China-based e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba unveiled a RMB 1bn ($161m) fund at its software developers conference in Hangzhou yesterday that will invest in mobile internet startups.
Alibaba will fund startups developing mobile apps that provide access to on-demand local services. It hopes the companies will help to leverage some of the technologies it has developed or acquired, including online payment and location-based services, in their own apps.
Ant Financial Services Group, the financial services affiliate of Alibaba, will provide an additional $160m to the startups in the form of low-interest loans.
The early-stage investment will be supplied as part of Alibaba’s new Shengyi 1.0 initiative, which also includes regular training workshops for developers. Shengyi 1.0 itself is part of a larger mobile app development programme called Baichuan that reportedly includes more than 10,000 developers.
Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang told the company’s corporate news site, Alizila: “Diversity is the charm of the mobile internet and it means great opportunities.
“I have seen lots of mobile applications recently, from raising pets to online groceries to seeking babysitters. Each app is recreating a scenario and reshaping the value chain. You can hardly adopt a single business standard or service type to define e-commerce today.”