Tencent’s biggest investments this year

Tencent, China’s social media and gaming giant, maker of WeChat, had a storming 2016. It started out the year worth about US$180 billion and then gradually added US$40 billion as its smash-hit messaging app kept on adding hundreds of millions of new users.

In the midst of all that, Tencent invested in startups around the world, throwing around more cash than ever before. Here are the 10 biggest bets it made as found in the Tech in Asia Database.

10. Renrenche

• Funding round: US$150 million
• Country: China

As with all entries on this list, the funding round is the total ploughed in by all investors involved, not just Tencent’s contribution.

Renrenche, a used car trading app, has been the recipient of Tencent’s largesse before.

“In most developed economies, sales of second-hand cars outnumber those of new vehicles by about two to one but the opposite is true in China, the world’s largest market for new vehicles,” reported the Financial Times in May. Renrenche is one of a number of startups – and tech giants – seeking to ride China’s boom in used car sales.

9. iCarbonX

• Funding round: US$155 million
• Country: China

This is the Chinese biotech startup valued at US$1 billion just months after being founded.

Wang Jun, the startup’s founder, was previously CEO of the Beijing Genomics Institute, the biggest gene-sequencing company in the world. “He started iCarbonX with the idea of using artificial intelligence and big data to create health management solutions and find medical breakthroughs, using a team that was a mix of biotech and AI/big data experts,” reported my colleague Charlie Custer in April.

8. Hike

• Funding round: US$175 million
• Country: India

Although Facebook and its adoptive WhatsApp dominate social media in India, this homegrown startup is fighting back with plenty of pluck – and a fistful of dollars.

7. Douyu TV

6. WePiao

5. Bitauto

4. Lianjia

3. China Internet Plus

2. Didi Chuxing

1. Supercell

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