Unique Research · Company / go-global monthly · December 18, 2023 · Column: Go-Global Monthly No.02
November go-global martech financing
Jirui Tech — multi-tens-of-millions USD Series B led by Shunwei
AI startup Jirui Tech (极睿科技) closed a multi-tens-of-millions USD Series B led by Shunwei Capital. Prior: RMB 100M+ Series A from Sequoia China and Turing Ventures; multi-tens-of-millions RMB Pre-A from GSR Ventures and Magic Quantity. Founded 2017, Jirui positions as an “AI e-commerce full-link content factory” with AIFashion open platform, ECPro intelligent ops, PIM apparel planning, apparel detection, attribute recognition, fashion styling KG, and marketing-copy generation. Customers include Handu Yishe, Yishion, JNBY, JD, Xiaohongshu, Xiaomi, and Yiyi San.
Kingdee — ~$200M strategic investment from Qatar Investment Authority
On 10 December, Kingdee International said QIA subsidiary Al-Rayyan Holding LLC will subscribe ~155 million new shares (~4.26% enlarged) at HK$10.1 (~2.7% discount to prior Friday close HK$10.38), raising ~HK$1.562B — about $200M, the largest single Middle East fund check into a Chinese software firm. Kingdee (30 years, Shenzhen HQ) serves 7.4M+ enterprises/governments; cloud subscription is ~80% of revenue. QIA (~$500B AUM, world’s 9th SWF) is a long-horizon holder (Twitter, Microsoft, etc.) tracking Chinese software subscription quality.
HeyGen — $5.6M more; near-instant avatar generator
Los Angeles HeyGen raised $5.6M led by Sarah Guo’s Conviction Partners at a $75M valuation; Guo replaces HongShan (ex-Sequoia China) on the board as HeyGen distances from China origins. ~30 employees; diffusion-based video models plus OpenAI/Anthropic LLMs and ElevenLabs audio.
Pika — $55M + Pika 1.0
On 28 November, Pika (founded April; 4 FTEs; Demi Guo & Chenlin Meng, Stanford) raised $55M led by Lightspeed with Homebrew, Conviction, SV Angel. Pika 1.0 edits/generates video from captions and stills across 3D/anime/cinematic styles; free for now; consumer tiers may come later.
CreativeFitting — multi-million USD Pre-A
On 20 November, CreativeFitting (井英科技) closed a multi-million USD Pre-A from Linear Capital (九合) and Zhonglin Capital. Founded 2021; foreign “real-person” short-video production platform with charting AI ads and hundreds of go-global / local logos; 2023 model breakthroughs drove AI short-drama clips past millions of social views.
November industry moves
Alibaba.com completed acquisition of European B2B platform Visable (14 Nov) after doubling down on SEA — dual-brand Europe ops; Visable keeps independent ops (WLW since 1932 DE/AT/CH; Europages since 1982). Alibaba international commercial retail +41% QoQ in FY2023 Q4 to RMB 13.967B; Lazada/AliExpress/Trendyol/Daraz orders +15% YoY.
Airwallex partnered with Korea’s Coupang for cross-border payouts. Korea cross-border e-comm hit $3.62B through 2023 Q3 (+20.4% YoY); China ranked #1 among inbound markets with transaction value +106%.
TikTok × GoTo (11 Dec): previously banned TikTok Shop Indonesia merges with Tokopedia; TikTok takes 75% of the new entity and commits $1.5B over coming years; commerce relaunches 12 Dec.
Cainiao × AliExpress opened Shenzhen–Mexico City freighter (6 Dec) — first Shenzhen Bao’an→Mexico cargo lane; ~6h unload/pull/break-down, 24h customs, last-mile handoff; Mexico consumers can get China parcels in as little as 10 days.
1688 plans a Korea platform with local partners in February (API, Korean UI/search, local payments) — Korean B2B buyers today pay overseas sourcing agents 3–10% commissions.
AliExpress reportedly considering ≥5 large Korea logistics centers under long leases; details may surface at a Seoul press event next month after heavy 2023 spend on delivery speed and promotions.
Policy — Vietnam global minimum tax
From 1 January 2024 Vietnam applies a 15% global minimum CIT (OECD BEPS support from 140+ countries for MNCs with >€750M global turnover). Prior headline rate 20% could fall to ~10% with holidays/rebates; ~122 foreign investors may be affected; MoF estimates ~VND 14.6T (~$601M) extra annual revenue.
Unique Partner note
At EqualOcean GGF2023 (7–8 Dec, Shanghai), Unique Capital won 2023 Top-10 FA for Go-Global — continuing focus as China’s specialized globalization × AI industry bank into 2024.
14 CN images; attach on ingest. Edit (CN): Yanjia; review: Qiuping.
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