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AI Brain

BRAIN POWER ACTION

Artificial intelligence is taking over virtual reality as the hottest startup field in Silicon Valley circles. Two new developments in AI caught my eye.
 Leap.AI, an AI startup focused on helping job seekers and employers make a perfect match, has been formed by two ex-Googlers with $2.4 million in funding from Bob Xu from ZhenFund and other stars.  
CEO Richard Liu will tell all at Silicon Dragon Valley 2017, 
  October 2.
And, here comes a new $150 million fund just to invest in AI startups.  Who better to lead it than AI guru Andrew Ng, formerly chief scientist at Baidu and Google Brain founder. Read Forbes: Brain Power
NOTABLE DEALS 
A Baidu spinout, Chinese K-12 online education company Zuoyebang, has snared $150 million in Series C funding led by H Capitalwith Tiger Global ManagementSequoia CapitalLegend Capital and GGV Capital
 Er Geng, a short video content producer located in Hangzhou, has raised $14 million in Series A funding led by Jack Ma's private equity firm Yunfeng Capital along with Source Code Capital.
Trucking deals in China were suddenly all the rage: a truck logistics startup picked up $56 million while an autonomous-driving truck service nabbed $20 million. 
Read about 5 more new Greater China deals:
Silicon Dragon Digest

IPOs
Zai Laba developer of drugs for the China market, has filed for a $115 million IPO, trading on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol ZLAB. Previous investors include Sequoia and KPCB.
Youon Bike  becomes the first listed China bike-share company after raising $87 million via an IPO in Shanghai as it pedals afters  Ofo and MoBike

FUNDS
Shanghai-based  Gobi Partners closed on $50 million for a new SEA fund of $200 million with 3 Asian LPs. Gobi wasted no time leading a $27 million investment in Indonesian fashion e-commerce startup  SaleStock .

Israeli VC firm Carmel Ventures is raising a new fund, its 5th, after China's Baidu, Qihoo and Ping-An funded its 4th.  
M&A
 Jack Ma's Yunfeng Financial 
is hurtling into the insurance market with a teaming up with a $1.7 billion buyout of the Asian unit of MassMutual
NOTEWORTHY
Caesar's becomes the first strip operator to launchWeChat Pay for Chinese visitors. 
 
  Chinese drone maker  DJI  is tightening its data security after the U.S. Army ordered its members to stop using DJI drones due to potential cyber vulnerabilities.

Baidu 
has cleverly struck a deal for search and ads to funnel users looking for products to online retailer JD.com. The deal bypasses JD rival Alibaba, an indirect competitor to Baidu's search businessBloomberg
SoftBank, HardCash
Overview of the impact that  dealmaker  Masayoshi Son
  is having on global tech investing with his $93 billion Vision Fund @ beijingscribe
For more funds, deals and notes, click trending
Wei Hopeman
Interesting Viewpoint:
As Chinese firms expand, it's a double-edge sword for their VC funds due to overfunding and valuation inflation:
 Wei Hopeman, managing partner, 
Arbor Ventures. 
DealstreetAsia

  
  Silicon Dragon At Beijing 
Startup Contest
Bitome in Beijing

Silicon Dragon
participated as an overseas partner in the annual Overseas Talent Entrepreneur Conference in Beijing. Here, Jens Hofflin (right), a co-founder of east coast biotech startup Bitome, accepts a prize for an "excellent project" in the first place category in Beijing.    
Silicon Dragon also sent New York pitch competition winner Alexandra Iosso of  Dagmy Motors to the Beijing competition, where she met with potential investors.
The global championship went to genomics startup Hu Xiaoming, led by CEO/CTO Dr. Tim Hu in Boston.  
 
Startup founders who wish to pitch at an upcoming Silicon Dragon contest in Silicon Valley, Oct. 2, or in Hong Kong, Nov. 16, should contact: 
  events@silicondragonventures.com