Four Global Unicorns Make the List, One Files for IPO, Two Raise New Funding | Ma Hui Monthly · September

To Our Readers

Three years since Source Code Capital's founding, the many member companies of our extended family have grown into a thriving forest, and Ma Hui has become a platform for our entrepreneurs, LPs, and partners to connect. We're launching a new column: Ma Hui Journal, where we'll record our partners' progress, share in their growth, and look forward to an even brighter future.

September

Ma Hui Journal

Briefing

"Financing"

Qudian files for IPO

Could become China's largest fintech IPO in the United States

Abbotz raises $30 million

Accelerating AI cloud services deployment in financial sector

Suishou Technology raises $200 million in Series C funding

"Upgrades"

CHJ Automotive signs strategic cooperation agreement with Brilliance Auto Group

Huishoubao partners with Sesame Credit, opening new chapter in credit-based recycling

"Quotes"

Xing Wang: Don't sell yourself short, don't idolize others

Hui Zuo: Contributing more to the "Chinese Dream"

Ke Jiao: The second half of finance comes from technological revolution

"Honors"

Global unicorn company list announced:

Toutiao, Meituan-Dianping, Lianjia, MOGU make the list

Zhirong Group, Nongfenqi make the list

"China Fintech Top 50"

Beijing Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition: Smart Parking ETCP takes first place

Zenjoy wins Facebook's annual game marketing leading brand award

1

Milestone

Qudian files for IPO

Could become China's largest fintech IPO in the United States

On September 19 Beijing time, September 18 U.S. time, Chinese fintech company "Qudian" formally filed its prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the first time, planning to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "QD." The IPO aims to raise approximately $750 million, and Qudian could become the largest Chinese fintech company to date to go public in the United States.

Over the past three years, Qudian has achieved rapid growth. According to its prospectus, its annualized revenue growth rate for the first half of 2017 reached 393%, and its net profit for the first six months of 2017 approached 1 billion RMB. Qudian has grown into a leader in China's online small-sum cash credit lending market.

2

Abbotz raises $30 million

Accelerating AI cloud services deployment in financial sector

AI cloud service provider Beijing Abbotz Technology Co., Ltd. has raised a total of $30 million in angel and Series A funding, with major investors including Source Code Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, SIG Asia Investments, and Microlight Venture Capital.

Founded in May 2016, Abbotz previously launched "Tongxin Mutual Aid," China's first "blockchain × mutual aid protection" practical application. The company focuses on providing intelligent industry solutions for enterprises, with current products primarily serving the financial sector. It has launched two AI-based financial products: "Modeling.ai," which enhances investment research efficiency for finance professionals, and data prediction product "Eversight.ai."

Yi Cao, partner at Source Code Capital, stated: "Intelligence+ is an investment direction that Source Code Capital is bullish on. Currently, Abbotz's AI solutions have gained certain market recognition, the core management team has successful entrepreneurial experience, and has corresponding talent reserves and forward-looking perspectives in the AI field, with tremendous room for future growth."

3

Suishou Technology raises $200 million in Series C funding

Product suite user base exceeds 300 million

China's leading personal finance application service provider Suishou Technology formally announced the completion of $200 million in Series C strategic funding.

Gu Feng, founder and CEO of Suishou Technology, stated: "This large-scale funding round will be used to increase technical investment in financial data mining and intelligent financial services, comprehensively enhance the traffic monetization capabilities and financial transaction matching abilities of the Suishouji product suite, and strengthen our leadership position in the financial management sector."

Currently, the Suishouji product suite (Suishouji + Kaniu) has exceeded 300 million users, with nearly 70% market share in its category. According to Analysys data from Q1 2017, Suishouji's quarterly active user base reached 20.493 million, nearly double the combined total of the next ten comparable products.

What's New

1

CHJ Automotive and Brilliance Auto Group strategic cooperation

Achieving resource sharing and complementary advantages

CHJ Automotive and Brilliance Auto Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement. The two parties will carry out in-depth cooperation in research and development, supply chain, and manufacturing of intelligent electric vehicles, achieving resource sharing and complementary advantages.

As a startup automaker, CHJ Automotive is dedicated to creating entirely new intelligent electric transportation and providing comprehensive intelligent mobility solutions, transforming users' travel experience. In its two years since founding, CHJ Automotive has continuously achieved breakthroughs in key areas including vehicle R&D, "three electric" systems, intelligent systems and software, and autonomous driving systems, with product design, development, prototyping, and testing work advancing steadily.

2

Huishoubao partners with Sesame Credit

Opening new chapter in credit-based recycling

On September 20, China's leading mobile phone and digital recycling platform Huishoubao reached a cooperation with Sesame Credit, an independent third-party credit reporting agency under Ant Financial. Based on users' Sesame Credit scores, the two parties jointly built a credit-based recycling platform, adding a new component to Alipay Sesame Credit's comprehensive layout of credit-based living. Through credit recycling, with their Sesame Credit score as guarantee, users can receive 70% of the recycling payment in advance when recycling old phones, achieving "get paid first, recycle later."

