China’s richest son invests in $7m series A for former pro gamer’s startup

Taidu’s smart mouse.

Wang Sicong, the son of China’s richest man, loves video games. And he’s got the pocketbook to prove it.

Wang is already heavily involved in the gaming-related startup scene. He’s the guy behind Panda.tv, a popular live streaming platform that plays host to a number of popular professional gamers as well as other streamers. He’s also the owner of Invictus Gaming, one of China’s largest professional gaming teams. He owns a chain of internet cafes and an eSports production company. And now he’s invested in Taidu Technology, the gaming peripherals startup founded by former Warcraft 3 pro Li “Sky” Xiaofeng.

Wang’s investment comes as part of a US$7.7 million series A round for Taidu, jointly led by Wang’s VC firm Pusi Capital and Shanghai-based VC Handuo. Other investors in the round included Hengxing Ventures and Puju Ventures.

Taidu Technology is a hardware startup that develops and sells gaming peripherals with special features designed for serious gamers. Aside from some mousepads, its only current product is a smart gaming mouse that links up with an app. The mouse sports all the features you’d expect as a performance-focused gamer – like adjustable DPI – but it also has a pretty unique feature: heart-rate tracking. During a game, the mouse will track your heartrate, and you can check the results via the app afterwards. The idea is that this feature will help serious gamers analyze their mental state during games and figure out when they need to keep themselves relaxed. The mouse retails for US$46 via Taidu’s site.

Taidu says that most of this new investment will go toward research and development costs for new products. The company’s next immediate move will be a JD.com crowdfunding campaign for a more everyday-consumer-focused version of the smart gaming mouse.

It’s also possible that this new partnership with Wang Sicong will bring cross-marketing link-ups with some of his other gaming-related companies and projects.