The Chinese start-ups to watch out for in 2016

With 2015 coming to a close, Tech in Asia looks at the start-ups which might turn some heads in 2016

Dianrong

Peer-to-peer lending services exploded in China in 2015 – and no company embodied this trend better than Dianrong. Launched in 2012, the Shanghai-based company focuses on personal and small business loans, sectors that are traditionally handled poorly by China’s bureaucratic and risk-averse state-owned banks.

Dianrong had a stellar 2015, raising $207 million in August. It reportedly hit a monthly lending volume of RMB 120 billion ($19 billion) this October – four times what it was processing at the same time last year.

Gogoro

It wouldn’t be quite correct to call Gogoro a moped startup. It’s more like a hybrid between an electrical infrastructure firm and a scooter company. The Gogoro moped went on sale in Taipei this summer, the culmination of the startup’s bike and battery building spree since it was formed in 2011. Its launch was followed by a November series B fundraising round of $130 million and, just a few weeks later, news that the company would be making its first moves outside of Taiwan.

 

Tujia

Unlike many other international services, Airbnb is not blocked in China – but it isn’t dominating the market, either. There is still space for start-ups like Tujia, which bills itself as a more curated alternative to the competition.
 

Tujia works with real-estate developers looking to rent out their unsold properties, and also invests time and money into rental inspections and cleanings. With upwards of 300,000 listings throughout the country the company has not gone unnoticed by Chinese travellers.
 

It hasn’t slipped past investors, either. In August, Tujia raised its biggest-ever round of VC funding, coming in at $300 million.

---

This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here.