June 2020 China startup news summary, drawn from Startup News Asia’s daily news updates
The June 2020 summary covers China’s startup news with a focus, if and where possible, on the early-stage funding space. News headlines are gathered at the country level to provide the widest possible overview of developments in China’s startup ecosystem.
Links listed are startup news headlines reported online in, or concerning, China across June 2020, with each link taking you to the online news source for that headline. Generally, items cover an individual Chinese startup in the news or an aspect of China’s startup ecosystem in some way – venture capital firms, funds and funding, government and private startup support programs, startup industry news and similar.
- China’s Kuaishou steps up competition with Bytedance, taking top position on US app store charts with Zynn, TikTok clone
- China: Kuaishou and JD partner to enable Kuaishou users to buy JD products directly, aiming for new e-commerce ecosystem built on short video live streaming
- China: Internal documents show Skycom Tech Co Ltd, firm that attempted sale of prohibited equipment to Iran, effectively controlled by Huawei
- ICYMI: China Telecom and US-sanctioned ZTE Corporation recently partnered for 6G technology and standards development, eyeing satellite, IoT and other applications
- Canada’s major telcos, Bell and Telus, lock China’s Huawei out of 5G build, instead choosing Ericsson and Nokia, another step in excision from Five Eyes nation presence
- ICYMI: China’s Baidu completes autonomous driving and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications testing site, claiming world’s largest research-to-testing facility
- China: OO Eyetech gains $1.3M funding from Foxconn with AI-based diagnostic solution targeting early-stage myopia
- China: ByteDance, owner of TikTok video sharing giant, closes down TopBuzz news aggregator app, the international version of China-focused Jinri Toutiao
- China: VeChain blockchain traceability platform partnered by Shenzhen Yuhongtain Foods Company to monitor and verify lifecycle of pork products
- China: ByteDance, TikTok parent firm, reportedly splitting domestic from overseas operations, cutting Chinese employee access to code and ‘sensitive data’ of overseas products
- Twitter shuts down state-linked information disinformation networks tied to China, Russia and Turkey; network of 23,750 and 150K ‘amplifiers’ connected with China alone
- China: Tongcheng Life eCommerce platform raises $200M with online-to-offline community group buying focused on fresh food and ingredients
- Alibaba Group cloud-computing division preps to hire 5000 tech staff globally over the next 10 months, across roles in networks, databases, servers, chips and AI
- China: Sam’s Club, high-end membership-only shopping chainand subsidiary of Walmart, partners VeChain for Blockchain Traceability Platform project, backed by PwC
- Japan’s virtual idol, Hatsune Miku, joins China’s Taobao as live-streaming ambassador for upcoming 618 online shopping festival
- China: Xiaomi launches Xiaomi Huzhu, mutual aid platform, crowd-funding healthcare cover with focus on low/middle income rural populations
- China: An intro to Maskbook, web3.0 layer over web2.0 that enables users to post encrypted, surveillance-free messages onTwitter and Facebook
- China: Miaoshou Doctor raises $85M with ‘online hospital’ platform, including health insurance and prescription management
- China: Qualcomm Ventures, VC arm of US chip supplier, adds 3 startups working in IoT, AI and 5G, adding to over 60 existing investments in play for 5G position
- China: “…technologies also suggests darker visions of a more imperial, neo-colonialist China actively supporting authoritarian governments…The BRI may develop Xinjiang characteristics”
- Social media: The top 50 content creators on TikTok have more followers than the populations of Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia – combined
- China: Blockchain-Based Service Network gains SmartContract and Iris Foundation partnerships around streamlining, interoperability and big data
- TikTok launches TikTok For Business, aimed at marketers and taking on Snapchat with suite spanning AR ads, In-Feed Videos, Hashtag Challenges and Branded Effects
- China: Tencent social media and entertainment giant to buy control of SE Asia’s Iflix, streaming firm with operations in 13 countries
- China: Kunming unveils country’s first blockchain-based bidding platform for public resource transactions, claiming delivery of near 60K blockchain certificates for official data
- China: Brinc and Lever VC partner to launch fund and accelerator to support plant-based, cultivated, dairy-based meat firms and food tech across China
- China: Tencent investment portfolio has surpassed $66BN with stakes in music, fintech and more, increasingly resembling an investment bank
- A look at TikTok short-form video app, and the data privacy problems it is believed to represent
- China: Zuoyebang raises $750M with AI-backed online tutoring service focused on kindergartners to 12th-graders, and claiming 170M monthly active users
- A look at the 7 entrepreneurs selected under the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards working on social impact issues
- India: T-Hub incubator partners China’s OPPO to aid startups scale up, seeking those working in fields including artificial intelligence, 5G, hardware and gaming
- India: OneTouch AppLabs startup’s ‘Remove China Apps’ passes 1M downloads in 10 days of launch due to China’s border incursions in the Himalayas
- India: A brief overview of Google’s reason for deleting Remove China Apps from the Play Store
- Singapore: Huawei announces new initiatives including 5G-powered AI lab, virtual AI academy with over 140 free courses, and training for AI developers
- Singapore: Nokia and Ericsson edge out Huawei in building Singapore’s main 5G networks, tho Huawei may be involved in broader ecosystem in a reduced capacity
- Thailand: Huawei Pay mobile payment service launches in collaboration with UnionPay, introducing support for Near Field Communication payments in retail stores
- ICYMI: Bipartisan US lawmakers group propose CHIPS Act to deliver 40% tax credit for semiconductor equipment, $10BN state funding, and $12BN in R&D funding
- ICYMI: UK proposes a D10 grouping of democratic partners, including G7 nations, Australia, South Korea and India, to focus on 5G and critical supply chains
- Hong Kong marks the Tiananmen Square massacre anniversary for what many fear may be the last time as ‘authorities’ ban commemoration
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