Our weekly column summarizes the tech financing highlights in China this week.
Two of China’s largest bike-sharing startups – ofo and Mobike – have both closed its Series E financing rounds to launch their global expansion plans. With cities all over the world becoming increasingly congested, the demand for bike-sharing continues to rise. Not only is bike-sharing a good way to promote low-carbon transportation, but it is also an important business in China and even the rest of the world as the entire market size in this industry is expanding. Thus, the potential of this huge business opportunity has led to China’s largest tech giants Tencent and Alibaba to join in the bike-sharing funding battle of Mobike and ofo.
Bike-sharing giant ofo receives USD 700 million for Series E led by Alibaba
ofo
Founder: Dai Wei
Founded in: 2015
Financing status: RMB 4.8 billion (USD 700 million) Series E round in 2017
Bike-sharing giant ofo on Thursday received USD 700 million for its Series E financing round led by Alibaba for global expansion.
Bike-sharing startup Hellobike receives undisclosed Series B+ in tens of millions of USD
Hellobike
Founder: Yang Lei
Founded in: 2016
Financing status: 2017 Series B+ round amounting to hundreds of millions in RMB (tens of millions in USD)
Bike-sharing startup Hellobike on Sunday received an undisclosed Series B+ financing round in tens of millions of USD from Weltmeister to integrate its bike-sharing services with Weltmeister’s car sharing services.
B2B auto parts trading platform Baturu receives USD 88.5 M for Series C
Baturu
Founded in: 2013
Financing status: RMB 600 million (USD 88.5 million) Series C round in 2017
B2B auto parts trading platform Baturu on Friday received USD 88.5 million for its Series C financing round for market expansion.
O2O hair salon startup UDream receives undisclosed Series A in millions of USD
UDream
Founder: Xiong Guoping
Founded in: 2015
Financing status: 2017 Series A round amounting to tens of millions in RMB (a few million USD)
O2O hair salon startup UDream on Monday received an undisclosed Series A financing round in millions of USD to open new outlets in new cities.
Digital marketing services provider Qucoo receives undisclosed pre-Series A in millions of USD
Qucoo
Founder: Liu Peibin
Founded in: 2014
Financing status: 2017 pre-Series A round amounting to tens of millions in RMB (a few million USD)
Digital marketing services provider Qucoo on Monday received an undisclosed pre-Series A financing round in millions of USD to recruit new talent and to invest in the research and development of its marketing platform.
Co-working space startup UrWork receives USD 29.4 million financing
UrWork
Founder: Mao Daqing
Founded in: 2015
Financing status: RMB 200 million (USD 29.4 million) financing in 2017
Co-working space startup UrWork on Tuesday received USD 29.4 million financing to enrich its selection of services for URWork customers.
WeChat education platform Qing Class receives USD 4.9 million for Series A
Qing Class
Founder: Xiao Yiqun
Founded in: 2015
Financing status: RMB 33 million (USD 4.9 million) Series A round in 2017
WeChat education platform Qing Class on Wednesday received USD 4.9 million for its Series A financing round to invest in technology to optimize its education platform.
Big data and AI based medical tech company Linking Med receives undisclosed Series A in millions of USD
Linking Med
Founder: Zhang Ye
Founded in: 2016
Financing status: 2017 Series A round amounting to tens of millions in RMB (a few million USD)
Big data and AI based medical tech company Linking Med on Wednesday received an undisclosed Series A financing round in millions of USD to recruit more talents that specialize in big data technology.
Apartment rental service provider Cjia receives USD 50 million for pre-Series A
Cjia
Founder: Jin Hui
Founded in: 2015
Financing status: RMB 350 million (USD 50 million) pre-Series A round in 2017
Apartment rental service provider Cjia on Thursday received USD 50 million for its pre-Series A financing round to integrate information technology with its apartment rental service platform.
Beijing-based furniture brand Zaozuo receives USD 20 million for Series B
Zaozuo
Founder: Shu Wei
Founded in: 2014
Financing status: RMB 136 million (USD 20 million) Series B round in 2017
Beijing-based furniture brand Zaozuo on Thursday received USD 20 million for its Series B financing round to improve efficiency of its supply chain.
（Top photo from ofo.so）
