These 9 Chinese startups are poised to grab 2017 by the horns

China-speed: just a few decades ago, this part of Shanghai was farmland. Photo credit: Tech in Asia.

2016 was a roller-coaster of a year for China’s tech industry. The ride-hailing war came to a US$35 million close, virtual reality and live streaming took off, and peer-to-peer lending came crashing down. With 2017 already in swing, the stage is set for another year of excitement.

In particular, as funding slows down in Silicon Valley – 83 percent of venture funding went elsewhere in 2016 – China’s influence continues to grow. Some of the world’s most active lead investors – such as Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners – are increasingly looking east while Chinese startups, such as Didi Chuxing and Ant Financial, raised some of the most notable funding rounds in 2016.

Here are nine startups that could make an impact in China – and the world – this year, and the trends they’re riding on.

The bike sharing war rages on: Mobike vs. Ofo

No such thing as too many bikes? Orange for Mobike, blue for Xiaoming Danche, Yellow for Ofo. Photo credit: Tech in Asia.

Transportation continues to be one of the hottest areas in China’s tech scene, with Mobike and Ofo racing head-to-head in the bike sharing industry. The two companies raked in a total of more than US$250 million in financing last year, according to the Tech in Asia database – and more capital is expected to flow in 2017.

In fact, four days into the new year, Mobike announced a US$215 million series D round led by Tencent that will help push its business beyond Chinese borders into Singapore.

Both Mobike and Ofo help users find and rent nearby bikes – bright orange and yellow, respectively – with dirt-cheap prices of less than US$1 per half hour of riding. As is common in China, so far the two archrivals are competing mainly on execution, not so much on product or service. Like ride-hailing and O2O food delivery, capital will probably still be one of the main factors behind who wins and who fails.

Mobike counts Sequoia Capital and Tencent among its investors, whereas Ofo is backed by Chinese unicorn Xiaomi and ride-hailing startup Didi Chuxing. Both sides have a lot of cash, which should come in handy as it’s not clear how profitable – if at all – the bike sharing business is. This year could decide the fate of both companies.

Precision health from China’s biotech unicorn: ICarbonX

Wang Jun, founder and CEO of ICarbonX. Photo credit: ICarbonX.

Shenzhen-based company ICarbonX rose into the spotlight last year when it became a unicorn less than a year after being founded. The ambitious biotech startup wants to build a one-stop platform that crunches all kinds of data, including genetic information and blood samples, to provide health-related insights and recommendations.

It’s a daunting vision, but ICarbonX has the money and talent to back it up. The company is led by Wang Jun, who previously cut his teeth as the co-founder and board member of Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), a world-renowned genetics research center. Last April, the company pulled in US$145 million in a series A round led by Tencent.

Live streaming grows up: Inke

Dive into computer vision: SenseTime, DeepGlint, and Face++

New solutions in virtual reality: Pico VR

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