Hong Kong Startup News Roundup - 2 August 2021

EV startup Li Auto gets nod for Hong Kong listing

Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto Inc. has received the green light from the Hong Kong stock exchange for a listing in the city, following in the steps of its rival XPeng Inc., which completed such a share sale last month. U.S.-traded Li Auto could raise $1 billion to $2 billion in the listing, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Its updated listing documents were published on the HKEX website on Monday, indicating it has received approval from the bourse. Li Auto is pushing ahead with a share sale in the Asian financial hub at a time when Beijing is cracking down on overseas listings by Chinese companies.

Crypto infra startup Fireblocks raises $310M, triples valuation to $2.2B

Fireblocks, an infrastructure provider for digital assets, has raised $310 million in a Series D round of funding that tripled the company’s valuation to $2.2 billion in just over five months. Sequoia Capital, Stripes and Spark Capital co-led Fireblocks’ latest round, which also included participation from Coatue, DRW VC and SCB 10X – the venture arm of Thailand’s oldest bank – and Siam Commercial Bank. The latter is the third global bank to invest in Fireblocks in addition to the Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon and SVB Capital.

AI education startup gets Hengqin cross-border loan

Hengqin’s first inclusive cross-border linkage loan, amounting to 10 million yuan ($1.54 million), has been granted to a small-sized teenage robot education enterprise. This is the first company in Hengqin New Area to receive a loan from Macau since Guangdong began an external debt facilitation pilot scheme in March 2020, according to news website City of Zhuhai. The Macau-funded high-tech enterprise boasts a complete service system from R&D of robotic products and curriculum to the artificial intelligence education of primary and secondary students. It has hosted large robot competitions for six consecutive years.

US-based babywear startup raises $510m from Chinese investors

PatPat, a global e-commerce website that sells baby clothes and matching family outfits, has raked in $510 million from two funding rounds backed by Chinese investors.The investments include a Series C round jointly led by General Atlantic, China-focused private equity firm Capital Today and CDH Shanghai Baifu Wealth Management, a unit of the alternative investment firm CDH Investments. Other investors who backed the transaction include SIG China, Ocean Link and INCE Capital, according to the announcement on Monday.

Startup API Platform Sila Raises $13M In Funding

Startup API platform Sila raised $13 million in a Series A funding round led by Revolution Ventures, with participation by existing backers Madrona Venture Group, Oregon Venture Fund and Mucker Capital, and angels including Wise Co-founder and CEO Taavet Hinrikus. “Sila’s mission has always been to make money programmable. Access to the U.S. banking system, especially for innovators and entrepreneurs, is extremely complex and prohibitive,” Sila Co-founder and CEO Shamir Karkal said in a press release.