Anker's new move! Investing 32 million to develop new product categories

There is a saying that has been regarded as a classic by many people: Excellent people are not scary, what is scary is that excellent people work harder than you. At the end of the year, many sellers have begun to take stock of their performance and are ready to wait for the holidays after the last battle of Christmas.

However, at this time, two big sellers took frequent actions: Anker issued an announcement that it had invested in a new company in order to expand new product directions; Tongtuo stated that it would become an angel investor, set up a fund, and invest in and incubate cross-border e-commerce team projects.

Anker invests $5 million in new company to expand new product direction

Anker's achievements in R&D have always been admired by other sellers, and now it has taken new actions to track technological development in new product areas.

Recently, Anker issued an announcement stating that its wholly-owned subsidiaries Charging Leading Limited (referred to as "Charging Leading") and Anker Innovations Limited (referred to as "Anker HK") intend to invest a total of no more than US$5 million (approximately RMB 32 million) of its own funds in Beijing Zero Zero Infinity Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Zero Zero Infinity").

The announcement pointed out that the purpose of this investment is to expand Anker's business layout, further explore new product directions, track new product technology development, and at the same time improve the overall quality of the company's investment projects and enhance the company's overall competitiveness. After the completion of this investment, Anker will hold a total of 5.0635% of Zero Zero Infinity's equity through its wholly-owned subsidiaries .

What kind of company is Zero Zero Infinity and why did it win the favor of Anker?

The announcement stated that Zero Zero Infinity’s main business is the research and development, application of artificial intelligence, the research and development, production and sales of drones, and the research and development of drone-related technologies and technical service businesses.

Through further investigation, the editor discovered that Zero Zero Infinity is actually not simple.

First of all, its two founders are both PhDs in computer science from Stanford University. The chairman, Wang Mengqiu, was once a core employee of Facebook and a data scientist at Alibaba Cloud.

Secondly, it brings together talents from top universities and research institutions at home and abroad. In its company profile on a recruitment website, Lingling Wuxian wrote: There are about 150 employees , of which more than 70% are R&D personnel . The core R&D team comes from top universities and research institutions at home and abroad, such as Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In addition, 2/3 of the Lingling team have a master's degree or above, most of whom graduated from famous universities at home and abroad, and the main members have relevant experience in well-known companies.

Third, Zero Zero Infinity was recognized as a national high-tech enterprise in November 2018. Currently, it has 120 valid patents under application , of which 53 have been authorized.

Fourth, we have established a global partnership with Apple and sell Hover Camera Passport (a portable drone launched by Zero Zero Infinity - Little Black Man) in Apple retail stores in more than 30 countries.

Fifth, Zero Zero Infinity’s investors include well-known investment institutions such as IDG, GSR Ventures, Zhen Fund, and Zhemin Investment, and have completed a total of US$50 million in financing, with a new round of financing in progress.

The drone market has become a red ocean market, and DJI has always been firmly in the top spot. Over the years, many companies that wanted to get a piece of the pie in this market ended up leaving in disappointment , but Zero Zero Infinity took 6 years to bite off a piece of meat from this nearly saturated market, which shows how powerful it is.

At present, Anker's product line mainly includes three series: charging, wireless audio, and smart innovation. In March this year , Anker announced that it would increase its investment in Shenzhen Zhiyan Technology Co., Ltd. by RMB 40 million and began to develop home furnishing products. Now that Zero Zero Infinity has joined, it will undoubtedly add a strong new boost to Anker's diversified product line layout.

Tongtuo established an investment fund to empower vertical category cross-border e-commerce teams

Another company that focuses on investment like Anker is Tongtuo, but unlike Anker, Tongtuo specializes in companies in the cross-border e-commerce industry.

Recently, Tongtuo announced that they will become angel investors and set up a cross-border e-commerce equity investment fund, focusing on the investment and incubation of cross-border e-commerce team projects.

Projects that receive investment will receive support in four aspects: 1. Financial support, including: ample financial support; the ability to purchase services, invest in shares or convertible bonds; independent investment, follow-up investment. 2. Group empowerment , including: 18 years of big sales; multiple empowerment support; brand planning and creation, supply chain development and management, logistics and warehousing, and talent support. 3. Marketing promotion , including: 110 million+ professional marketing resources support; big data smart guidance, precision marketing. 4. Supply chain docking , for example: 18 years of cross-border production capacity opening, upstream and downstream high-quality supply chain resource sharing.

Of course, if you want to get investment, the team must meet certain conditions. The first is an innovative entrepreneurial team : a small and beautiful vertical cross-border e-commerce operation team; has opened a cross-border platform business and is operating normally ( Amazon and Walmart are best); sales of 2-5 million RMB/month, and the team's average output is 1 million RMB/month; the profit potential is large, and all operating indicators are good. The second is a potential star product : high quality, core competitiveness; high user satisfaction, good reputation; great market potential; can quickly respond and adjust according to market and consumer needs.

Any one of the above conditions is sufficient.

Tongtuo was also affected by the wave of Amazon account bans this year. Previously, its parent company ST Huading issued an announcement that stores involved in multiple brands of Tongtuo were suspended from sales by Amazon and their funds were frozen. A total of 54 stores were banned and closed , and 41.43 million yuan of funds were suspected of being frozen.

Amid the account suspension storm, many big sellers are looking for new ways out, and Tongtuo is no exception. Not long ago, it announced the creation of the "Tongtuo Cross-border E-Academy" and launched a one-stop cross-border incubation and training service. Now it has established a fund to invest in other cross-border e-commerce projects, which is probably a way to spread risks. At the same time, the three-pronged development strategy of "talent training + project incubation + investment fund" also shows that Tongtuo is trying to take the path of diversified business development.

In conclusion:

Not long ago, Loctek announced that the Loctek Smart Health Western Industrial Park project has made new progress. The project is divided into two phases. The first phase plans to invest in the construction of a smart factory for linear drive products and set up a cross-border e-commerce operation center and R&D center. The second phase plans to invest in the construction of a R&D center and manufacturing center for smart health products and will introduce more than 50 Loctek overseas warehouse service companies to improve the supply chain layout. The construction of the project will help promote the long-term and sustainable development of Loctek.

The market is like a battlefield. The unstable and ever-changing business environment since the outbreak, as well as the sudden account suspension, have intensified the sellers' sense of crisis. Especially some of the big sellers among them, they are actively developing their main business while seeking new development directions. For example, Anker, whose main business performance is obvious to all in the industry, is still developing its agency operation business. The same is true for Tongtuo's three-horse development strategy. And Lechuang is concentrating on polishing its main business.

Every fluctuation is a reshuffle of the industry. When a new industry structure is formed, those who stand at the top are often those who are not satisfied with the status quo, actively respond and seek change.

Anker Innovations

Tongtuo Technology