Chinaccelerator Daily Digest 10/22

Overseas:

1. Amazon invested $10 million in Closed Loop Fund, an investment fund that supports cities and companies in building recycling programs. 

2. Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures launched a 100 million euro ($115 million) investment fund, in partnership with the European Commission.

3. Volkswagen a winner as EU set to favour wifi over 5G in cars

4. The virtual reality (VR) game Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives, a game by Google’s Owlchemy Labs offers humans a glimpse of office work in a world where the machines have taken over.

5. Cybersecurity software maker CrowdStrike hires Goldman Sachs to lead IPO

6. Goldman-backed fintech startup Marqeta launches in Europe

7. Cloud software company Qualtrics plans to follow rival SurveyMonkey to the public markets

8. Saudi Arabia lifted its ban on female driving in June, and Careem and Uber have launched expensive initiatives to recruit women as drivers.

9. A sometimes-same-day grocery delivery service provider Instacart announced a $600 million financing round led by D1 Capital Partners

10. SoftBank’s Vision Fund invested $100 million in Brazilian delivery start-up Loggi

11. Nikon led a $95 million financing round in Berkeley Lights, a digital cell biology company

12. Cybersecurity firm WhiteSource closed a $35 million Series C round, led by Susquehanna Growth Equity.

13. A cloud AI company Paperspace closes $13M series A round to accelerate mass adoption of AI

14. Domio just raised $12 million in Series A funding to build ‘apart hotels’ across the US

China:

1. Alibaba looks to take this year’s $25 billion Singles Day sales event international

2. Dida Chuxing Turns Into China’s Second-Largest Web Driver as Cabs Come Back

3. The travel service platform Mafengwo 马蜂窝 was blamed that over 85% user comments on the platform were copied from other competitors (rumor). 

4. Huawei has released the AI Fabric Ultra-High-Speed Ethernet Solution that transforms data center networking

5. Toutiao started Pre-IPO fundraising ( rumor)

6. TuSimple is first to get China’s nod to road test driverless trucks

7. Chinese Insurer Ping An Launches Cloud to Challenge Giants Alibaba, Tencent

8. Alibaba and SenseTime-backed Hong Kong AI lab announces first batch of startups to receive funding

Cross-border:

Chinese crypto wallet Cobo raises US$13M to enter US, Southeast Asia

Emerging Market:

1. Indonesian adtech startup StickEarn, Grab team up to launch in-car retail experience StickMart

2. Go-Jek VP sanctioned over Facebook post on company’s LGBT stance

3. Cambodia-based startup Meal Temple Group, which operates food and grocery delivery platforms, has raised a six-figure round from private Australian and European investors. 

4. Indonesian VC backs tech-enabled coffee shop Kopi Kenangan with $8m seed funding

5. Middle East ride-hailing company Careem secured $200 million from existing investors

Cover picture credits from Yicai Global