Source丨IT orange
Cover picture source: Nezha Automobile's official website
The IT Orange Weekly Report, which is updated every Monday, takes stock of the major events worth paying attention to in the venture capital circle, discovers the latest investment actions of the giants, observes the VC fundraising vane, and sees which new economy companies are becoming unicorns and on the way to IPO - allowing you to keep abreast of valuable information and trends in new economy venture capital.
Headlines
1. G42, an AI company in the United Arab Emirates, received a $1.5 billion investment from Microsoft
Microsoft said on Tuesday it would invest $1.5 billion in Group 42 Holding, an artificial intelligence giant in the United Arab Emirates, a deal orchestrated largely by the Biden administration.
Under the agreement, Microsoft will allow the G42 to sell Microsoft services that use AI chips that are used to train and fine-tune AI-generated models.
In return, the G42, which is under scrutiny in Washington for its ties to China, will use Microsoft's cloud services and abide by a security agreement that has been carefully negotiated with the U.S. government. The agreement sets out a series of protections for AI products shared with the G42, including an agreement to divest Chinese equipment from the G42's operations.
The United States and China have been racing to exert technological influence in the Persian Gulf, where hundreds of billions of dollars are up for grab, and large investors, including Saudi Arabia, are expected to invest billions of dollars in the technology. In their rush to diversify away from oil resources, many leaders in the region have set their sights on artificial intelligence and are happy to pit the United States and China against each other.
In recent months, the G42 has agreed to drop some of its ties to China, including divesting its stake in TikTok owner ByteDance and removing Huawei technology from its business, according to U.S. officials. (Source: New York Times Chinese Network) (Further reading: UAE sovereign fund investment in Chinese enterprises)
2. Nezha Automobile received more than 5 billion yuan in financing
On April 15, Tongxiang State-owned Capital Investment and Operation Co., Ltd., Yichun Jinhe Equity Investment Co., Ltd., Nanning Minsheng New Energy Industry Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Hezhong Automobile jointly signed the "Joint Agreement on the High-quality Development of Hezhong Automobile".
According to the agreement, the signatories will jointly provide a total investment of no less than RMB 5 billion to Hezhong Automobile/Nezha Automobile, coordinate relevant resources, support Hezhong Automobile to achieve IPO as soon as possible, continue to increase investment in product research and development and technological innovation of Hezhong Automobile, expand the intelligent network R&D center, and promote the expansion of Hezhong Automobile's export scale.
3. Wow Universe received strategic financing from Alibaba Pictures
Wow Universe is a developer of AIGC model creation tools, and the company has independently developed the company's first vertical industry AIGC model, which provides users with personalized creation tools to improve the efficiency of content creation.
Recently, Wow Universe completed the first round of strategic financing of 10 million yuan, with investors including Lehua Entertainment, Alibaba Pictures, etc., and the parent company Yuanlong Yatu also participated in the capital increase and share expansion.
This financing will further help UOVAMETA improve the layout of the AI and Web3 industry chain, and lay a solid foundation for the R&D and business expansion of future platform products.
4.a16z completed the fund raising of 7.2 billion US dollars, and no longer set up a separate AI fund
On April 17, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a well-known venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, announced that it had successfully raised $7.2 billion in new funds.
Andreessen Horowitz founder Ben Horowitz said on the same day that the financing was a "significant industry milestone" and that the final total was about 4% higher than the company's earlier funding target of $6.9 billion.
It is reported that the funds will be allocated to different investment practice areas within the company, including investments in "founders and companies that support the national interest, amounting to $600 million, and growth-stage investments, that is, start-ups that have passed their initial stages and are looking to expand and mature further, amounting to $3.75 billion."
The company has also allocated $600 million to invest in startups in the gaming industry, which may include companies developing new games, gaming platforms, game-related technologies, or other innovations in the gaming industry.
