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The used car dealership network in China has heated up with several recent financings -- similarly to the bicycle sharing market, which also is seeing big fundings. To wit,
Warburg has led a $180 million, Series D round in used car transaction platform
Souche.com
, based in Nanjing. Since its founding in 2012, Souche has become China's second-largest used car dealer.
This new round follows a $100 million financing in November from investors led by Ant Financial Services Group and Chinese chauffeured car service provider Ucar Inc.
S
ouche.com previously raised approximately $10 million in a series B round led by Sequoia Capital in 2013, following a first financing from Morningside Ventures in 2012.
Nanjing city-based
used car appraisal and
transaction platform
Che300
raised $29 million from Sequoia Capital China in January
.
Plus, online used car dealership Uxin Group drew $500 million in new funding from China Vision Capital, Warburg Pincus,
Tiger Global Management
,
Hillhouse Capital
and
KKR
& Co.
Sequoia Capital and CCB International
have packed $1 billion into Chinese news app Toutiao (HQ in photo) at an incredible $11 billion valuation in Series D fundng. Just three years ago, Toutiao raised $100 million from Sequoia and Weibo Corporation. It's using machine learning to go after Facebook. Toutiao is already being called China's next BAT.
Another China to Hollywood deal has been scrapped. A $2 billion agreement by Chinese tech conglomerate LeEco to acquire LA-based TV maker Vizio is officially off due to "regulatory headwinds." The deal's collapse in early April were the results of tighter currency controls and a crackdown on China-Us deals, in addition to a cash crunch at LeEco, which has been facing financial difficulties and retrenching after rapid expansion into smartphones and electric vehicles. The two companies will seek to collaborate on content and distribution, now that the acquisition is off.
The scrapped deal follows the collapse of Wanda's deal to buy Dick Clark Productions for $1 billion.
Northern Light Venture Capital
has led a $30 million financing of data storage company Qumulo, based in Seattle. Madrona Ventures also joined this most recent funding of the startup, which has raised $130 million in total.
Grab Taxi
, Uber's biggest competitor in Southeast Asia, has acquired mobile payments startup Kudo in Indonesia. It's a first major acquisition for Grab, which reportedly paid $70 million.
Grab Taxi is backd by Uber rival Didi Kuadi and Chinese sovereign wealth fund CIC.
Point Nine Capital
, a Berlin-based VC firm, has invested $1.2 million in Australian startup
Quirl (co-founders above),
its first investment Down Under. Quirl, set up by a former Google staffer and a childhood friend, specializes in interactive online documents. The Aussie startup is setting sights on global growth, and has opened a U.S. office
.
FEATURED VIDEO
China's e-commerce market is two years ahead of the West. See Video from China Connect.
NOTEWORTHY
KPMG
has published its annual global technology
report ranking the top innovative cities and countries. the report includes perspective from KPMG leaders in 15 key markets.
In a survey of more than 800 technology executives globally, Shanghai placed first as leading tech hub while Beijing ranked fourth. Tokyo and Bangalore also scored well.
The U.S. was not outdone - four cities placed within the top 10: New York City, Chicago, Boston and Washington, DC.
In Europe, the action is centered on the London and Berlin.
Tel Aviv was not left out, and also placed within the top ranks.
Download the report here:
Top Markets
(
Silicon Dragon contributed editorially to this report.
)
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