- Briefing Your roundup of Asian tech and startup news that matter
Deepti Sri · · 1 min readReport: Alibaba’s startup funding slashed by half after Chinese government scrutiny
“Alibaba Group Holding’s investments in startups have halved in the four months since its fintech affiliate Ant Group was forced to postpone its stock market listing in November, compared with the same period of a year ago,” reported Nikkei.
Details:
- Alibaba’s startup investments slid to US$2.7 billion from the start of November 2020 to the end of February 2021, dropping from around US$6 billion during the same period a year ago.
- The figure includes acquisitions by Alibaba and Ant as well as investments in listed companies.
Context:
- The slump in investments comes after China kicked off an anti-monopoly investigation and increased scrutiny into Alibaba Group.
- In a bid to tackle issues concerning monopolistic practices, China recently finalized rules for the internet industry, underscoring the urgency of a campaign to rein in its tech giants.
Update (March 11, 3:34 pm): This article was corrected to show that Alibaba’s startup investments slid to US$2.7 “billion” from the start of November 2020, not US$2.7 “million.”
Editing by Collin Furtado
(And yes, we’re serious about ethics and transparency. More information here.)
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.
