Autonomous driving: Baidu’s next big hit?

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Hello readers,

Most millennials who listened to Mandarin-language songs in the 2000s would know Baidu, the Chinese internet search giant.

In that pre-Spotify era, Baidu was the go-to platform where most of us had unknowingly downloaded pirated songs by artists like Jay Chou, Wang Lee Hom, and Harlem Yu, and uploaded them into our 16 megabyte MP3 players.

So it’s pretty surprising to see how this same company, which was once battling lawsuits over music piracy, has now ventured into autonomous driving. The smart auto solutions provider that Baidu funded even took top spot as the most funded company this week.

You can find all other important investment deals that happened in the last few days in our weekly funding news wrap-up.

Let’s dive into the biggest deals and M&As that recently took place.

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THE BIGGEST DEALS BY COUNTRY

🇨🇳 Ecarx: Founded in 2016, the Chinese intelligent auto solutions provider recently bagged US$191 million from Baidu and SIG.

🇮🇳 IIFL Wealth Management: The India-based firm targets high-net-worth individuals that was established in 2008. It secured US$173 million from General Atlantic.

🇮🇱 TechSee: The Israeli intelligent visual assistance company was set up in 2015. It received US$30 million from OurCrowd, Planven Investments, Salesforce Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, and Telus Ventures.

🇯🇵 OpenLogi: Launched in 2013, the Japanese logistics platform raised US$16.7 million from Aozora Bank, Chiba Dojo Fund, Japan Finance Corporation, Logistics Innovation Fund, Mizuho Bank, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Resona Bank, Shinsei Corporate Investment, Shoko Chukin Bank, Signifian KID, and Sumitomo Corporation.

🇮🇩 Paxel: Founded in 2017, the Indonesian logistics startup bagged US$7.8 million from Centauri Fund, MDI Ventures, and SIG.

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