Chapter 377: Battery Swap Network! Tiangong T100 Launch Imminent! KuaiPao B-Round Financing!

The next day, February 21, Lashou.com was officially renamed QianDu Tuangou, forming a moat with QianDu Waimai under QianDu LBS Department.

iResearch followed shortly after, releasing its list of the top 100 internet companies of 2012, evaluated comprehensively by active user count, revenue, and industry influence.

Penguin ranked first!

QianDu ranked second!

Ali ranked third!

Pinbei ranked fourth!

NetEase ranked fifth!

Shengda ranked sixth!

Unexpectedly, OrangePay placed ninth, and TodayTech ranked tenth.

Three of the top ten companies were subsidiaries under Senlian Capital’s control.

Some netizens even claimed that if OrangeTech were included, Senlian Capital held 40% of the list.

KuaiPao and Kuaide Dache ranked seventeenth and nineteenth respectively, Gaode Map thirty-first, and ByteTech thirty-eighth.

As soon as the list was released, it surged to the trending topics.

There was no way to ignore it—Senlian Capital had too many subsidiaries on the list.

But within half an hour, the trending topic was suppressed.

Because paparazzi leaked a video of Dong Jie and Wang Dazhi meeting secretly in Haikou, instantly overloading Weibo’s servers.

Two people with no connection whatsoever were rumored to be romantically involved.

Netizens originally didn’t believe it—until the paparazzi released photos of them kissing, which immediately crashed Weibo.

…

…

Zhuxianzhuang Technology Park, Building 9.

“Boss, the functional and timing verification for the Tiangong T100 is complete. Standby power consumption is 0.4mW, full-load power consumption is 500mW, with 0.5 TOPS (500 billion operations per second) of local AI computing power, capable of handling lightweight AI tasks. I recommend using a 40nm process to effectively reduce mask costs.”

Mike, chief engineer of the Chip Design Department, spoke slowly.

“For audio processing, we used a six-microphone array and integrated a 24-bit audio codec, supporting Dolby stereo decoding…” Wu Shengyu added from beside him.

“This is the company’s first chip product and the first AI chip using the OrangeZ1 instruction set. You’ve worked hard, both of you!”

Chen Yan leaned against his desk, encouraging Mike and Wu Shengyu.

The AI chip was just the beginning. His next goal was to turn the Chip Design Department into another HiSilicon—or even the next MediaTek or Qualcomm.

Eat your meal one bite at a time. Walk your path one step at a time.

“Boss, I’m actually better suited for mobile processor design.” Mike seized the opportunity to say.

“I know. The project plan for Tiangong A100 has already been sent to both your emails.”

Chen Yan smiled.

“Tiangong A100?” Wu Shengyu’s eyes lit up.

He and Mike had thought the Tiangong T100 lacked sufficient technical depth to showcase their talents.

Chen Yan didn’t spend vast sums just for a mere AI chip—mobile chips were his true target.

“OK.” Mike’s reply was brief and direct.

To him, the Tiangong T100 was merely a warm-up. The Tiangong A100 was his first R&D project since joining Senlian Capital.

Next, they needed to find a chip foundry.

Under the condition of maintaining yield rate, the lower the price, the better.

After the meeting, Chen Yan returned to his office.

Twenty-four hours had passed since Ma Liyun’s last call, but he wasn’t anxious—worst case, he’d face off directly with Ali.

If Wang Xin could do it, there was no reason he couldn’t.

Moreover, in 2013, AliBaba’s strength had not yet peaked. Aside from slightly more capital than Meituan and a marginally better ground team than QianDu, it had no clear advantages.

Meanwhile, KuaiPao, backed by traffic from Pinbei, Gaode Map, OrangeApp Store, WeChat, and QQ, held a dominant, unmatched position in the industry.

Even if Ali acquired Meituan and consolidated the group-buying market, it would struggle to halt KuaiPao’s expansion.

Meanwhile,

In a battery-powered scooter factory in Xicheng, boss Wang Zhixiang’s face broke into a smile after hanging up the phone.

Finally, someone had taken over the factory!

Over the past year, as competition in the electric vehicle market intensified and the Matthew effect became pronounced, small factories’ survival conditions deteriorated.

Yade, Xinri, and Aima thrived, but mid-sized OEMs like Zhixiang, lacking brand recognition and sales channels, had to beg for orders. As the industry became hyper-competitive and top brands established their own production bases, Zhixiang’s order volume shrank.

