Wearable device maker Misfit may be gaining a significant competitive edge with its latest $40 million capital intake that includes Chinese smart phone leader Xiaomi making its first investment foray in the U.S.
Having a strategic China investor in its camp should help the San Francisco-based startup gain traction and scale up more quickly in the large Middle Kingdom market as expansion in Asia is prioritized. With speed to market and China as increasingly important dynamics, this trend-setting investment could prove a big boost for Misfit, which already sells its waterproof activity tracker Shine in more than 35 countries.
It also can’t hurt to have one of the more innovative Chinese companies around on its side to build out its talent pool from China, where Misfit has a small software team to round out its team of nearly 100 people, most of them in R&D.
With this first investment in the U.S., Xiaomi is following an increasingly traveled path by the Chinese tech titans Baidu Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and others of investing in U.S. tech businesses. View Silicon Dragon Talk on this trend and see prior Forbes post: Why U.S. startups are taking investment from China’s tech titans.
For the Chinese investor standpoint, this strategy helps them gain technology, talent and U.S. market experience in their long-term quest to expand outside their home market and build their base globally. Their strategies bear little resemblance to the Japanese trophy seekers who bought American landmark properties Pebble Beach and Rockefeller Center some two decades ago. Keep reading Forbes post:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rebeccafannin/2014/12/04/1-more-us-startup-takes-in-capital-from-china-xiaomi/
Having a strategic China investor in its camp should help the San Francisco-based startup gain traction and scale up more quickly in the large Middle Kingdom market as expansion in Asia is prioritized. With speed to market and China as increasingly important dynamics, this trend-setting investment could prove a big boost for Misfit, which already sells its waterproof activity tracker Shine in more than 35 countries.
It also can’t hurt to have one of the more innovative Chinese companies around on its side to build out its talent pool from China, where Misfit has a small software team to round out its team of nearly 100 people, most of them in R&D.
With this first investment in the U.S., Xiaomi is following an increasingly traveled path by the Chinese tech titans Baidu Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and others of investing in U.S. tech businesses. View Silicon Dragon Talk on this trend and see prior Forbes post: Why U.S. startups are taking investment from China’s tech titans.
For the Chinese investor standpoint, this strategy helps them gain technology, talent and U.S. market experience in their long-term quest to expand outside their home market and build their base globally. Their strategies bear little resemblance to the Japanese trophy seekers who bought American landmark properties Pebble Beach and Rockefeller Center some two decades ago. Keep reading Forbes post:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rebeccafannin/2014/12/04/1-more-us-startup-takes-in-capital-from-china-xiaomi/
