed $3 billion. IDG Capital, which was also previously a pre-IPO investor in OPay's parent company Opera, led OPay’s Series A funding round and also joined its Series B round.
DEEPEXI, a Beijing-based provider of big data and artificial intelligence-enabled digitization solutions, has completed its $100 million Series B funding round. Founded in 2018, DEEPEXI leverages data intelligence, cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), and other technologies to develop solutions that enable digital marketing, operations, finance and other business aspects. The startup has over 100 large and medium-size clients in retailing, financial services, manufacturing, and government affairs. IDG Capital led an angel round in Deepexi and joined its $35 million Series A round.
PatPat, a global e-commerce website that sells baby and matching family outfits, has raised $160 million from SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2. Founded in Silicon Valley in 2014, the company now delivers products to over 100 countries and regions. In 2018, IDG Capital joined PatPat’s Series C funding round.
Kunlun, an artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor business spined off from Baidu, has launched Kunlun 2, its second-generation AI chip aimed at areas such as autonomous driving. The semiconductor is designed to help devices process huge amounts of data and boost computing power. Baidu says that the chip has entered mass production. IDG Capital joined Kunlun’s funding this March.
Chinese electric carmaker Xpeng is doubling the production capacity of its Zhaoqing manufacturing side from 100,000 cars a year to 200,000. The production expansion will help the company produce its range of models, including the G3 SUV, the P7 sedan and its recently launched P5. This July, Xpeng delivered 8,040 vehicles — a monthly record and a 228% increase year-on-year. Previously, IDG Capital co-led Xpeng's $348 million Series B round in 2018.
Qcraft, an autonomous vehicle startup based in Beijing, has announced a $100 million investment. With around 70 pilot robobuses open to the public in five cities in China, Qcraft plans to expand its test fleet to include more than 100 vehicles by end of 2021. The company is also exploring new applications in self-driving technology, with plans to launch a ride-hailing service in the eastern city of Suzhou later this year. IDG Capital joined Qcraft’s seed financing round in 2020.
Klaytn, a blockchain network associated with Korean messenger app Kakao, has establish a new blockchain entity in Singapore to expand aboard. As part of “Kakao 3.0” global expansion strategy, Klaytn receives $300 million from the group to invest in relevant startups and developers. “We will actively invest our human as well as financial resources in developers and businesses of the blockchain world to accelerate the growth of our ecosystem and the development of our technology,” said the Klaytn Foundation. In 2018, IDG Capital invested in Klaytn.
Inceptio Technology, a China-based developer of autonomous trucking technology, has raised a $270 million Series B round of funding. IDG Capital also participated in the investment. Founded in 2018, Inceptio currently deploys its technology on Level 3 autonomous heavy-duty trucks, which can detect their environments and make decisions. Inceptio said the funding will allow it to accelerate the development of its full-stack autonomous driving system called “Xuanyuan” and speed up its deployment in electrification.
IDG Capital-backed crypto-finance venture Matrixport has raised over $100 million fresh capital, ramping up its pre-money valuation to $1 billion. The company was spun off from Bitmain Technologies, another IDG Capital-backed bitcoin giant, in 2019. With the goal to bring traditional finance formula to the crypto space, Matrixport offers crypto financial services from custody to trading and structured products to institutional and retail customers. As of this March, the company held over $10 billion of client assets under management and custody.
IDG Capital has joined a $40 million angel round in Neukio Biotherapeutics, a biotech company that specializes in the research and development of immune cell drugs. Established this May by Dr. Richard Wang who served as founding CEO of Fosun Kite, the company targets the oncology area with its generic allogenic cell therapies. Neukio plans to invest the financing proceeds towards the developments of research infrastructure, immune cell technology platforms and drugs.