Asia news roundup: Buterin steps away from Fenbushi, $112m for Pony.ai, and more

Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin / Photo credit: TechCrunch

Here’s a wrap of the day’s top news stories.

Transportation

Self-drive startup Pony.ai nabs US$112 million at series A (China). The Guangzhou-based firm is developing autonomous vehicle tech and is undertaking road tests in California. Morningside Venture Capital and Legend Capital co-led the round, with IDG Capital, Sequoia Capital, DCM Ventures, Polaris Capital, and Comcast participating, among others. (China Money Network)

Fintech

Razorpay secures US$20 million funding (India). Tiger Global and Y Combinator co-led the series B round, with previous backer Matrix Partners joining in. Payments solutions firm Razorpay said it would use the fresh funds to expand its product portfolio into new verticals, hire additional team members, and improve its customer experience. (Business Standard)

Ecommerce

JD co-leads Tiki.vn series C round (Vietnam). The Chinese ecommerce giant will become one of Tiki’s largest shareholders as a result of the investment. Tiki, which claims to be Vietnam’s leading ecommerce portal, will also partner with JD on merchandising, cross-border trade, logistics and fulfillment, technology, financing, and operational capabilities. (JD)

Consumer tech

Xiaomi partner Huami files for US IPO (China/US). The Hefei-based startup is aiming to raise US$150 million by listing its shares on the Nasdaq. As of last year, Huami is the world’s leading maker of wearables by units shipped, and is Xiaomi’s exclusive design and manufacturing partner for smart watches and fitness trackers. (Technode)

Social media

WeChat plans separate app for brands (China). Zhang Xiaolong, the messaging app’s creator, said that WeChat will release a separate app for its brand-centric Official Accounts feature, aimed at making account management and content creation more user-friendly, as well as improving operationality on personal computers. (Technode)

WeChat creator Zhang Xiaolong / Photo credit: WeChat

Health and well-being

Smart gym Liking Fit raises US$54 million across series B and C rounds (China). The startup operates close to 90 unstaffed “shared” gyms throughout the country that can be accessed 24 hours a day using a mobile phone or smartwatch. Investors include Lightspeed China Partners, which revealed the funding figures, as well as Sigma Square Capital and Guangkong Zhongying Capital, a China Everbright affiliate. (China Money Network)

Artificial intelligence

Alibaba AI beats human (China). A deep-learning model developed by Alibaba’s Institute of Data Science Technologies scored higher than a human on the Stanford Question Answering Dataset, a Stanford University reading comprehension test. It’s the first time that a machine has outperformed a human on such a test. (Alibaba)

Media and advertising

Drea gets pre-series A capital injection (Singapore). The adtech startup raised an undisclosed amount from Investigate Network Capital and several angel investors from the
AngelCentral network. (Drea)

Investors, incubators, and accelerators

Ethereum co-creator leaves Fenbushi Capital (China). Vitalik Buterin has left his role as a general partner at blockchain and cryptocurrency-focused investment firm Fenbushi, though he may continue in an advisory role. Buterin has appeared increasingly critical of the hype surrounding cryptocurrency trading. (Techcrunch)

Pi Ventures announces US$25 million second close (India). The VC firm – which focuses on investing in early-stage companies developing artificial intelligence and internet-of-things tech – is aiming to raise a total of US$30 million for its fund. Backers include Accel Partners, Small Industries Development Bank of India, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, Canada’s In Colour Capital, and manufacturer Hero Electronix. (The Economic Times)