Didi
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Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) started as a division of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works in 1933, and established as an independent in 1937. As of December 2019, it ranked tenth largest company in the world by revenue. An established multinational automotive manufacturer, Toyota has invested in startups working on everything from online marketing to cybersecurity, placing an focus on new-generation mobility services. In 2019, it invested $600m in Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, and founded a joint venture to offer car maintenance, insurance and finance services to ride-hailing drivers. Also that year, Toyota invested $500m in Uber for self-driving cars. In early 2020, the auto giant invested $400 in the self-driving startup Pony.ai. Before the investment, the two had already partnered to test self-driving cars on public roads in China.
Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) started as a division of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works in 1933, and established as an independent in 1937. As of December 2019, it ranked tenth largest company in the world by revenue. An established multinational automotive manufacturer, Toyota has invested in startups working on everything from online marketing to cybersecurity, placing an focus on new-generation mobility services. In 2019, it invested $600m in Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, and founded a joint venture to offer car maintenance, insurance and finance services to ride-hailing drivers. Also that year, Toyota invested $500m in Uber for self-driving cars. In early 2020, the auto giant invested $400 in the self-driving startup Pony.ai. Before the investment, the two had already partnered to test self-driving cars on public roads in China.
Armed with €7.2m in seed funding, award-winning Didimo is scaling-up to produce customized AI-powered facial doubles and avatars for diverse business sectors.
Armed with €7.2m in seed funding, award-winning Didimo is scaling-up to produce customized AI-powered facial doubles and avatars for diverse business sectors.
CEO and Founder of Didimo
Argentinian-born Verónica Costa Orvalho is a veteran in animation technology. In 2016, she became the CEO and founder of Didimo that was inspired by an earlier venture Face In Motion, established in 2007 to focus on cinematic quality and animation production of faces. Orvalho won the award for the AI and virtual reality category at a Women Startup Challenge event held in New York in 2017. Orvalho has a long academic track record in related fields, beginning with a first degree in Software Engineering from the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires. She moved to Barcelona and obtained a master's degree in Videogame Design and Development at University Pompeu Fabra where she continued to work on creating a facial animation system “For CG Films”. She later completed her PhD at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia with her thesis: Fast and Reusable Facial Rigging and Animation to develop an application that could speed up the traditional “slowing rigging” process. She has worked at Ericsson as a systems analyst and was a producer at the Argentinian film company Patagonik Film Group that helped to produce the Oscar-winning movie El hijo de la novia. She worked for four years as the founder of Panorama Consulting, a consultancy focusing on developing systems for the medical, logistics and entertainment industries. Since 2003, she has lectured in different institutions, including Porto University's Porto Interactive Center as its specialist in facial animation since 2008.
Argentinian-born Verónica Costa Orvalho is a veteran in animation technology. In 2016, she became the CEO and founder of Didimo that was inspired by an earlier venture Face In Motion, established in 2007 to focus on cinematic quality and animation production of faces. Orvalho won the award for the AI and virtual reality category at a Women Startup Challenge event held in New York in 2017. Orvalho has a long academic track record in related fields, beginning with a first degree in Software Engineering from the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires. She moved to Barcelona and obtained a master's degree in Videogame Design and Development at University Pompeu Fabra where she continued to work on creating a facial animation system “For CG Films”. She later completed her PhD at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia with her thesis: Fast and Reusable Facial Rigging and Animation to develop an application that could speed up the traditional “slowing rigging” process. She has worked at Ericsson as a systems analyst and was a producer at the Argentinian film company Patagonik Film Group that helped to produce the Oscar-winning movie El hijo de la novia. She worked for four years as the founder of Panorama Consulting, a consultancy focusing on developing systems for the medical, logistics and entertainment industries. Since 2003, she has lectured in different institutions, including Porto University's Porto Interactive Center as its specialist in facial animation since 2008.
Bynd Venture Capital (formerly Busy Angels)
Bynd Venture Capital is a Portuguese seed/early-stage VC firm that changed its name from Busy Angels in 2019 and opened a new €10M investment fund, with Didimo its first recipient. Busy Angels' more than 30-strong portfolio has passed under Bynd's stewardship. Bynd is led by former senior corporate executives and counts among its shareholders former Cabinet minister Luís Mira Amaral and corporate entities Danone, P&G and Pepsi. Busy Angels was founded in 2010 in Lisbon and concentrates on seed and early-stage B2B and B2C startups doing business in Portugal and/or Spain. DefinedCrowd and Zaask! are among its best known portfolio companies.
Bynd Venture Capital is a Portuguese seed/early-stage VC firm that changed its name from Busy Angels in 2019 and opened a new €10M investment fund, with Didimo its first recipient. Busy Angels' more than 30-strong portfolio has passed under Bynd's stewardship. Bynd is led by former senior corporate executives and counts among its shareholders former Cabinet minister Luís Mira Amaral and corporate entities Danone, P&G and Pepsi. Busy Angels was founded in 2010 in Lisbon and concentrates on seed and early-stage B2B and B2C startups doing business in Portugal and/or Spain. DefinedCrowd and Zaask! are among its best known portfolio companies.
UK-based Portuguese unicorn Farfetch is a global omni-channel marketplace for luxury fashion, ranging from established brands to cult and emerging designers. Entrepreneur José Neves started the company in 2007 to enable small designers and fashion retailers to become global players through a single online marketplace. Farfetch participated in the 2019 seed investment round for Didimo, a Portuguese 3D digital twin animation production startup based in Porto.
UK-based Portuguese unicorn Farfetch is a global omni-channel marketplace for luxury fashion, ranging from established brands to cult and emerging designers. Entrepreneur José Neves started the company in 2007 to enable small designers and fashion retailers to become global players through a single online marketplace. Farfetch participated in the 2019 seed investment round for Didimo, a Portuguese 3D digital twin animation production startup based in Porto.
