China Digest: Alibaba pledges $1b to support cloud services customers; Lithium battery maker Jiemeng bags $42mAlibaba Cloud has also launched an accel…

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s cloud computing division has announced it will invest $1 billion. Separately,  Jiemeng Intelligence, a lithium-ion battery coating machine maker, has snapped up 300 million yuan ($42 million) in a strategic funding round. 

Alibaba Cloud launches accelerator programme

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s cloud computing division has announced it will invest $1 billion via “financial and non-financial means such as funding, rebates and go-to-initiatives” to help its customers accelerate tech innovation and market expansion over the next three years, according to a company release. 

The firm has also launched an accelerator programme to help customers localise their business models as well as upgrade its collaboration model with independent software vendors that focus on enhancing industry collaboration, standardising go-to-market process, and accelerating technical solution integration to increase efficiency, per the announcement. 

Currently, the firm claims a network of 11,000 customers worldwide, including some notable names such as Salesforce, VMware, and IBM. 

Alibaba was the third-largest cloud service provider in the world in 2021, with 9.5% of market share, according to data published by Gartner. Last June, the firm committed a $1-billion investment to support startups in the Asia-Pacific region over the next three years. 

Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud offers cloud services to customers worldwide, including database, storage, security, management and application services, big data analytics and IoT services.

Huatai Zijin leads Jiemeng’s funding round

Jiemeng Intelligence, a lithium-ion battery coating machine maker, has snapped 300 million yuan ($42 million) in a strategic funding round led by Huatai Securities’s Huatai Zijin Investment, according to an announcement. 

The net proceeds will help accelerate the product development and team expansion of the battery-coating equipment maker

The firm said that it will ramp up its equipment production with the fresh capital, per the announcement. 

Founded in 2019 by a group of experts in lithium ion battery coating and rolling, Guangzhou-headquartered Jiemeng Intelligence researches, designs and develops machines and equipment covering the electrode manufacturing stage. 

The funding round was participated by a total of 11 institutional investors and industry players, such as alternative assets manager CDH Investments, battery maker Sunwoda Electronic and Trina Solar, one of the world’s largest solar manufacturers. 

Go to Source