Understand what moves China tech with us — we roundup what you need to know about the local venture scene every Thursday morning 8am (SGT).
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Key trends
KrASIA tracked 97 private investments amounting to more than RMB 17.1 billion (USD 2.62 billion) in the past week.
Top IPOs of the week
DiDi Chuxing (滴滴出行) | Rumors of US listing
Multiple sources have suggested that ride-hailing giant Didi has accelerated plans for an initial public offering. The company may have its own ticker symbol as early as Q2 2021. Founded in 2012, Didi was valued at around USD 51.6 billion in May 2019. Didi has not ruled out the possibility to list in the United States, although the company was previously rumored to be considering the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as its listing venue.
Startups on our watchlist
Duckbill | Strategic Investment
Shanghai-based startup Duckbill raised USD 50 million in a new financing round led by Temasek. “Duckbill has integrated demand and supply in an innovative way and has significantly improved efficiency in the industry, getting extremely good feedback from both clients and drivers,” said Li Zhengwei, executive director of Lighthouse Capital, which was the dealmaker for this financing round.
Read more about how Duckbill support its drivers in attaining stable workflow and income here.
Momenta | Series C
Autonomous driving startup Momenta has completed a USD 500 million Series C round of financing, led by SAIC, Toyota, Bosch, Temask, and Yunfeng. Other investors included Mercedes-Benz, GGV Capital, Shunwei Capital, Tencent, and Cathay Capital. Momenta is valued at over USD 1 billion. The latest round of funding will fuel the company’s international expansion initiatives. Beginning with plans to open it’s first European office in Stuttgart, the hometown of Mercedes-Benz, later this year.
Top Investment Story
Jifei Technology, or XAG, a Guangzhou-based drone manufacturer with a business focus on the agricultural industry, just completed its RMB 300 million (USD 46 million) Series C++ financing. Hillhouse Ventures led the round, doubling down with additional capital following its previous investment in the company made last November.
Peng Bin, the company’s CEO and founder, said the 2020 order volume for XAG’s agritech products increased by 2.5 times year-over-year.
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MNCs in China
GitLab, one of the world’s largest code development platforms, partnered with Sequoia and Gaocheng Capital to establish a new joint venture in Wuhan. The JV is registered with the name GitLab Information Technology (Hubei) Co., Ltd, also known in Chinese as JiHu. GitLab holds a 72.25% stake in JiHu, while Sequoia and Gaocheng Capital own 18.75% and 9%, respectively.