Yunan Zhang
The Information
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Past articles by Yunan:
SoftBank Ramps Up Software Bets With $1.3 Billion Tungee Talks
SoftBank is ramping up its software bets—as aggressively as ever. The investment firm is in talks to invest in Chinese software as a service firm Tungee at a $1.3 billion valuation, even as a group of other venture capitalists are investing in the firm at a $1 billion valuation, two people with ... → Read More
ByteDance Investors Say CEO Change Is Reaction to Beijing’s Tech Crackdown
Two investors in TikTok owner ByteDance said they supported Thursday’s surprise announcement by founder Zhang Yiming that he is stepping down as CEO of the world’s most valuable privately-held technology company. The move by Zhang to play a less prominent role and hand the reins to a trusted ... → Read More
China’s Ride-Hailing Giant Didi Plans Separate IPO of Grocery Business
Didi Chuxing, a Chinese ride-hailing giant that plans to go public in New York this summer, is already making plans to spin off its newly created grocery-delivery service a year or two after the initial public offering. Didi executives have told investors in the grocery service that it intends ... → Read More
Upstart Courier Service Raised More than $2 Billion To Fight Alibaba-Backed Rivals
J&T Express, an upstart Southeast Asian logistics and courier service that has expanded aggressively in China, has raised more than $2 billion to fund its fight against rival parcel delivery companies backed by Alibaba, people familiar with the matter said. It’s another example of how control of ... → Read More
China’s $6 Billion Social E-Commerce App Hires CFO as It Eyes U.S. IPO
The list of Chinese tech firms heading to the public markets is getting longer. The latest to lay the groundwork for an initial public offering is Xiaohongshu, an Instagram-like social e-commerce platform. The company recently hired a chief financial officer and is considering going public in ... → Read More
After Bumble’s Stock Pop, Chinese Dating App Soul Seeks Billion-Dollar IPO
A Chinese dating and social chat app called Soul is preparing for an initial public offering likely to value the company at $1 billion or more, riding a wave of interest after the recent success of U.S. dating app Bumble and a rush of Chinese startups tapping red-hot capital markets. Soul, which ... → Read More
After $1 Billion Profit From Rides, Didi Chuxing Considers Second-Half IPO
Despite a nationwide lockdown in the beginning of last year that put China at a standstill, Chinese ride-hailing leader Didi Chuxing managed to finish the year with a 10% increase in rides compared to 2019. That translated to a net profit from its core ride-hailing business of roughly $1 billion ... → Read More
ByteDance’s Revenue More Than Doubled in 2020
You might have thought TikTok’s owner ByteDance had a tough year in 2020, what with President Trump trying to ban TikTok and India actually taking that step. But none of that mattered to ByteDance’s actual business, which grew like gangbusters. ByteDance’s revenue last year more than doubled to ... → Read More
Jack Ma’s Investment Firm Raises $3 Billion as Foreign Capital Chases China
As China’s economy recovers from Covid-19, the country’s top-tier private equity and VC firms are raising billions of dollars for their new tech-focused funds from investors around the world. Yunfeng Capital, a Chinese private equity firm co-founded by Alibaba founder Jack Ma that also is a ... → Read More
Once a Hero, TikTok’s Founder Is Under Attack in China —
Zhang Yiming was a hometown hero. Local media heralded his startup, ByteDance, as China’s most internationally successful internet product. It was the first Chinese tech company to challenge the likes of Facebook for global pop-culture dominance with its breakout hit app, TikTok. Now, as his ... → Read More
Briefing: Chinese Media Says Didi Chuxing Preparing for Hong Kong IPO —
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is preparing for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, Chinese media outlet Caixin reported, citing growing pressure from investors who want to cash out. A Didi spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Didi, which acquired Uber’s China business in 2016, became one of the world’s most highly valued startups in 2017 when its → Read More
How Coronavirus Is Affecting Big Tech Firms —
The spread of the coronavirus epidemic may be starting to slow, but its reverberations continue to be felt in various industries. Tech companies taking a hit range from Apple to Airbnb to Alibaba, all of which rely on either China’s production engine or its consumption machine—or both.But the ... → Read More
TikTok’s U.S. Revenues Expected to Hit $500 Million This Year —
TikTok has taken off like a rocket ship in the U.S. and around the world, creating a new mobile video experience that has left YouTube and Facebook scrambling to keep up. Now, under a new CEO, former Disney executive Kevin Mayer, the Chinese-owned social app hopes to turn that growth into ... → Read More
Chinese Rival Launches U.S. App to Challenge TikTok —
Kuaishou, the $30 billion startup that is the second-largest social video app in China, is launching an attack in the U.S. against TikTok.Started in early May, Zynn is an app that allows users to upload, edit and share short videos. In a twist, it is paying users to watch content and recruit ... → Read More
ByteDance’s Big Ambitions —
Zhang Yiming, CEO of ByteDance—a $75 billion tech conglomerate from China that is behind some of the world’s most popular apps—needed help.Late last year, TikTok, the company’s app for sharing short videos, was exploding in popularity. It became the first social app from China to hit it big in ... → Read More
Five Startups Bidding to Be China’s SaaS Stars —
So far, China hasn’t spawned any breakout enterprise software companies as successful as Salesforce.com and others of its kind. But venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in the country are more determined than ever to build one.The weekslong lockdown prompted by the coronavirus forced millions ... → Read More
Exclusive: Top Didi Executive Outlines How Ride-Hailing Will Bounce Back —
After a two-month lockdown, China is coming back to life. Even without a big marketing push or substantial discounts, Didi Chuxing has seen use of its ride-hailing apps recover to about 70% of their levels before Covid-19, as The Information previously reported. But Didi’s senior vice president ... → Read More
SoftBank, Legend Invest $150 Million in Didi Chuxing’s Bike-Sharing Unit —
China’s ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing has raised $150 million from SoftBank and Legend Capital for its bike-sharing unit, Qingju. This is the first time it has raised money from outside investors for the business, according to people with direct knowledge of the deal.Media reports in recent ... → Read More
China’s Venture Capitalists Start Making Deals, Amid Signs of Recovery —
A global epidemic that’s forcing billions of people to work and study from home, or wear masks whenever they go out, might not seem like the ideal time to sell cosmetics. But in China, Perfect Diary, a four-year-old online makeup retailer selling items like brightly hued lip gloss and eyeliner, ... → Read More
SoftBank Nears Deal to Invest in Didi’s Autonomous Driving Unit —
SoftBank is close to finalizing a deal to lead a $300 million investment in the autonomous driving subsidiary of Didi Chuxing, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The move would broaden SoftBank’s commitment to Didi, even as the Japanese investment giant reels from the impact of ... → Read More