In brief: Y Combinator launches in China as game-license approvals grind to a halt

Qi Lu speaking at the Baidu AI Developer Conference in July 2017 / Photo credit: Baidu

Y Combinator enters the Middle Kingdom with former Baidu exec at the helm (China). Qi Lu – who quit Baidu for “personal reasons” a little more than a year after becoming its chief operating officer – will head up the accelerator’s first program outside the US. YC China could start as early as next summer, and will adopt a similar approach to its US counterpart. Its initial focus, however, will be on renminbi-denominated investments and assisting Chinese startups to break into the US market. (Bloomberg)

Game approvals frozen as regulatory infrastructure is rejigged (China). The world’s largest computer games industry is in chaos because Chinese regulatory agencies have stopped approving licenses for new titles while they undergo restructuring. This comes as Chinese games publishers face an increasingly strict censorship environment. Earlier this week, Tencent lost as much as US$15 billion in market value when it pulled “Monster Hunter: World” from marketplaces after receiving “numerous complaints” about the game’s content. (Bloomberg)

Other news

Cicil hits US$5 million total funding following series A raise (Indonesia). The startup offers an instalments-based payments platform and online catalog aimed at university students without a credit card. East Ventures and Vertex Ventures co-led the latest round, with participation from Accord Ventures, Ethos Partners, and K3 Ventures. (East Ventures)

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