Tag: Tech

「What’s News In China」

Shanghai Green Valley Pharmaceuticals (Green Valley, 绿谷制药) today announced on Nov 2 that China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has approved Oligomannate (GV-971) as new drug for the treatment of “mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and improving cognitive function.” It is the first novel drug approved for Alzheimer’s disease globally since 2003. The company is also planning a global phase 3 trial with sites in the U.S., Europe and other parts of Asia in early 2020 to support regulatory filings around the world. // prnewswire | fiercepharma

On Nov 5, Nio (NASDAQ: NIO), long being seen as the Tesla in China, announced its partnership with Intel’s Mobileye to build self-driving EVs. Under the planned collaboration, Mobileye will provide NIO with the design of the self-driving system building on the Mobileye AV Series, a L4 AV kit comprised of the Mobileye EyeQ® system-on-chip, hardware, driving policy, safety software and mapping solution. NIO will take on the automotive-grade engineering, integration and mass-production of Mobileye’s system for both consumer automotive markets and for Mobileye’s mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) applications. In addition to integrating the self-driving system into its vehicle lines, NIO will develop a specially configured variant of electric AVs that Mobileye will use as robotaxis, deployed for ride-hailing services in global markets. // TechCrunch| intel

36Kr (NASDAQ: KRKR), a Beijing-based news and data provider, known for tracking fundraising and tech related news in China, raised $20 million in its Friday debut on NASDAQ. The company is similar to TechCrunch or Crunchbase (its affiliated Crunchbase News). // Crunchbase News

Meituan: Fighting Every War

The current Meituan (MeituanDianping) came from a merger between Meituan and Dianping in December 2015.

Once a company invested by Alibaba, Meituan has become more closer with Tencent after the merger.

At the beginning of 2016, MeituanDianping raised $3.3 billion from Tencent, DST Global and Temasek at a $15 billion pre-money valuation; meanwhile, Alibaba sold its stake for ~$900 million in the same month.

Later that year, in April 2016, Alibaba invested the $900 million in Ele.me and Ant Financial invested $350 million.

The war has already changed from Yelp and Groupon to more comprehensive areas – restaurants and other local services.

[Note – in 2014, Priceline (now Booking.com) agreed to buy restaurant booking service OpenTable for about $2.6 billion in cash. But in China, dining is not exactly scheduled by time but by getting a number into the line, determined by how many people are ahead of you.]

However, US and China are similar in the world of food delivery. Meituan and Ele.me are fighting in China while Uber Eats, DoorDash, GrubHub, PostMates are fighting in the US. The difference – China uses e-bikes and US uses cars.

And for other services like movies, Meituan spun-off Maoyan in 2016. Maoyan is competing with Tao Piaopiao, which raised ¥1.7 billion in 2016.

In the US, the market is led by Fandango and Atom Tickets. But the market is not limited to movies – it’s about all kinds of shows, concerts and exhibitions.

Meituan is also offering hotel & travel bookings, fighting in the war with Ctrip.

Going back to Meituan, it raised $4 billion in October 2017 from Tencent, Sequoia, GIC and Tiger Global.

Meituan Dianping introduced its ride-hailing operation Meituan Dache in February 2018.

In April 2018, Alibaba acquired Ele.me for $9.5 billion.

Same week , Meituan acquired mobike for $2.7 billion.

Later that month, Ant Financials led a round of $700 million for Hellobike.

Meituan went for IPO in Hong Kong in September 2018, raising $4.2 billion.

Another OTA, Tongcheng-Elong, with Tencent and Ctrip as major shareholders, went IPO in Hong Kong in November 2018, raising $180 million.

