 "Here are Alibaba's biggest investments in 2016")
2016 was another busy year for Jack Ma and the team at Alibaba. The company posted record-breaking sales numbers, of course, but it also spent the year splashing cash on investments all over the world. Here are the biggest. (* Indicates that the sum is the investment round total; the precise amount contributed by Alibaba was undisclosed.)
Ele.me – $1.25 billion
Chinese food delivery startup Ele.me probably brought home more of Alibaba's investment cash than anyone else this year, netting $1.25 billion from Alibaba and its e-payment spin-off Ant Financial in a funding round confirmed in April.
What did Alibaba get out of it? A stake in China’s hottest food delivery app and operational support for its own food delivery service, Koubei.
Lazada – $1 billion
Alibaba’s biggest acquisition of the year was South-east Asian e-commerce giant Lazada – it spent US$1 billion to nab a controlling stake in the company. The move gave Alibaba an immediate presence in Southeast Asia, where it one day hopes to generate half of its revenue.
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Didi Chuxing – $4.5 billion*
Alibaba participated in ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing’s massive round this year. The round totaled $7.3 billion, including $4.5 billion in new funding, but it’s not clear precisely how much Alibaba invested.
Magic Leap – $793 million*
We don’t know precisely how much it kicked in, but Alibaba was the lead investor on American augmented reality startup Magic Leap’s $793 million series C round early this year. It became clear precisely why when, a few months later, Alibaba started showing off prototypes of an augmented reality shopping experience using Magic Leap’s tech.
Ucar – $561 million*
Weibo – $135 million
Alibaba increased its investment in Chinese microblogging giant Weibo this year with a $135 million stock purchase. The deal increased Alibaba’s stake in Weibo by 1.4% (it’s now up to 31.5%).
This is an excerpt from the article published on Tech In Asia. You can read the full article here.