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Italian luxury apparel manufacturer Moncler is pushing the accelerator on the development of its footwear category, which has become a key strategic priority. The brand will launch its new footwear collection later this month and in September. Although the category is expected to reach about 10% of revenues in 2025, chairman and CEO Remo Ruffini believes footwear is a way to connect with Moncler’s global communities, not only a business driver.
IDG Capital was an early investor in Moncler, which went public on the Milan Stock Exchange in 2013.
Beijing-based Dreame, a smart consumer technology startup that produces premium hairdryers and vacuums, has formed a partnership with ROBOCON 2022. The two entities will develop a comprehensive training plan to prepare upcoming talent soon to enter the robotics industry, in which Dreame will provide technical support throughout the competition. CEO and founder of Dreame Technology, Yu Hao, said, “Robotics has become an independent part of people’s daily life, which will continue to benefit humans in all aspects of entertainment, life, agriculture, medical care, transportation, etc.” IDG Capital invested in Dreame Technology in 2020.
Cider, a Chinese direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-commerce platform back by IDG Capital, has racked up roughly 7.4 million installs across the world to date, relying on China’s responsive clothing manufacturers to sell affordable, trend-led pieces to customers around the world. As of last September, Cider had raised $130 million in funding and crossed the $1 billion valuation point. IDG Capital led Cider’s $10 million angel funding in 2020.
China's leading food delivery app Meituan Dianping, focusing on instant retail born under the digital economy, displayed new products such as automatic delivery vehicles, drones, smart restaurants and smart pharmacies at the 2022 Global Digital Economy Conference. Chen Rongkai, vice president of Meituan, said that under the strategy of “retail + technology”, the company hopes to rapidly promote the retail efficiency of goods and services based on technological innovation in more than 200 scenarios. IDG Capital was an early investor in Meituan, which went public in on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2018.
Pony.ai, an autonomous driving startup based in China and Silicon Valley, is forming a strategic joint venture with Sany Heavy Truck, a subsidiary of Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer Sany Heavy Industry, to create an autonomous truck brand. The plan is to combine Pony.ai’s “virtual driver” with Sany’s technical prowess in building heavy-duty trucks to build automotive-grade, self-driving trucks with Level 4 autonomy, which means the vehicles can drive themselves in certain conditions without needing a human to intervene. IDG Capital was a seed investor in Pony.ai and also joined its Series A funding round in 2018.
Singapore-based crypto exchange KuCoin has announced strategic funding of $10 million. In addition to the investment, KuCoin will work on blockchain startup incubation. In particular, KuCoin will support startups through incubation, investment, and consultation. The funds raised will be used to upgrade the infrastructure of KuCoin as well as enrich and diversify its product line. Further, KuCoin is planning to bring more people to the company. IDG Capital co-led KuCoin's $20 million Series A round in November 2018.
Pinduoduo, a Chinese bulk-buying e-commerce platform, has expanded its presence in Hong Kong with new delivery and payment services tailored for local consumers. The Shanghai-based company has recently started to accept foreign payment methods, including Visa and Mastercard, in Hong Kong, making it possible for consumers without a mainland bank account to buy goods on the platform. It also started a direct delivery service to Hong Kong, reducing the effort needed to deal with customs. IDG Capital joined Pinduoduo's Series B funding round in 2016 and Pinduoduo went public on Nasdaq in 2018.
Zoox, a Foster City, Calif.-based autonomous vehicle startup, has announced that it is now certified to meet the highest U.S. crash safety standards and is the first self-driving tech company to do so. Zoox plans to start its service with a purpose-built, four-passenger vehicle that has no steering wheel, pedals or conventional driving controls. To operate its robot on wheels on public roads and move forward with a ride service, Zoox needs additional approval from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles and the U.S. Transportation Department. IDG Capital invested in Zoox in 2016.
Bilibili, China's leading online video platform, is restructuring its business units to boost profit growth. Three core business units - commercialization, streaming, and content-related business – will have leadership change, and the restructuring will also see Bilibili’s animation business become a new independent unit. Meanwhile Bilibili is also establishing a new data center. Previously, IDG Capital led Bilibili's Series A funding round in 2017 and also joined its A+ and B rounds.
San Francisco-based electric scooter giant Lime is creating its advanced rider assistance system (ARAS) technology, which will leverage cameras to detect when users are riding on the sidewalk through an in-house-built computer vision platform. Lime will pilot the tech on close to 400 scooters in San Francisco and Chicago starting early to mid-August and might expand to six cities by the end of this year. IDG Capital joined Lime's Series A funding round in 2017.
IDG Capital has led a Series A round of $100-million financing in Xpeng Robotics, a bionic robot maker affiliated with Xpeng, a Guangzhou-based electric vehicle (EV) company also backed by IDG Capital. Founded in 2016, Xpeng Robotics’s first product is a quadruped robot that can navigate autonomously and interact with humans. The funding will allow Xpeng Robotics to deepen its R&D investment in robotic hardware and software, hire “top-tier talent,” and accelerate product development and iteration.
Olympique Lyonnais, a French professional football club backed by IDG Capital, has completed a takeover deal with US businessman John Textor through minority shareholders, including IDG Capital. Previously, IDG Capital took a 20 percent stake in Olympique Lyonnais for $110 million in 2016.
Farfetch, a London-based online luxury fashion platform, now allows customers to access their crypto wallet and purchase goods using one of seven cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Binance Coin. Crypto payments will be accepted from its top-tier “private clients” in the coming months, ahead of a wider rollout in the US, UK, and Europe. In 2016, IDG Capital led Farfetch's Series F funding round. Farfetch went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018 with a valuation of $5.8 billion.
IDG Capital has led an A round of financing totaling over $15 million in X-MAGTECH, a Beijing-based quantum sensing company. X-MAGTECH has taken a lead in developing atomic magnetometer magneto cardiograms for the accurate diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases in China and obtained the first medical device registration certificate for such products in the country. The company’s annual production capacity has exceeded 1,000 units. The company aims to continue to expand its R&D investment with this round of financing while also accelerating the listing of other products
OPay, a Nigerian mobile payments firm, has announced a strategic partnership with Mastercard. OPay customers from countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, and the UAE will benefit from Mastercard’s virtual payment solution linked to their OPay wallets. Launched in 2018, OPay’s active users have grown to 15 million in dozens of markets in which it operates. The company processes millions of transactions per day on average. IDG Capital, which was also previously a pre-IPO investor in OPay's parent company, led a $50 million investment round in the firm.
IDG Capital has exclusively invested in Shanghai Weimu Medical, a high-end interventional medical device platform based on innovative materials in the fields of tumor intervention and pan-vascular intervention. Two of Weimu Medical’s core medical products have completed the first patient enrollment. The founder, Dr. Xie Dang, with nearly 15 years of experience in the field of polymer materials, served in prestigious domestic and foreign leading companies such as 3M and Hengrui Pharma.