Don’t miss out our headlines this week: Homelink may have landed USD 926 M; Tencent-backed logistics data tracker lands USD 45 M; and Aier Eye to take 2nd biggest stake in Qihoo 360 with USD 30 M.
Aier Eye to take 2nd biggest stake in Qihoo 360 with USD 30 M
Eric Sun
Southern China’s Changsha-based ophthalmology medical institution, Aier Eye Hospital Group Co., Ltd. announced that it made an investment of USD 30.3 million in Chinese security software giant Qihoo 360 on Wednesday.
According to the announcement, the investment was made by Aier Eye Hospital’s wholly owned subsidiary Shannanzhilian Medical Information Technology Co., Ltd. The company will hold an 11.44% stake in Qihoo 360, second only to Zhou Hongyi, Chairman of Qihoo 360.
According to Aier Eye, the investment is expected to achieve higher capital gains and enhance the profitability of the company, which corresponds with the interests of all shareholders.
Alibaba injects USD 7 M in Staycloud for partnership with Aliyun
Dora Zhang
Staycloud, a cloud services provider, announced that it recently received over RMB 50 million (USD 7.7 million) from China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba in Series B financing, the tech blog 36 Kr reported on Wednesday.
After this round of financing, the company will become a partner of Alibaba’s cloud subsidiary Aliyun and will focus on providing services and products related to Aliyun. In 2014, the company landed RMB 10 million in Series A financing from Sequoia Capital and Gobi Partners.
Founded in 2013 in Shanghai, Staycloud is a company aiming to provide cloud services including consultations on how to operate in the cloud and maintenance methods for companies that have difficulty moving their business and data onto the cloud. Its staff is comprised mainly of former employees of foreign IT companies like IBM, EMC and HP.
This platform will bring VR to online education with USD 46 M
Jack Niu
Online education provider Xingshuai Teach confirmed that it received RMB 300 million (USD 46 million) in Series B financing on its official website on Wednesday.
The round of financing was led by major Chinese investment bank Guotai Junan Securities, China Mobile, China Minsheng Investment Company and private equity investment company He Capital.
This round of fundraising will be used to develop VR content for online education.
Homelink may have landed USD 926 M from VCs like Tencent
Ke Jin
China’s leading real estate service platform Homelink, or Lianjia, was reported to have secured RMB six billion (USD 926.4 million) in Series B financing led by China Prosperity Capital, with Baidu and Tencent as strategic investors. Homelink is now valued at RMB 33 billion, Sina Tech reported on Wednesday.
AllChinaTech reached out to Homelink, but could not get confirmation. Sina quoted insiders as saying that the funding will be used to help Homelink grab more shares in China’s booming second-hand housing market, which is valued at over RMB 10 trillion. Their source also said Homelink will develop its big data resources and apply them in its real estate business.
Headquartered in Beijing, Homelink expanded its network to large Chinese cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu in 2015 using acquisitions and investments. It now covers 24 cities with 5,000 offline stores and 100,000 agents, achieving an annual GMV of RMB 709 billion.
Smart door lock brand lands USD 19 M in Series A financing
Wanbin Zhang
Hangzhou-based smart lock company Dessmann confirmed that its lock brand, Xiaodi, received RMB 123 million (USD 19 million) in Series A financing from Xinjiang-based Ronha VC. Ronha VC has previously invested in Meitu, the maker of China’s largest selfie-editing app, and DJI, the Chinese drone maker.
Dessmann was founded in 2009, and launched the Xiaodi smart door lock brand in China in 2016.
The lock is equipped with fingerprint scanning technology along with several other means of entry when unlocking a door. The lock also has a keypad for pin-number entry that employs a touchscreen panel and security features to prevent burglars from identifying your codes. Additionally, you can unlock the door via an app on your smartphone connected to the smart lock.
Tencent-backed logistics data tracker lands USD 45 M
Dora Zhang
G7, a logistics data provider, announced on Tuesday that it has completed a Series C+ financing round for USD 45 million at the end of March 2016. VCs in this round of financing include Temasek Capital, Tencent and Eastern Bell Venture Capital, according to G7’s Wechat official account.
This round of financing will be used in technology development and innovation. Apart from monitoring transportation by trucks, G7 plans to extend its data monitoring scope to cover data for other supply chain links like warehousing and container shipping.
Founded in January 2009, G7 is a Beijing-based company aiming to use its own smart devices to collect data on transport vehicles and provide big data services for consignors, logistics companies and drivers.
(Top photo from Baidu.com.)
