Chinaccelerator Daily Digest 5/8/2019

Overseas:

1. Digital ad revenue in the US surpassed $100 billion for the first time in 2018, with mobile reaching $69.9 billion, up 40% from the previous year

2. Uber, Google, IBM, and others join Urban Computing Foundation to create tools for ‘cities of tomorrow’

3. Google launches new Assistant developer tools, including a new Local Home SDK for developers

4. Facebook unveils an automated ad builder and an appointment manager for small businesses

5. Amazon One-Day Shipping Lifts Startups Serving Walmart

6. GM Cruise raises $1.15B at a $19B valuation from SoftBank and Honda, hoping to deploy a commercial self-driving vehicle service

7. After $1.1 Billion Loss For The First Quarter, Lyft Says 2019 Will Be ‘Peak Loss Year’

8. Gett raises $200M at $1.5B valuation for its B2B ride-hailing service, aims for 2020 IPO

9. Square acquires conversational AI startup Eloquent Labs to helps its merchants improve customer service

10. Tourlane raises a $47M C round led by Sequoia and Spark Capital to continue improve people experience travel

11. As concerns over medical device security rise, MedCrypt raises $5.3 million

12. K-Zen Beverage, a nascent cannabis-infused drink brand, has raised $5 million in seed funding

13. Urban Jungle raises £2.5M to make insurance accessible to ‘generation rent’

14. Hubtype raises $1.1M to help developers build richer chat support

China:

1. China foaled 21 new unicorns in the first quarter, double the number in the fourth quarter, lifting its overall count above 200 for the first time

2. Tencent scraps ‘PUBG Mobile,’ replaces it with more compliant ‘Peace Elite’ game

3. Seeking profit, Meituan Dianping crowds into express deliveries with its new delivery service

4. Online education platform Hujiang’s Hong Kong IPO application expired 

5. Shared accommodation platform muniao 木鸟短租 completed tens of millions of B2 rounds of financing led by Huaguan Capital

6. The Chinese AI firm DeepGlint Technology helped police to catch a criminal who had been on the run for 20 years

Cross border:

1. US tech major Oracle said to begin mass lay-offs in China as part of global move to cloud services

2. Mobile phone vendor Transsion brushes off risk from domestic rivals looking to expand overseas

3. Allianz X, Go-Ventures back African ride-hailing app series B fundraising

4. China’s WuXi AppTec 药明康德 acquires US clinical service company Pharmapace

5. Having raised US$80M in total funding, financial supermarket platform GoBear aims to foster new partnerships

Blockchain:

1. Alibaba’s Ant Financial Backs $10 Million Round for Blockchain Privacy Startup

2. Binance says more than $40 million in bitcoin stolen in ‘large scale’ hack

3. Cryptocurrency Firm OneCoin Sued Over Multibillion-Dollar Fraud

Mobile:

1. Google launches $399 Pixel phone, signaling a major shift in the tech giant’s hardware strategy

2. Samsung Confirms Shock New Galaxy Smartphone Cancellation

3. Consumers willing to pay 20 per cent premium for 5G smartphones: Ericsson

Emerging Market:

1. Warung Pintar raised over $35m in a year to transform Asia’s mom-and-pop stores

2. Singapore financial marketplace GoBear announces $80m in funding to expand regionally

3. Sharia-compliant fintech startup Alami nets funding in round led by Singapore’s Tryb

4. East Ventures invests in Singapore-based Chinese language media company 7.5 Degree

Image credit: TechCrunch