SILICON DRAGON NEWS
www. Silicon D ragonV entures.com       @SiliconDragon        Feb. 24, 2020    
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March 25
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In Search of the Next Tech Titan 

Hear from VCs, Angels & Founders 
who are sizing up in Australia to Silicon Valley 
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March 27

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April 5-10

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April 25

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Remote Working, On-Demand Delivery Points, Automation, Videoconferences: The New Normal Amidst Coronavirus Outbreak

Here's 10 ways the coronavirus is impacting business in China, and globally. 
1. Working remotely has become standard operating procedure in China and elsewhere. 
2. Conferences and events are shifting to online meetings, video conferences and webinars. Sequoia Capital China moved a recent matchmaking session between startups and investors to online, via Zoom.
3. Use of robotics and automation will increase for logistics, retailing and factories. Chinese e-commerce company JD (pix above) is using a fleet of self-driving robotic vehicles to deliver goods in Wuhan.
4.  Supply chain operations will diversify geographically to avoid disruptions in production and shipping.
5. On-demand delivery to designated spots rather than specific homes or offices will get a boost. 
6. Further investment in biotech advances to prevent the spread of such viruses will no doubt escalate and continue.  Read rest of list here . No more handshakes! 

DEALS
Two UK anchored venture firms, Felix Capital and 83North have co-led a $20 million fund raising for HungryPanda, a London-based food delivery app for Chinese communities in the U.K. and New York. The three-year-old online ordering startup plans to expand to several cities in the U.S. Wonder when we'll see an Indian food version of this app. 

Cyberport incubatee MAD Gaze recently expanded its resources with a new Series A round of $18 million led by DNS Capital and Black30 Venture. The funds will help MAD Gaze to bolster product development and tech R&D in core augmented reality technology, and go after market expansion fueled by 5G development.
MAD Gaze, which makes AR glasses, raised pre-series A funding of $12 million last year and got its funding start on crowdfunding site Indiegogo.   

Gagan Biyani, the founder of online marketplace Udemy Inc., tells how his SF-based startup just raised  $50 million at a $2 billion valuation, in a deal with Japanese publisher Benesse, after almost dying at least 5 times and getting rejected by everyone in the Valley. Startups are never a straight line, he concludes. Read the thread @udemy on Twitter that underscores the underdog story. 

Co-founders of Vietnamese digital media firm Yeah1 have sold a 19.3% stake to an unnamed strategic investor for approximately $12.9 million. The popular, youth-focused entertainment site that is listed on the Ho Chih Minh Stock Exchange, was originally backed by DFJ VinaCapital , a partnership fund between Vietnam-based asset management firm VinaCapital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson  The Vietnamese company has been in constant motion since a contract ended with  YouTube  about a year ago and Yeah1 subsequently sold its U.S. subsidiary, the multi-channel network  ScaleLab that it had acquired just two months before at the start of 2019.   

INDIA ACTION
As President Trump arrives in India, he shouldn't miss the country's vibrant startup scene. India is way outpacing China for deals right now, and has been on the upswing for the past few years while China action has slowed.  

Facebook and private equity firm General Atlantic have co-led a $110 million funding of Bengaluru-based edtech startup UnacademyExisting investors Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners, Steadview Capital and Blume Ventures participated in the round as did the founder of India's successful e-commerce company Flipkart, now owned by WalMart.  

Sequoia Capital India has led a $32 million funding of Whatfix, a SaaS company helping companies accelerate adoption of digital technologies. Prior investors Cisco Investments, and F-Prime Capital in Boston and its sister fund Eight Roads Ventures. participated in the financing of the fast-growth startup, which also counts Helion Ventures as an early backer

Sequoia's Surge accelerator has invested $2.5 million in video production and editing platform InVideo.  

FUNDS
Two new Indian funds mean more capital for startups emerging from India.   Global alternative asset manager Falcon Edge Capital has raised $300 million for its India-focused venture capital fund Alpha Wave Incubation, anchored by an undisclosed entity of the Government of Abu Dhabi and investors from the UAE. Secondly, 
Blume Ventures does a final close of its third and largest fund, at $102 million.  

NOTEWORTHY
China's tech industry is dividing into two camps during the virus outbreak. Alibaba has shed $26 billion of market value since Jan. 21 while Tencent has gained $18 billion. It boils down to the difference between hawking analog and digital wares. Bloomberg

RESEARCH 
The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai released a survey of its members in China that showed the huge impact of the coronavirus on their business. 
  • 78% do not have sufficient staff to run a full production line
  • 41% say a lack of staff is their biggest challenge in the next 2-4 weeks; 30% of companies say logistics issues will be their biggest concern
  • Over the next few months, 58% of companies expect demand for their output to be lower than normal
 
The survey, released last week, drew 109 responses from company members with manufacturing operations in Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing and the wider Yangtze River Delta. Access the full survey here