Huishoubao's cooperation with Sesame Credit, launching mobile phone recycling services through credit recycling on the credit living platform. On one hand, this improves user recycling experience, providing users with up to 2,000 RMB in advance recycling payment based on their personal Sesame Credit score, allowing users to receive advance payment before mailing in their phones, further enhancing trust between the recycling platform and users. On the other hand, it also provides a new component for Sesame Credit's comprehensive layout of credit-based living.

Quote

Xing Wang (CEO, Meituan-Dianping):

"First, I think it's very important: don't not take yourself seriously. When you're about to leave campus, you don't know whether what awaits you when you step out is an even more challenging society, whether there will be even more difficult confusions to accept. My second suggestion seems somewhat opposite to the first: don't take yourself too seriously either. The third suggestion may be somewhat more controversial: don't take others too seriously either. There are several types of learning. One is forward learning, learning from elders. One is parallel learning, learning from peers. But it's possible that we're about to enter a society where you need to learn downward, learn from younger people, because much of your past experience will rapidly expire. The times are different now. There are no fields before our eyes; our lives don't need factories either, because the tertiary industry is already more important than the primary and secondary industries. But our lives still need to be this way: don't dwell on the past, charge forward with abandon."

Hui Zuo (Chairman, Lianjia):

"For Lianjia, the core is embodying the craftsman spirit. Lianjia is a real estate service platform; we're in the service industry. Giving consumers a better experience in the 'living' aspect—from the perspective of corporate social responsibility, facing national and ethnic rejuvenation, we actively participate. In the establishment of core long-term real estate mechanisms such as the parallel purchase-and-rent system, we have consistently made long-term efforts and strategic deployments, and have grown into the most capable brand service provider, taking on more responsibility and contributing more to realizing the 'Chinese Dream.'"

Ke Jiao (Founder and CEO, Zhirong Group):

"From our perspective, what matters most is underlying technology. Small-sum lending brings to the industry not just new business models, but technological transformation. Through small-sum lending we gather new samples, using AI to iteratively optimize technology. It's like seeing many beautiful cars, but with different engines underneath. What we want to do is become the 'Tesla' of the financial engine space. The second half of finance comes from technological revolution. Only through technological means, serving populations that traditional finance cannot serve, and exceeding traditional finance's service capabilities, can such finance generate value, momentum, and technological leverage."

Honor & Awards

1

Global unicorn company list announced:

Toutiao, Meituan-Dianping, Lianjia, MOGU make the list

CB Insights released its global tech startup "unicorn" list, using $1 billion valuation as the benchmark, with 214 startups making the cut and total valuation of approximately $745 billion. Among them, 55 Chinese companies made the list, including Ma Hui members Toutiao, Meituan-Dianping, Lianjia, and MOGU.

2

Zhirong Group, Nongfenqi

make "China Fintech Top 50" list

On September 14, the "Serving the Real Economy—2017 China Fintech Future Leaders Summit" hosted by Yiou was held in Beijing. Zhirong Group and Nongfenqi were selected for the "2017 China Fintech Top 50" list. According to Yiou, this list evaluated companies' comprehensive brand influence, revenue/user/business scale, funding/valuation amount, market share, and quality of financial licenses, selecting 50 innovative representative companies covering 10 sub-sectors: comprehensive services, private banks, internet insurance, consumer finance, financial big data, rural finance, auto finance, online lending, wealth management, and blockchain (distributed technology).

3

Beijing Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition concludes

Smart Parking ETCP takes first place

The 2017 Third China·Beijing Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition Season's affiliated competition, the Advanced Manufacturing and Cultural Technology Themed Competition finals, concluded. This year's competition attracted 128 innovative projects and entrepreneurs in fields including artificial intelligence, internet+, intelligent manufacturing, and cultural creative design. After nearly three months of preliminary and semi-final rounds, 22 projects advanced to the finals, with "Beijing Yuechang Technology Co., Ltd. (ETCP)" ultimately taking first place and receiving multi-dimensional development support from the organizing committee including crowdfunding recommendations, equity investment support, entrepreneurship training, project promotion, and cash awards.

4

Zenjoy wins Facebook annual

game marketing leading brand award

Facebook released its 2017 China Outbound People-Based Marketing Leading Brands Top 50 ranking, with Zenjoy making the list and also being selected for the "2017 China Outbound People-Based Marketing Game Industry Leading Brands Top 15." Major domestic game companies including Tencent and NetEase were also on the list. According to reports, this list was jointly released by KPMG Advisory, one of the "Big Four" global accounting firms, and Facebook. The list evaluated Chinese companies' brand awareness in major global markets and brand influence demonstrated on Facebook.