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iQiyi, the Chinese equivalent of Netflix, has acquired the exclusive streaming rights to “The Late Late Show with James Corden” from CBS Studios International. The deal marks the first time that China will stream a U.S. talk show, including current and past episodes available on demand. iQiyi, based in Beijing, now has 126 million active daily users streaming programs online. In 2017, IDG Capital backed iQiyi, which went public on Nasdaq in March of this year.
Lime, the ubiquitous e-scooter and e-bike startup, launched a car-sharing service in Seattle with 50 vehicles. The San Francisco-based firm plans to add 500 cars by year-end. Lime, a part of Neutron Holding, also predicts it will have 1,500 cars on the road in Seattle by early 2019, making it the largest car-sharing program in any U.S. city. Lime currently has urban bike- and scooter-sharing operations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Austria, France, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, Australia and New Zealand. IDG Capital invested in Lime in 2017.
IDG Capital led a $14 million Series A round in DGene, a Shanghai-based provider of 3D imaging technology. The firm specializes in four-dimensional light field acquisition, rendering and display technology with applications in virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. DGene’s co-founders include scholars from University of Delaware and Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as former principal researcher at Microsoft. The firm previously raised $6.5 million angel investment in 2016.
Neutron Holdings, the electric scooter and bike-sharing company known as Lime, has launched e-scooter operations in Sydney, Australia. The move is the latest expansion by the San Francisco-based firm. Lime also recently rolled out operations in New Zealand and has also launched several pilot projects in Melbourne, Australia. It also now has a sizeable presence in more than 100 cities around the world. IDG Capital invested in Lime in 2017.
British luxury apparel brand Burberry is collaborating with Farfetch, an e-commerce fashion platform, to expand its customer base in China. According to Burberry, the partnership will also help boost the 162-year-old brand’s outreach to a young, tech-savvy audience in second- and third-tier Chinese cities. In 2016, IDG Capital invested in Farfetch, which is based in London and is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Meitu, a Hong Kong-listed photo App developer backed by IDG Capital, invested $10 million in PressLogic, a Hong Kong-based firm specializing in social media content and data analytics. PressLogic will use the latest funding to expand its lifestyle-oriented social network and also develop algorithms to predict social trends. IDG Capital was an early investor in Meitu.
Opera, a web browser developer based in Norway, invested $30 million in StarMaker, a social media company focused on music and entertainment. Opera, which is listed on Nasdaq, said the investment would help both companies leverage each other’s resources and also create new business opportunities. IDG Capital joined Opera’s pre-IPO financing round in 2018.
McGraw-Hill Education published “Future Forward: Leadership Lessons from Patrick McGovern, the Visionary Who Circled the Globe and Built a Technology Media Empire.” The new biography by Glenn Rifkin describes McGovern’s career as a groundbreaking technology publisher and an early investor in IDG Capital. Among the many global tech leaders who pay tribute to McGovern are Bill Gates, the Founder of Microsoft; Bob Metcalfe, the founder of 3Com; Guy Kawasaki, the former chief evangelist at Apple; George Forrester, the founder and CEO of Forrester Research; Hugo Shong, the Global Chairman of IDG Capital; Quan Zhou, the Managing Director of IDG Capital; and Jim Breyer, an IDG Capital Partner, Strategic Advisor and the founder of Breyer Capital.
Lime, a San Francisco-based e-scooter and bike-sharing service, invests $3 million in its new safety campaign to better inform riders of safe scooters, distribute 250,000 helmets, and maintain its bikes and scooters. The company also plans to hold safety summits with local officials to advocate safer facilities for bikes and scooters. IDG Capital invested in Lime in 2017.
imToken, a China-based ethereum wallet app backed by IDG Capital, has built a hardware solution to link with ledger device, which could enable direct transactions while keeping private keys offline. IDG Capital recently led imToken’s $10 milion Series A funding round.
Royole Corp., a rollable display manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China and Fremont, California, recently unveiled its FlexPai foldable smartphone in Beijing with an estimated product shipping date in December. Founded by Stanford University graduates in 2012, Royole recently closed its Series E funding round and is now valued at $5 billion. IDG Capital invested in Royole in 2013.
San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase raised $300 million is now valued at $8 billion. The company said it will use the funds to accelerate global expansion and introduce more crypto. Coinbase recently co-launched USDC stablecoin with Boston-based crypto finance company Circle. IDG Capital was an early investor in Coinbase and led two funding rounds in Circle.
IDG Capital co-led a $127.7 Series B funding round in Terminus, a Chinese Internet of Things (IoT) company providing artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions. Terminus will use the latest funding for product development in the IoT sector and talent acquisition. SenseTime, an IDG Capital-backed AI company valued at $4.5 billion, also joined the funding round and will support Terminus’ R&D efforts. IDG Capital previously invested in Terminus in 2017.
Fortune China has just published its 2018 “40 Under 40” ranking, including eight Chinese entrepreneurs who have helped launch firms backed by IDG Capital. Also, there are four Chinese businessmen from IDG Capital-backed firms entered the top 10 of the list : Wang Xing, CEO of Meituan, a Hong Kong-listed food delivery giant; Xu Li, CEO of SenseTime, the world’s most valuable artificial intelligence startup; Huang Zheng, CEO of Pinduoduo, a Nasdaq-listed social e-commerce platform; and Wu Jihan, CEO of Bitmain, a global leader in bitcoin mining.
Zoox, a driverless taxi startup based in Foster City, California, announced that it will design and build its own self-driving automobile from the ground up. The new vehicle will be tailored for autonomous driving and will be used for Zoox’s ride-sharing business. Zoox believes the investment will help up compete with other ride-sharing services like Lyft and Uber. IDG Capital joined Zoox’s Series A funding round in 2016.
Neutron Holdings, the San Fransisco-based e-scooter startup now doing business as Lime, will open a new brick-and-mortar store in Santa Monica, California, to enhance its physical presence in the city. In addition to renting scooters, the pilot project store will also host live events to strengthen its community relationships and customer engagement. IDG Capital was an early investor in Lime.