Summing up the wars Meituan is in:

  • Food delivery: with Alibaba’s Ele.me; same-day delivery: Dada-JD Daojia
  • Movie tickets: with Alibaba’s Tao Piaopiao
  • Ride-hailing: with Didi
  • Bike-sharing: with Hellobike and Didi Bike (Qingju)
  • Hotel and travel booking: with Ctrip
  • Payment & wallet
  • …

「What’s News In China」

Tencent will lead the development of blockchain-based invoice system in China. The invoices will be created as part of the project named “General Framework of DLT-Based Invoices,” which was approved and supported by countries such as the UK, Switzerland, Sweden and Brazil during an ITU-T international meeting on e-invoice standards. As of August 10, more than 6 million blockchain e-invoices have been issued, and more than 5,300 companies have been registered in China to use blockchain e-invoices since the first…was issued by Tencent on August 10, 2018. // globaltimes | TNW

China has banned online sales of e-cigarettes on Nov 1. All websites and apps selling e-cigarettes should be shut down and all online marketing campaigns halted; online shopping platforms need to remove e-cigarette products from their sites. The measures are aimed at protecting adolescents from vaping. // 烟草专卖局 | Bloomberg

Biotechnology company Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) announced on Oct 31 that it is taking a 20.5% stake in BeiGene (NASDAQ: BGNE), one of the largest biotech companies in China for $2.7 billion. The all-cash deal values BeiGene at $174.85 per American depository share, a 25% premium to BeiGene’s closing price on the Nasdaq on Wednesday. BeiGene’s stock jumped 37% the next day. // Amgen

「What’s News In China」

President Xi said the country needs to “seize the opportunity” afforded by blockchain technology. His speech also called for the creation of “Blockchain+,” a platform alluding to personal development such as education, employment and food and medicinal safety, among other basic needs. Since a 2017 decision by the People’s Bank of China, cryptocurrencies are banned in the country, although a digital renminbi is being developed by the central bank and likely to launch soon. // coindesk | TechCrunch

NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES)’s e-learning unit, Youdao (有道) made its debut on NYSE on Friday Oct 25, listed under the symbol “DAO”. Youdao priced its IPO shares at $17 per ADS, raising ~$95.2 million. The company is also raising another $125 million through the private placement of 7.35 million ordinary shares, to funds managed by Orbis Investment Management Ltd., for a total raise of $220.2 million. Founded in 2006, Youdao provides online dictionaries, online classrooms and language courses, with 100 million monthly average users in China in the first half of 2019. // marketwatch | 21jingji

Starbucks announced the new addition of Bar Mixato to its Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Shanghai. It features a full bar menu, which includes the global debut of 11 innovative coffee- and tea-based cocktails specially created and available only at the Shanghai Roastery. // Starbucks

CB Insights: 14 Tech Trends 2019

  1. The hyper-personalization of everything
  2. The smart home targets the senior citizen market
  3. Malls are out. Retail moments are in.
  4. Maps become a layer for all kinds of real-world data
  5. Last-mile delivery gets automated
  6. Tech comes for your sleep
  7. Data becomes a hot-button geopolitical issue
  8. Smart buildings maximize comfort, wellness, and efficiency
  9. Buses and logistics providers go green
  10. China sets the bar for social network innovation
  11. Electric vehicle makers expand into lifestyle products and services
  12. Tech apprenticeships grow in popularity
  13. Digital swag makes big money
  14. The new healthcare clinic is your home

Full report is here.

「What’s News In China」

NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES)’s e-learning unit, Youdao (有道) reduced its fundraising target to $116 million from $300 million IPO on October 15. Founded in 2006, Youdao provides online dictionaries, online classrooms and language courses, with 100 million monthly average users in China in the first half of 2019. The company set a price range of $15 to $18 for its American Depositary Shares (ADSs) and will be listed under the symbol “DAO”. // reuters | SEC

TikTok (by Bytedance) launched an education program in India on October 17, as the popular short-video app looks to expand its offering and assuage local authority in one of its biggest markets. TikTok has been working with Indian partners in the edtech sector ahead of the campaign launch.  TikTok claims to have 200 million users in India, of which 120 million are active every month. // TechCrunch | FT

6th World Internet Conference (or “Wuzhen Summit”) opened in China’s Zhejiang Province (10/20-22). Executives from major tech companies from home and abroad such as Microsoft, Qualcomm, Alibaba Group and Huawei attended the conference. // xinhua | scmp