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Top Investment Story
Xforceplus (云砺信息)
Software-as-a-service provider Xforceplus Information Technology has raked in USD 200 million in the second tranche of its Series C financing round. This fundraise involved Dragoneer Investment Group, MSA Capital, and Huatai Innovative Investment. The first tranche in October 2019 was led by Temasek Holdings.
Established in 2015, Xforceplus offers VAT invoice management to enterprises and supply chain collaboration between companies through its SaaS products. Its flagship platform, Piaoyitong, reduces taxation risks for enterprises. Notable clients include Vanke, Poly Group, Walmart, Compass Group, and McDonald’s.
Startups on our Watchlist
Carbonbase (碳中宝)
Founded in 2020, Carbonbase is a carbon emissions tracking platform that provides B2B and B2C services. The company’s blockchain-based SaaS solutions give enterprises a way to calculate an entity’s carbon footprint based on its supply chain. The firm works with companies in industries such as transportation, architecture, new energy, and IT. Carbonbase also visualizes the footprint by identifying the sources of greenhouse gases, making it easier for enterprise clients to formulate plans for reduced carbon emissions.
Carbonbase also launched a personal carbon emissions calculator in its WeChat mini program, calculating users’ carbon footprint based off their lifestyle. The company raised seven digits in US dollars in a recent angel round.
KrASIA News Picks
Semiconductor squander: China’s chip drive leaves unqualified projects languishing
The current global shortage on chips has had profound effects, raising chips prices worldwide and even forcing some firms in China, like EV startup NIO, to temporarily halt production. This has become a fundamental bottleneck in China’s ambitions to become a self-sufficient technological superpower. Semiconductors being an arena where countries have clashing interests and geopolitical rivalries adds an extra layer of complexity to the matter.
Chinese investors, entrepreneurs and the government have been pouring in billions, in a feverish race against US chipmakers. But can this frenzy truly yield the results hoped for or are investors over-eager?