Chinaccelerator Daily Digest 2020/01/09

CHINA:

1. Tencent and state-owned UnionPay to merge QR code systems for mobile payments in China

2. TikTok’s daily active users (DAU) exceeded 400 million in Jan 2020

3. Bytedance rebrands Huoshan to support Douyin in lower-tier cities

4. Luckin enters unmanned retail market with new vending machines to speed up expansion

5. Ant Financial-backed Danke Apartment 蛋壳公寓 plans to raise USD 201 million via US IPO

6. Zhiyun Health 智云健康 nets US$144M, progressing towards China’s “healthcare unicorn” status

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MOBILE-ONLY MARKETS:

1. Indonesian wallet Ovo hits one billion transaction in 2019

2. Philippines’s Signet Properties launches real estate crowdfunding platform Flint

CROSS-BORDER:

1. Chinese fintech firms often tap Singapore to ramp up SEA operations

2. Mantra Capital launches $60m tech fund for India, US startups

3. Chinese air taxi company EHang 亿航智能 flies autonomously in the US for the first time

4. Netflix partners Indonesia’s Ministry of Education and Culture to boost local film industry

OVERSEAS:

1. Chinaccelerator Batch 15 allrites raises US$1.1M to grow its marketplace for TV, film and sports content rights

2. Southeast Asian healthtech investment firm Verge Healthtech plans to close $10m seed-stage fund in March

3. Grab launches first cloud kitchen in Singapore amid GrabFood expansion

4. Tesla surpasses BYD as world’s best-selling NEV brand

5. Tesla receives over 1,000 orders daily for China-made Model 3, after a 15% price drop

6. Korean ecommerce unicorn Coupang to go public in 2021, sources say

7. Fitness classes booking app ClassPass, finally a unicorn, raises $285 million in new funding

8. Online marketplace Roofstock, which makes it easier to buy a home as an investment property, just raised $50 million in new funding

9. Evolv raises $30 million to expedite security screenings with AI

10. SoftBank-backed Korean AI healthtech firm Lunit, that develops software for medical data analysis and interpretation, secures $26m to drive global sales

11. Virtual Incision raises $20 million for mini surgical robots

12. Esports betting platform startup Midnite raises $2.5M

13. Spotify brings streaming ad insertion technology to podcasts

Image Credits: Technode