Production capacity dropped from fifty thousand units per month to four thousand—less than one-tenth.

At its peak, the factory employed eight hundred workers; now only a hundred remained—any more and he couldn’t afford them.

Fortunately, the land, equipment, and production lines still held value. Six months ago, Wang Zhixiang had begun searching for buyers.

But many electric vehicle factories had collapsed due to broken cash flows, typically buying assets at steep discounts—prices were abysmal.

That’s why Wang Zhixiang had stubbornly held on.

A month ago, KuaiPao Tech’s staff approached him. After thoroughly reviewing the factory’s assets and liabilities, they gave him a “wait for notice” reply.

He’d given up hope—until three minutes ago, they called again, reconfirming their intent to cooperate.

KuaiPao Tech would fully acquire Zhixiang Electric Vehicle Factory for 270 million Huayuan.

Compared to bankrupt peers, Wang Zhixiang was extremely fortunate.

In fact, Pei Yi didn’t just buy Zhixiang—he also acquired a battery manufacturer named Shuangshi to build KuaiPao’s battery-swap network.

After all, in 2013, electric scooters had a range of only sixty to seventy kilometers, requiring charging before half a day passed, or else delivery work would be delayed.

Once the acquisition was complete, KuaiPao’s cash reserves would be nearly depleted. Combined with Dazhong Dianping launching a subsidy war, the B-round financing became unavoidable.

Penguin, GaoLing, and Jinsha Venture Capital, who participated in KuaiPao’s A-round financing, were eager to invest again—only Ali remained hesitant.

DST, Goldman Sachs, Huake, and over a dozen other firms also showed investment interest.

Chen Yan instructed Gao Da to initiate preliminary talks and eliminate the lowest-bidding investment institutions.

KuaiPao held 90% of the food delivery market and 40% of the group-buying market, and had also launched grocery services—it had every right to be confident.

As Ma Liyun hesitated, KuaiPao was consolidating production resources in the electric scooter industry and hired 1,400 relatives of KuaiPao riders in Sujiang and other areas, placing them in the scooter and battery factories.

For Chen Yan, this meant thousands more strands of human karma each year.

The next morning, Ma Liyun called.

“Boss Chen, Ali wants 10% of KuaiPao’s equity,” Ma Liyun demanded boldly.

“Ma Zong, Penguin provided KuaiPao with WeChat and QQ’s primary traffic entry points—I gave them only 5%,” Chen Yan replied with a smile.

“Ali can also provide traffic support,” Ma Liyun replied.

Hmm?

Did Ali really want to treat KuaiPao as its “adopted son”?

“Primary traffic entry point?” Chen Yan pressed.

“Secondary channel,” Ma Liyun answered immediately.

There’s a difference between an adopted son and a biological one.

“6%. Let Ali lead KuaiPao’s B-round financing, with Penguin second,” Chen Yan paused briefly, then showed his sincerity.

“I hope you can guarantee that in the next two funding rounds, Ali’s cumulative equity stake will rise to 20%,” Ma Liyun added another demand.

In other words, Senlian Capital must offer enough value to make Ali fully abandon its food delivery business.

“I can’t guarantee that,” Chen Yan refused firmly.

Offering Ali 6% in the B-round was already a significant concession—he also had to consider Penguin’s feelings.

In his plan, Penguin and Ali’s equity caps were set at 15% each, with the remaining 15% reserved for state and foreign capital.

“No negotiation?” Ma Liyun’s face darkened.

“Or, Ma Zong, you could expand Taobao Waimai’s scope and test your mettle against KuaiPao first,” Chen Yan smiled lightly, dripping with provocation.

“Fine, 6% it is,” Ma Liyun narrowed his eyes, sneering inwardly: Then I won’t guarantee Ali won’t enter the group-buying arena later.

Both men harbored ulterior motives and treated the cooperation as meaningless.

Chen Yan deliberately delayed time, hoping Ali would miss its best window to enter.

Ma Liyun planned to wait for the right moment—let KuaiPao cultivate the market first, then strike.

Once user habits formed and the market scaled, Ali could leverage its capital and traffic advantages to harvest market share at lower cost.

He calculated precisely, waiting for Chen Yan to slip up so Senlian Capital’s efforts would become Ali’s inheritance.

But Ma Liyun overestimated his own strength.

How could Chen Yan possibly give him that chance?

Ali didn’t even have a navigation map—how could it complete its ecosystem? Relying solely on Taobao app traffic?

Within six months, internal strife would erupt within Ali!

(End of chapter)