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Let The Bike-Sharing Shake-Out
In China Begin!
Let the bike races begin. In China, the race just heated up again with a $700 million financing of Beijing-based bike-sharing contender
ofo, a startup in China's vast sharing economy that lately has been focused on convenient, inexpensive and environmental friendly bike shares that rely on smartphone mobile apps for renting and GPS for tracking.
Its close competitor,
Mobike, also has been attracting big venture capital, drawing $600 million in financing just last month for a total of $1 billion this year.
Interestingly, the bike rental startup battle puts China's tech titans
Tencent and
Alibaba squarely in the contest for leadership in this latest Chinese tech startup craze.
Silicon Dragon with ofo co-founder Dai Wei
and MoBike co-founder Joe Xia
Silicon Dragon would like to showcase the two finalists in New York who aced the
Here's more info on the champions:
Herb Ryan, Co-founder, Bitome,
New York City / Boston
Seed Stage / Biotech
Bitome provides accurate body hydration state information, doing for congestive heart failure patients what glucose monitoring does for diabetics. The startup launched in 2016, and has pilot studies with five hospitals and 1 medical device company in the works.
 
Alexandra Iosso, Co-founder, Dagmy Motors
New York City
Seed Stage/Electric batteries
Dagmy Motors is introducing low-priced and efficient electric battery packs to the automotive market. The startup, launched in 2015, is currently in active discussions with automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to implement the technology.
Founders were competing for to go to the Beijing global finals in mid-August (thanks to the Overseas Talent Entrepreneurship Competition) and win up to $200,000 plus startup assistance in setting up and mentoring.
Alexandra Iosso, Dagmy Motors
Herb Ryan, Bitome
GGV Capital has led a $10 million, Series A investment in Yanibuy, an e-commerce site for Americans to buy Asian foods, beauty and health products, home appliances and book. The deal was led by MP Hans Tung.
Alibaba Group plans to invest an additional $1 billion into the Southeast Asia e-commerce platform Lazada to increase its share ratio from 51% to 83%.
Existing investor
Sequoia Capital China has joined a $117 million, new round in online loan lender
Dashu Finance with new investor China Everbright in a deal led by
Primavera and
PAG.
Hillhouse Capital plans a new RMB fund to tap demand for China exposure.
Reuters
Chinese conglomerate
Wanda is selling its theme park business to a China entity, retreating from a business it once said would rival
Disney. The deal gives Wanda cash to pay down debt from rapid expansion in entertainment and tourism.
New York Times
NOTEWORTHY
U.S. weighs restricting Chinese investment in AI. Who's going to mainstream AI first -- Silicon Valley or China's Dragon?
Reuters
New York City Mayor Wants To Be The "Global Hub" For VR/AR With Newly Funded Lab
The rising stakes for Tesla in China. Elon Musk hasn't said much presentations or earnings calls about the China strategy, a glaring omission given China's increasing importance. WSJ
US digital payments firm Stripe has struck a deal to help online retailers around the world sell more easily to Chinese customers.
Merchants who use Stripe to process transactions will now be able to accept Alipay and WeChat Pay on their websites and apps.
BBC News
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