Salesforce Aims To Bypass Failed US Businesses in China By Linking Up With Alibaba
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China's e-commerce giant
Alibaba is embarking on a strategic partnership with
Salesforce to run core services in China. Alibaba will help Salesforce localize its customer relation management tools and sell into China.
Salesforce looks to China market
Alibaba's link with American businesses eager to penetrate the Chinese market seems a smart move. Many U.S. businesses have fumbled in China: eBay and Google are two prominent examples.
Alibaba is currently also working with
Starbucks in China on speedier delivery to fend off local Chinese rival
Luckin Coffee.
With the ongoing US-China trade and tech war, the going will be more challenging.
Impact of US-China Tech Cold War On Silicon Valley: A Split Sinks In
As US-China trade and tech tensions linger, the venture flows between these two superpowers are starting to split. Separate Sino-US venture and startup spheres are forming within their own geographies.
A bridge too far? Cross-border venture firms are retreating to China or turning to Southeast Asia or Israel. China's ZhenFund is investing solely in China now. So is Kai-Fu Lee's firm Sinovation Ventures. Qiming Ventures has started investing in Singapore.
I have started to hear of Chinese startups in the Valley that can't raise new funding and are shutting down. I've also heard of US-China venture firms that are restructuring to meet new requirements under recent DC legislation.
Japanese tech investing conglomerate Softbank is launching a $108 billion mega-fund to invest in AI, its second Vision Fund. Limited partners are Microsoft, Apple and Foxconn. Notably absent are Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi as LP backers.
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..DEALS
Ride-hailing regional leader Grab -- the upstart that beat Uber in Southeast Asia -- in directing $2 billion of a $3 billion outlay from Softbank to build up its Indonesia presence in a race for market leadership with GoJek.
Qiming Ventures leads $45 million, series B investment in Singapore-based budget hotel platform Red Doorz.
Bangalore-based credit card bill payment startup Cred has raised $4 million from Sequoia Capital.
Recent $150 million funding of online education app Byju puts founder in the billionaire class in India.
KKR's latest investment in Southeast Asia is $10 million in Thai e-commerce services startup eCommerce.
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IPOs
Chinese fintech firm 9F files for a US IPO, seeking to raise $150 million.
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China's Wanda Sports raises $190 million on Nasdaq in downsized IPO.
NOTEWORTHY
Alibaba unveils its own processor as China seeks reliance in semiconductors. SCMP