Beta-i was established in 2010 as a Portuguese accelerator, incubator and event organizer to boost the Portuguese tech ecosystem. Beta-i is well-known for organizing some of Portugal's most successful accelerators and the annual tech startup event Lisbon Investment Summit. In 2019, it made its first investment in a startup Didimo by joining the seed round for the 3D digital twin designer platform.The company's best known acceleration program Lisbon Challenge is a twice yearly event open to all tech sectors, attracting around 10 participants based in Portugal and overseas. Its two-month programs have accelerated more than 200 startups, with about 75% coming from abroad. Beta-i also organizes the international energy accelerator Free Electrons, with EDP as one of its sponsors. Free Electrons has already accelerated 27 startups and is now running its third edition with 15 startups, five of which are Portugal-based. All the selected participants will have the chance to work for one year with at least one of the 10 global energy utilities that form the Free Electrons consortium. Another Beta-i event is The Journey, the first accelerator in Portugal dedicated to tourism tech startups from all over the world. Launched in partnership with the government's Portugal Tourism in 2017, the Lisbon-based program is part of the national Tourism 4.0 plan. The five-month program is now in its third edition and gives successful applicants the opportunity to develop pilot projects with Portuguese companies like the Vila Galé hotel chain, Barraqueiro transport company and Parques de Sintra, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Beta-i was established in 2010 as a Portuguese accelerator, incubator and event organizer to boost the Portuguese tech ecosystem. Beta-i is well-known for organizing some of Portugal's most successful accelerators and the annual tech startup event Lisbon Investment Summit. In 2019, it made its first investment in a startup Didimo by joining the seed round for the 3D digital twin designer platform.The company's best known acceleration program Lisbon Challenge is a twice yearly event open to all tech sectors, attracting around 10 participants based in Portugal and overseas. Its two-month programs have accelerated more than 200 startups, with about 75% coming from abroad. Beta-i also organizes the international energy accelerator Free Electrons, with EDP as one of its sponsors. Free Electrons has already accelerated 27 startups and is now running its third edition with 15 startups, five of which are Portugal-based. All the selected participants will have the chance to work for one year with at least one of the 10 global energy utilities that form the Free Electrons consortium. Another Beta-i event is The Journey, the first accelerator in Portugal dedicated to tourism tech startups from all over the world. Launched in partnership with the government's Portugal Tourism in 2017, the Lisbon-based program is part of the national Tourism 4.0 plan. The five-month program is now in its third edition and gives successful applicants the opportunity to develop pilot projects with Portuguese companies like the Vila Galé hotel chain, Barraqueiro transport company and Parques de Sintra, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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Despite early promise, China's on-demand bus services hit potholes on the road to profit
High costs – not a lack of customers – have forced promising on-demand bus service startups like DuduBus to shift their focus to corporate shuttle services
In depth: The business ecosystems China’s tech giants and unicorns build
Startups could accept to join Alibaba, Tencent or other tech giants in their ecosystems and scale quickly. Or they could say no and keep their independence. But do they really have a choice?
EV maker Xpeng Motors partners Didi to offer car rentals and better charging services
Besides working with China's largest ride-hailing platform, Xpeng Motors has also connected to the charging networks of EV maker NIO and TELD, China's biggest EV charging network
Dai Wei and his Ofo: Fighting till the last act?
How the college student who founded a global bike-sharing sensation also led it to the verge of bankruptcy through a string of mistakes
“Sniper investor” Zhu Xiaohu: GSR Ventures chief’s slow but steady way of spotting future unicorns
Known for his conservative investing in China’s often-euphoric tech startup scene, Zhu Xiaohu has caught unicorns like Didi Chuxing while making a profitable exit from Ofo just before it sank
New sectors, strategies come into play as investors respond to China's Big Tech curbs
Amid the crackdown on China’s tech giants, some investors are sussing out less risky sectors, while heavyweights like BlackRock and Fidelity stay in for the long haul
Beyond ride-hailing: Gojek, Grab and all their friends
Now that Grab and Go-Jek are in a faceoff on a regional scale, here's a look at how Southeast Asia's two biggest unicorns – and their investors – could be shaping the local digital economies and startup ecosystems
Neil Shen: The super unicorn hunter
His bet on ByteDance, the startup that gave the world TikTok, helped Neil Shen top this year's Forbes Midas List. But for Shen, even in that deal he once made the wrong call
Oper Indonesia: On-demand drivers give car owners a break from endless traffic jams
Oper offers on-demand chauffeurs and car valets for stressed-out drivers and busy vehicle-owners
China’s online mutual aid market: A new battleground for tech giants and startups
Startups spotted the opportunity and tech giants too have entered a market seen tripling by 2025. But profitability is still in doubt amid regulatory uncertainty
Ciweishixi: HR startup helps Chinese youth pursue rewarding careers
Ciweishixi uses the Western internship model to help young people discover their true passion, online and offline
This AI-powered "pony" could usher us into an autonomous driving future
Despite all the red tape and public anxiety around self-driving cars, California- and Guangzhou-based Pony.ai is advancing steadily in its mission to bring autonomous vehicles to China
Meituan, the “Amazon for local services”
Now worth over US$50 billion, the company has always focused on one end-goal: help consumers eat better, live better
Sequoia Capital China holds steady with investments in healthcare, biotech and green economy
China’s most active investor increases bets on sectors beyond the consumer internet and edtech recently hurt by regulatory clampdown
Never mind the bike-sharing fiascos – China's sharing economy is still steaming ahead
China is betting on the sharing economy to drive its shift into a service-based economy and a new era of growth
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