In this fundraising, a16z originally planned to raise two funds focused on AI. And according to a person with knowledge of the company's internal thinking, artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a separate investment fund, as AI plays an important role in almost all start-ups that are currently being formed.
Andreessen Horowitz still plans to raise more dedicated funds focused on cryptocurrencies and biotech in 2025, another person familiar with the matter said. (Source: Investment Community) (Further reading: A16Z Fund's Investment Strategy Analysis)
In the past quarter, the number of new economy private equity investment transactions has shown a stable trend in the cyclical amplitude. After the Qingming Festival holiday, there was a slight rebound in the number of investment transactions. According to IT Orange statistics, there were 131 investment and M&A transactions last week.
Last week, the most sought-after tracks by investors were integrated circuits, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, blockchain application technology, enterprise IT services, human resources, new energy, etc.
Selected investment and financing cases in the primary market
Artificial intelligence:
Lenovo Nordi is a new generation of cognitive and decision-making artificial intelligence enterprises incubated by Lenovo Group. Recently, Nordic Intelligent completed the Pre-A round of financing, which was led by Wu Yuefeng Science and Technology, followed by Trilobite Venture Capital and Qingzhi Capital, and additional investment by Lenovo Group, with a total financing amount of nearly 100 million yuan.
This round of financing is mainly used for the continuous iteration and optimization of the industry mechanism of the Nuordi Fulcrum industry model, the continuous polishing and market expansion of the "AI + Manufacturing" scenario solution, and the introduction of outstanding talents.
Catalyst Plus is a large-scale all-disciplinary language model that integrates billions of academic basic data, covering diverse data types such as papers, scholars, conferences, charts, patents, and funds, and is committed to helping scientists process multi-dimensional information more efficiently and solve the problem of information overload.
Recently, Catalyst has received strategic investment from Shenshi Technology.
The two parties will carry out comprehensive cooperation in the field of AI for Science, covering multiple dimensions such as scientific models, computing power, knowledge base, database, user development and brand promotion. The purpose of this cooperation is to jointly promote the process of AI in scientific research and accelerate the development of scientific research innovation and applications.
Entertainment Consumption:
Recently, Shanghai Jingchobao E-commerce Co., Ltd. (Jingtaotao) completed an angel round of financing of 500 million yuan, and the company's valuation reached 3 billion yuan.
Jingtaotao is an emerging e-commerce platform. Focusing on providing users with a discount-focused shopping experience, the platform covers multiple categories such as shoes and clothing, fashion, luxury goods, beauty, and home furnishings with its core features of the national refund-only policy.
A few days ago, Changpei Literature received a strategic investment from Alibaba's Ali Entertainment.
Changpei Literature is an original online literature platform, the company focuses on literary content creation, copyright sales and other business fields, and at the same time focuses on the cultivation of excellent authors, side by side with many original literature platforms, and moves in the direction of promoting the diversified development of China's original online literature.
Luban Daojia recently completed hundreds of millions of yuan in Series B financing, led by Innovation Works, and the old shareholder Binfu Capital over-invested.
Luban Daojia focuses on providing the last mile service of installation and maintenance, and provides instant installation master supply with nationwide coverage for furniture, building materials, home appliance brands and end consumers.
The funds from this round of financing will be used for product technology upgrades, capacity system upgrades and brand marketing promotion. It is reported that this is also the largest single investment in the large home service platform track in recent years.
Recently, Youth Space received a Series A investment from Zijin Science and Technology Innovation.
Youth Space is mainly engaged in sports tourism, creative fitness, rock climbing development, event planning and other businesses, aiming to provide a full range of cultural and sports activities solutions for group and individual customers.
New Energy:
Weidu Technology is a new energy heavy-duty truck start-up, mainly engaged in the research and development, manufacturing and sales of new energy heavy-duty trucks, and provides fully redundant wire-controlled chassis, powertrain, body shape and interior products, which can meet the needs of L4 autonomous driving.
