Overseas:
1. SoftBank Group announces new AI-focused $108 billion Vision Fund, broadens investor base
2. Google Cloud’s run rate is now over $8B annual revenue run rate
3. AWS, Amazon’s cloud computing arm, gets a chatbot
4. EBay will offer long-overdue Amazon shipping competitor next year
5. Standard Cognition, AI computer vision platfrom, lands $35M at $535M valuation to battle Amazon Go
6. Unity, gaming company, now valued at $6B, raising up to $525M
7. Brainly, a crowdsourced homework helper for students, raises $30M to expand in the US
8. Airbud, voice-interface for website provider, raises $4 million
China:
1. China improving in the ranking of the Global Innovation Index 2019
2. Alibaba releases RISC-V processor amid Chinese tech shift towards self-reliance
4. JD.com 京东 launching influencer incubator, planning to invest at least 1 billion RMB
5. Toutiao 今日头条 restarts insurance business
6. Xiaomi 小米 launched its first crowdfunding campaign for cars
7. ispace 星际荣耀 becomes the first private Chinese company to launch satellites to orbit
8. Oneconnectft 壹账通金融, FinTech unicorn part of the Ping An Group 平安集团, to IPO in the US
Cross-Border:
1. Toyata pushes EV sales in China with $600 million investment in Didi 滴滴
2. Tencent enters Japan’s cloud, chasing Amazon and Microsoft
3. Xiaomi-led India market hit 37mn smartphone shipments in Q2
4. Netflix launches Rs 199 ($2.8) mobile-only monthly plan in India
5. WhatsApp announces privacy education partnership in India
6. Myanmar Frontiir, internet service provider, bags $30m from UK development finance group
Emerging Market:
1. Singaporean Singtel offers free insurance cover for migrant workers
2. Singapore startup Leben Care raises funding to provide AI-based retinal diagnostics solutions
5. Indonesian B2B marketplace Ralali secures $13m in series C round
6. Russia’s Sberbank, Mail.ru to form $1b JV for taxi, food delivery
Image Credits: globalinnovationindex.com