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Don't Ignore The Challenge: China Is Closing The Innovation Gap With The US In 36 Ways 
 

Skeptics of China's ability to innovate should read a new report from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation that pinpoints 36 indicators of China's progress. The report concludes that China is closing the innovation gap with the U.S., and in some areas, leads the U.S.
China has put its heart and soul to not just being an innovator, but to being, in the words of Chinese President Xi Jinping,  "the master of its own technologies," the report notes. Having researched this topic thoroughly for Tech Titans of China, and my prior book Silicon Dragon, I can't help but agree. The report has a political spin, warning that it is extremely irresponsible to blithely ignore this challenge under the hopeful belief that China will fail.
There is no reason not to believe that China will follow the path of the Asian tigers, South Korea and Japan.  Given the size of the Chinese market and its entrepreneurial nature, China's rise will likely have more impact than these Asian markets.
Read Rise to the Challenge: Forbes


 
It is not at all surprising to see China scoring so high in the annual Forbes ranking of top high-tech venture capitalists.
China has risen so fast, so far, that it's now nearly on par with the US on a number of measures: investment amounts, fund performance and breakthrough portfolio companies. It's also catching up quickly to the US for number of IPOs in New York, patents, and privately held venture-backed companies that have earned unicorn stripes. 
Neil Shen has once again topped the charts of venture investors -- again, not a shock. He's been a force behind many of the firm's most successful startup investments in China -- super service app Meituan, social commerce innovator Pinduoduo, short video app Toutiao, world-leading drone maker DJI, and electric car maker NIO.
Previous top scorers are the Valley's John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins who aced investments in Uber, Amazon, and Sun Microsystems; Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital, who scored with Google, PayPal, and Zappos; and Jim Breyer of Breyer Capital, who made a fortune on Facebook. Remember that China's Silicon Valley started less than two decades ago while Sand Hill Road got its start 50 years ago.
Read more, Counting to 100, at Forbes. China breaks through on the top 100 VCs list globally. 

VENTURE DEALS
This is a big stretch for a five-year-old startup from Hong Kong, but travel services app Klook has raised $225 million from Softbank Vision Fund in a follow-on to Series D funding of $200 million from  Sequoia Capital China,  Matrix Partners,  OurCrowd and  TCV. 
The Softbank capital comes at a fortuitous time for Klook, which intends to deepen its investments in Japan for the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Read more: Klook's link to Tokyo at Forbes

AgriTech startup Intello Labs in New Delhi raises $2 million seed round from Nexus Venture Partners and Omnivore

Online premium grocery service Market Kurly in Seoul  raises $88 million from Global Venture Partners in London and Berlin. 

Indian social commerce startup GlowRoad raises $10M Series B from investors including Shunwei Capital, Sequoia Capital India and RPS Ventures.   

FUNDS

 Chinese VC firm SourceCode Capital, a backer of some of China's most prominent tech unicorns, has raised two new funds totaling $570 million.     

IPOs

Qiming Venture partner Helen Wong, congratulates
portfolio company Ruhnn, for listing on NASDAQ.
"China is the largest e-commerce market in the world, and Ruhnn is the number 1 online influencer company in China. Exciting times ahead!" Wong noted. 
The IPO for the Alibaba-backed startup raised $125 million. 
  
NOTEWORTHY
Are companies upgrading their technologies for intelligent automation fast enough to meet goals for  increased productivity and improved strategizing?
Probably not, according to a new report on the technology and its impact by KPMG and HFS Research
( Silicon Dragon is a contributor to this white paper.) 
The hurdles to moving IA forward within organizations are outlined in the report: uncertainty about the financial investment needed, lack or organizational clarity and accountability, and not enough scale yet.
IA, not to be confused with artificial intelligence, is the catch-all phrase for AI, advanced analytics, and robotics processing automation. Whew!
The survey of nearly 600 executives across 13 countries found that more than half of companies have budgeted investments of more than $10 million, but the allocations are uneven across functions. See Forbes, when IA isn't enough


ARCHIVE
Facebook imitates WeChat, Ofo's Mess for VCs
Silicon Dragon News:  March 11, 2019
China VC Returns: +21%
Silicon Dragon News: March 18, 2019
Which Market Will Own The Car of the Future?
Silicon Dragon News: March 25, 2019

(proud to say I only missed editing 1 regular issue of Silicon Dragon News while writing my new book, 
Tech Titans of China) 60,000 words and counting!