Weidu Technology has announced the closing of a new round of funding from HSBC, Boston-based HITE Hedge Asset Management, Goodman and executives from leading global brands and logistics companies. The funds from this financing will be used to accelerate the development and delivery of 49 tons of fully loaded 670km long-range pure electric heavy trucks of Weidu Technology, and promote vehicle testing and operation route testing in China, the United States, Europe and other places.
This is another new round of financing after the completion of the B1 round of financing in December 2023. Weidu Technology's Series B round has received a total of $110 million in funding.
Semiconductor:
Ansheng Technology has recently completed the strategic round and Series C financing, with a cumulative financing amount of more than 100 million yuan. The Series C investors are Zhongguancun Science City, Qingda Mingyun and Zhongguancun Development Group, with Inspur Capital as the financial advisor. The financing funds will be used for technology research and development and market expansion.
Ancsonic is a provider of three-dimensional space active noise reduction solutions, mainly providing customers with terminal embedded AI acoustic system solutions.
DXN Chip is a semiconductor device R&D and production company, including high-reliability FRD, MEMES and other high-power and high-reliability power semiconductor devices with optical storage and on-board electronics as the main application scenarios.
Recently, Suzhou Good-Technetium and Zhongxin Venture Capital, Park Industry Investment, Guangqi Xinde, Guangzhou Yuexin, Jintai Venture Capital, Guofa Science and Technology Innovation, and Guofa Port and Shipping have invested 280 million yuan in Dexin Chips.
Qianghua Co., Ltd. mainly focuses on the R&D, production and sales of quartz parts for semiconductor equipment. It has more than 20 years of experience in high-purity and high-precision quartz processing, and has the ability of quartz fire processing and machining, and has the production technology and industry experience of semiconductor quartz products.
Recently, Shanghai Qianghua has completed hundreds of millions of yuan in Series C financing, with the participation of CLP Fund and Shenzhen Venture Capital, Shanghai Science and Technology, Lingang Digital Technology, Lingang Investment Control, Innosilicon Kinetic Energy, Shanghai Futeng Capital, Jianlu Fund, Yidi Venture Capital and other institutions.
Logistics/Supply Chain:
UniUni recently received a $50 million Series C investment, led by DCM, followed by BlueRun Ventures and others.
UniUni is a last-mile delivery service provider, providing high-quality and standard last-mile delivery and return services for leading cross-border e-commerce platforms including Amazon, Walmart, Shein, Wish and local enterprises in North America with an innovative "crowdsourcing" service model + dense distribution network + digital service system.
Recently, Fanding International announced the completion of tens of millions of dollars in Series B financing, which was led by Shunwei Capital and served as the exclusive financial advisor of Light Source Capital.
Fanding International provides one-stop full-chain logistics and supply chain services, and its core business segments include cross-border first-leg logistics, overseas warehousing and distribution business, and cross-border supply chain circulation business.
After the completion of this round of financing, Fanding International will further strengthen the construction of overseas warehouses and the expansion of overseas distribution network, so as to help China's high value-added products be marketed more smoothly, efficiently and more influentively around the world.
For more investment events, please refer to the investment event database on the official website of IT Orange.
Major M&A Case 1.Central Group plans to acquire KaDeWe, a German department store, for 1 billion euros
According to Global Real Estate Investment Notes, Thai retail giant Central Group has completed the acquisition of KaDeWe, a famous department store in Berlin, Germany, with a transaction value of about 1 billion euros.
The acquisition, which was completed by bankrupt Austrian real estate company Signa, marks a further expansion of Central Group in the European luxury department store market.
With 650,000 square feet of operating space, KaDeWe is the second largest department store in Europe. Central was already a major shareholder of KaDeWe Group, holding a 50.1% stake.
Central Group has been active in the global retail sector, having acquired Selfridges in London for $5 billion with Signa at the end of last year, followed by the acquisition of all of the Selfridges Group's assets.
