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Top investment story
Dingdong Maicai (叮咚买菜)
The Chinese online grocery platform Dingdong Maicai raised USD 700 million in Series D funding. Before this round of financing, the company was reportedly valued at USD 2 billion after raising USD 300 million in May 2020. Led by DST Global and Coatue Management, the Series D round attracted more than 15 heavyweight investors, including Tiger Global Management, General Atlantic, and Sequoia Capital China. The funds raised will be invested in supply chain infrastructure to fuel business expansion across a wider geographical scope.
Startups on our Watchlist
Gaussian Robotics (高仙机器人)
Founded in 2013, Gaussian Robotics develops cleaning robots. Gaussian was the first company to introduce simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology to the industry. SLAM allows the robots to dynamically create and update maps of their surrounding environment, helping them to avoid roadblocks and pedestrians.
Gaussian Robotics closed its USD 100 million Series B financing led by Meituan and Tencent. The deal is a testament to major tech companies’ increasing interest in smart appliances. Wang Xing, CEO of Meituan, said that the company’s business development requires input on both the software and hardware fronts, and that the robotics sector stands out as one of the key investment verticals for Meituan. Meanwhile, Tencent has backed nearly ten robotic startups.
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