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Fourier Intelligence, a Shanghai-based startup, is working to develop an affordable exoskeleton for potential use in China by more than 85 million disabled citizens. Exoskeleton are now sometimes priced as high as $500,000, but Fourier hopes to develop a model for sale for as low as $20,000, according to Ken Zoh, deputy CEO. IDG Capital joined Fourier’s Series A funding round in 2018.
Chinese bitcoin giant Bitmain Technologies is now marketing a 7-nanometer bitcoin mining processor. The chip promises new levels of energy efficiency, the company said. Founded in Beijing in 2013, Bitmain is both a bitcoin miner and supplier of chips and computer hardware used in bitcoin mining, The firm is currently valued at more than $8 billion. IDG Capital invested in Bitmain in 2017.
Bilibili, China's answer to Netflix, is now experiencing a stock price increase after Alibaba, one of the country's top three tech companies, purchased a 9% stake. Bilibili, a Nasdaq-listed online entertainment platform, is headquartered in Shanghai. The two companies announced the collaboration in December. Previously, IDG Capital led Bilibili's Series A funding round and also joined the company's A+ and B rounds. Bilibili is now valued at more than $3 billion.
The MSCI China Index recently added four Internet companies, backed by IDG Capital:
Meituan Dianping, China's leading food delivery app, valued at $55 billion; Pinduoduo, a group-buying e-commerce platform, valued at $24 billion; Bilibili, a Shanghai-based video-sharing website, valued at $3.2 billion; and iQiyi, a leading Chinese video streaming platform, valued at $13.5 billion. The MSCI China Index represents large and mid-cap stocks which account for 85% of its total equities. The unit is part of MSCI Inc., formerly Morgan Stanley Capital International.
Lime, a leading electric scooter and bike-sharing provider, has applied for an e-scooter license in San Francisco, its home base. Government officials, which has placed limits on the number of e-scooter companies in the city and previously rejected Lime's application, might reconsider Lime in April. IDG Capital has backed Lime, a unit of Neutron Holdings, since 2017. The firm is now valued at more than $1 billion.
Chinese online education platform Yuanfudao is now valued at $3 billion. The Beijing-based company currently has 200 million users, including 2 million paid subscribers. Among Yuanfudao's products is a free app powered by artificial intelligence (AI), which allows parents to check their children's arithmetic homework by snapping a photograph and then comparing the data to information in the database. Yuanfudao now checks or corrects up to 70 million math problems per day. IDG Capital, which first invested in the firm in 2012, recently joined Yuanfudao's Series F round.
Norway-based web browser Opera announced it will offer customers a virtual private network (VPN) service as part of its Android browser app. The new feature, once marketed independently by Opera, will enable users to choose virtual locations to link to the web. Opera first went public on Nasdaq in 2018, raising $115 million. IDG Capital joined the company's pre-IPO financing round.
Castbox, a podcast firm based in San Francisco, was the most downloaded app in the U.S. in 2018, according to the research firm SenseTower. With roughly 3 million new installs last year – a 217% increase over 2017, Castbox reported revenue of $96,000. That represents a 15-times year-over-year increase from last year. IDG Capital joined investment rounds in Castbox in both 2016 and 2018.
IDG Capital joined a $10 million financing round in EdiGene, a Beijing-based company that uses genome-editing technologies to treat genetic diseases and cancer. EdiGene, which also has operations in Guangzhou, China and Cambridge, Massachusetts, is now developing gene-editing therapies for a wide range of diseases. Previously, IDG Capital led EdiGene's Series A funding round.
Lime, a San Francisco-based electric scooter and bike startup, closed a $310 million Series D funding round. The company is now valued at $2.4 billion. According to CEO Toby Sun, Lime will use the latest financing round to expand into new markets, upgrade its technology and explore new business opportunities. IDG Capital has backed Lime since 2017.
Three blockchain firms, backed by IDG Capital, have joined Forbes 2019 Top 50 Fintech list: Circle, a Boston-based cryptocurrency firm valued at $3 billion; Ripple, a blockchain-based global settlements network headquartered in San Francisco, valued at $5 billion; and Coinbase, another San Francisco-based cryptocurrency platform, valued at $8 billion. Circle has 8 million customers in over 100 countries; Ripple's customers include Bank of America and American Express; and Coinbase manages more than 20 million customer accounts. IDG Capital invested in Circle in 2016 and Ripple and Coinbase in 2015.
IDG Capital has joined a $356 million Series A funding round in Jusda, a business-to-business supply chain solutions provider. Founded in 2010, Jusda started as an internal supply chain service for iPhone maker Foxconn. The latest investment in Jusda is now this year's largest private fundraising deal in China. With more than 1,000 customers and 3,000 warehouses, Jusda accommodates 2.5 million square meters of storage and has 155 branches worldwide.
Forbes China named Jeacy Yan, an IDG Capital Partner, to its 2019 list of the top 25 women venture capitalists in China. Yan focuses on consumer goods and services, retail and e-commerce and works closely with a variety of portfolio companies, including online luxury retailer Secoo, Japanese designer brand Evisu and Korean sunglasses brand Gentle Monster. Prior to joining IDG Capital, Yan worked for Deutsche Bank, Hong Kong Branch and WestLB, New York Branch. She holds advanced degrees from Northwestern University and Peking University.
Hugo Shong, IDG Capital's founding chairman, joined a panel of financial experts at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to discuss China's slowing economic growth. China once routinely experienced 8% annual GDP growth, Shong said, but“now we have 6.6 (%). Given the size of the economy, it is a pretty good number.”Joining Shong on the panel was Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The same day Shong joined his panel, CNBC also interviewed IDG Capital Co-Chairman Jim Breyer.“I am really hopeful,”Breyer said, that U.S. and Chinese companies will“build, often together, in different parts of the world. India will be the next showdown.”
Castbox, based in San Francisco, is now the world's No. 1 podcast-dedicated audio streaming app, according to mobile app research firm Sense Tower. The firm now transcribes all its podcasts to help listeners search the Castbox library using specific terms and topics that interest them. Since 2016, IDG Capital has joined several funding rounds in Castbox, which is now regarded as a competitor to audio streaming giants Spotify and Pandora in podcast.
China's top bike-sharing firm Mobike will change its name to Meituan Bike after Meituan Dianping, the Chinese food delivery giant, acquired it last April. Listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Meituan Dianping is China's largest provider of on-demand online services with more than 46,000 employees and $6.42 billion in annual revenues. The company says it can now offer integrated bike-rental services to more than 310 million customers. IDG Capital invested in Meituan Dianping in 2017.