With the bankruptcy restructuring of Signa, Central further increased its stake and strengthened its position as the largest luxury department store group in Europe. At present, Central Group controls 22 European department stores and companies, including Rinascente in Italy and Illum in Denmark. (Source: Viewpoint.com)
2. ITOCHU Corporation and others will acquire BigMotor for 60 billion yen
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, ITOCHU Corporation and J-Will Partners will acquire used car sales giant BigMotor for about 60 billion yen, and plan to establish a new company on May 1 to take over about 250 stores and thousands of employees. (Source: Interface)
3.Microchip Technology Inc.宣布收购Neuronix
Microchip Technology announced the acquisition of Neuronix AI Labs. The acquisition is intended to further strengthen the company's ability to deploy energy-efficient AI edge solutions on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).
The acquisition also brings great benefits to non-FPGA designers. Without the need for in-depth knowledge of the FPGA design process, they were able to leverage industry-standard AI frameworks and Neuronix's AI intellectual property to implement AI/ML algorithms on customizable FPGA logic with Microchip's existing compiler and software design toolkit. (Source: Microchip's official website)
For more M&A and exit events, please refer to the M&A event database on the official website of IT Orange.
VC fundraising dynamics: 1. Bloomage Biotech cooperated with Langzi Asiana to raise 1 billion yuan
Recently, Bloomage Biotech and Langzi Asiana, together with Hainan Free Trade Port Fund and Haikou National High-tech Zone Fund, jointly established Hainan Bloomage Yuanyou Medical and Health Consumer Goods Industry Fund (hereinafter referred to as "Bloomage Yuanyou Fund"), with a scale of 1 billion yuan.
This is the first equity investment fund initiated and established by Bloomage Biotech to incubate start-ups in the field of medical and health consumer goods. In the future, more advanced biotechnology projects will be introduced through this fund to settle in Bloomage Biotechnology Industrial Park to promote the high-quality development of Hainan's biomedical industry.
A new unicorn
Last week, one company became the new unicorn, the G42. See above for details.
For more unicorn lists, please also check out the unicorn club on the official website of IT Orange.
Hatps://vv.itjuji.com/unicorn
新经济 IPO 及 IPO 后动态
1. Mobvoi received a cornerstone investment of 95 million Hong Kong dollars
Mobvoi has entered into a cornerstone investment agreement whereby cornerstone investors have agreed to subscribe or procure their designated entities to subscribe for a total of approximately HK$95 million of the Offer Shares at the Offer Price.
Assuming an offer price of HK$3.90 (i.e. the median of the guide offer price range stated in the prospectus), the total number of Offer Shares to be subscribed for by cornerstone investors is 24,283,000 shares.
Cornerstone investors include Zhongguancun International Co., Ltd. and Nanjing Jingkai Juzhi Science and Technology Innovation Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership).
2. OPS, a Hong Kong home improvement company, was listed in the United States
Recently, Junee Limited, the de facto controlling shareholder of OPS Interior Design Consultants Co., Ltd., was successfully listed on NASDAQ with the stock code "JUNE". Based on Junee Limited's offering price of US$4 per share, the public proceeds are US$8 million.
In recent years, more and more Hong Kong companies have gone to the United States for IPO listing, raising funds of US$5 million to US$10 million, and the trend of "micro-IPOs" of Hong Kong enterprises in the United States continues.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, Junee Limited started its business in 1998 under the name Sannogi Holdings and later developed into OPS Interior Design Consultants Limited as a major operating subsidiary.
OPS mainly controls the key design aspects of the home improvement industry chain, the interior design work is carried out by in-house designers, while the renovation work and maintenance services are currently outsourced to subcontractors managed and supervised by OPS in Hong Kong, OPS also provides a wide range of repair and maintenance services, including regular home maintenance services.
In 2023, Junee Limited's revenue will be US$6.14 million, gross profit will be US$1.278 million, and the gross profit margin will be 20.8%.
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