Chinaccelerator Daily Digest 01/21/2021

CHINA:

1. China FDI rose to record level in 2020 despite coronavirus, fastest growth rate in five years

2. China e-commerce to grow 21% in 2021; cross-border up 33% in 2020

3. China Makes Breakthroughs In UAV Quantum Networking

4. TikTok owner ByteDance launches payments in China as it pushes into fintech and e-commerce

5. Alibaba-backed logistics firm Best 百世 weighs sale in strategic review 

6. SF Express makes hurried entrance into neighborhood group-buying with a WeChat mini program called Fenghuotai

7. Logistics Firm Lalamove Close to Raising $1.5b in Fresh Funding, Reaching $10b Valuation

8. Chinese edtech startup Erwan nets nearly $100m in Series D, E rounds

9. Chinese cold chain logistics firm Fresh Life nets $93m from CICC, others

Check out our latest podcast about “Capping off 2020 with a Big Announcement” here

Check out our latest blog post about “Top 5 Podcasts to Understand How VCs Make Decisions” here

Apply for the Batch 19 program here

MOBILE-ONLY MARKETS:

1. Indian online gaming industry expected to touch $2.8b by 2022

2. Indian stock exchanges approve $3.4B Reliance and Future deal in setback for Amazon

3. India’s e-commerce giant Flipkart shelves plan to enter food retail sector

4. DeHaat inks $30M for agritech platform

5. Indian AI startup AlphaICs raises $8m Series B led by Endiya Partners, Emerald Technology

6. Ex-Flipkart, Alibaba exec backs Indian social commerce firm ShopG in $1.5m seed round

7. Accel and Elevation Capital co-lead a seed round in India’s apparel B2B marketplace Fashinza

8. African edtech startup uLesson lands a $7.5 million Series A

9. Fireside Ventures closes its second fund for consumer brands at $118m

10. Robowealth, a robo-advisor for mutual funds, rakes in Series A from Beacon VC to lower wealth gap in Thailand through tech

11. VinaCapital backs livestreaming firm Gostream to supercharge Southeast Asia’s live-commerce market

CROSS-BORDER:

1. Singapore’s Antler to pour $100m into Indian startups within the next 4 years

OVERSEAS

1. In 2020, VCs invested $428M into US-based startups every day

2. Rivian raises $2.65B as it pushes toward production of its electric pickup

3. Digital workspace technology procider Citrix acquires Wrike for $2.25B

4. General Motors-owned self-driving car company Cruise has raised $2 billion

5. Naver acquires the online social storytelling platform Wattpad for over $600M

6. Mercedes unveils electric compact SUV in bid to outdo Tesla

7. Ad-supported EV charging network developer Volta raises $125 million

8. Digital securities platform iSTOX closes $50 million Series A to make private equity accessible to more investors

9. Startup Founded By Former UK PM Tony Blair’s Son Nabs $44M For Apprenticeship Startup

10. Powering Online Purchases, Bold Commerce Bags $27M Series B

11. Trovata banks $20M for cash automation

12. Conversa Health expands its Series B round to $20M

13. Miami-based Ironhack raises $20 million for its coding bootcamps as demand for coders continues

14. Brand building agency Genflow nabs $11M investment from BGF

15. Curtsy, a clothing resale app aimed at Gen Z women, raises $11 million Series A

16. Landbot closes $8M Series A for its ‘no code’ chatbot builder

17. Saudi Arabia-based Tamara inks $6M for BNPL platform

18. Podchaser raises $4M to build a comprehensive podcast database

19. Valve and five PC games publishers fined $9.4M for illegal geo-blocking

Image Credits: KrAsia