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Xiaopeng Motors, a Chinese electric vehicle startup, has begun volume production and delivery of its first vehicle, the G3 SUV. The G3 will “set the benchmark for artificial intelligence-empowered vehicles,” predicts He Xiaopeng, Xiaopeng Motors CEO. IDG Capital co-led Xiaopeng Motor’s Series B investment round in January 2018. To date, the Guangzhou-based company has raised $1.3 billion during five rounds.
Farfetch, an online luxury fashion platform, has acquired Stadium Goods, which sells new and second-hand sneakers and streetwear, for $250 million. In addition to its retail store in New York, Stadium also sells streetwear products via online platforms, including Amazon, eBay and Alibaba. According to Farfetch, which recently went public on NYSE, the latest acquisition will help the London-based company tap into a burgeoning global market for new and used streetwear. IDG Capital led Farfetch’s Series F funding round in 2016.
Tencent division WeChat, China’s largest messaging app, will partner with Line, Japan’s largest chatting app. The e-wallet partnership will allow retail stores in Japan to process WeChat Pay transactions via terminals, and in doing, facilitate the shopping experience for an increasing number of Chinese tourists in that country. IDG Capital was an early investor in Tencent, which went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004.
IDG Capital led a Series B funding round in Yuce Biological Technology, a Shenzhen-based biotechnology developer which concentrates on developing gene detection-based diagnoses and immunotherapies for cancer. Yuce Bio said it will use its newest funding to enhance diagnosis capabilities, expand partnerships with clinical and pharmaceutical companies and develop neoantigen solutions for individualized immunotherapy. Founded in 2015, the firm currently has offices in five Chinese cities. “Tumor immunotherapy, whether it is anti-PD-1 drug or CAR-T treatment, has brought us the possibility of curing cancer,” said Yang Fei, an IDG Capital Partner.
IDG Capital joined a Series B financing round with Lihuh, a Chinese video platform operator. Founded in 2017 and based in Shanghai, Lihuh markets a mobile video community App which allows users to capture daily life in short videos. The firm said the latest financing will help its engineering team expand its research and development. Lihuh currently operates R&D centers in Beijing, Shanghai and Qingdao.
Mogu, a Hangzhou, China-based fashion e-commerce platform, has gone public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), pricing at $14 per share. It was the 17th IDG Capital-backed company that filed an initial public offering. For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017, Mogu reported a 24.6% year-over-year sales increase. It is estimated that Mogu currently owns an 8.1% of China’s total $390 billion online fashion market. IDG Capital first backed Mogu in 2012.
IDG Capital led a $8.76 million Series A+ funding round in Freemud, a Shanghai-based payment solutions provider. Founded in 2014, Freemud provides smart digital payment solutions to over 80,000 chain stores in China, including Starbucks, Walmart, McDonalds, Costa Coffee, Family Mart and Subway. The firm also processes approximately 6 million financial transactions per day, including delivery and pick-up services. In addition to retail outlets, Freemud also provides payment services to several large state-owned enterprises, including CITIC Group, a major investment firm in China.
Hugo Shong, IDG Capital’s Global Chairman, and Jim Breyer, an IDG Capital Partner and the CEO of Breyer Capital, are forecasting strong growth for the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. During the Fortune Global Tech Forum in Guangzhou, both Shong and Breyer predicted that AI underlies growth in many key seemingly unrelated parts of the economy during the next decade – from healthcare to cryptocurrency. The two IDG Capital executives also told Fortune Executive Editor Adam Lashinsky that by 2028, 18 out of the world’s 20 top AI companies will be based in either the U.S. or China.
LAIX, a NYSE-listed artificial intelligence education company, reported $26.3 million in revenues in Q3 2018, more than double revenues in the same quarter one year earlier. According to the co-founder and CEO Yi Wang, the Shanghai-based company is now actively building partnerships in K-12 and adult education around the world. Yang said that LAIX is now at the forefront of next-generation education technology. In 2017, IDG Capital joined LAIX’s Series C funding round.
Agora.io, a Chinese cloud communications company, raised $70 million in a Series C funding round. The Shanghai-based firm, which also has offices in Santa Clara, California, said it would use the latest funding to expand marketing for real-time voice, video and data communications products. Agora.io currently has 1 billion end users worldwide. IDG Capital invested in Agora.io’s Series B round in 2014.
Lime, the San Francisco-based electric scooter startup, has launched electric bicycle-sharing operations in the U.K. Lime’s service is centered in Milton Keynes, west of London. In 2017, IDG Capital invested in Lime, now part of Neutron Holdings. Lime is currently valued at more than $1.1 billion.
IDG Capital co-led a $20 million Series A funding round in KuCoin, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange. With operations in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, the firm now has more than five million registered users. KuCoin said it plans to use the investment to enhance customer security, improve trading and expand into Vietnam, Turkey, Italy, Russia and many Spanish-speaking countries. “IDG Capital has been investing in crypto-related companies since 2012,” IDG Partner Young Guo said. “We want to be at the forefront of this movement to ensure that legitimate projects led by teams with integrity get noticed.”
IDG Capital joined a $30 million Series A funding round in SongShuPinPin, a Chinese community group-buying platform. IDG Capital was previously an angel investor in the Beijing-based firm. SongShuPinPin hires neighborhood representatives to collect group orders and payments in the neighborhood they are responsible for using China’s popular WeChat messaging App. SongShuPinPin was founded by Yang Jun, a co-founder of Meituan-Dianping, one of the most popular group buying and food delivery platforms in China.
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi and photo-editing app Meitu announced a strategic partnership under which Xiaomi will assume responsibility for Meitu’s R&D, production and sale of phone devices optimized for selfies. Xiaomi reported a 49% growth in revenues and a net profit of $357 million in Q3. Both Xiaomi and Meitu are IDG Capital-backed companies. Meitu debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2016 and Xiaomi followed suit on the same exchange two years later.
SenseTime, the world’s most valuable artificial intelligence (AI) startup, is dramatically expanding its facial recognition business. Valued at $4.5 billion, SenseTime serves more than 700 companies around the world and is expected to triple revenues to $300 million according to Bloomberg’s estimation. IDG Capital was one of SenseTime’s earliest investors, actively participating in several funding rounds since the firm was founded in 2014.
Baidu’s new artificial intelligence (AI) lab named nine internationally renowned scientists to its Baidu Research advisory board. The Chinese search engine conglomerate said its AI board now has representatives from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and AT&T Labs. With offices now in Beijing, Seattle and Silicon Valley, Baidu Research operation focuses on cutting-edge AI topics, including natural language processing, computer vision and deep learning. IDG Capital was an early investor in Baidu, which first went public on Nasdaq in 2005.