Why Alibaba rival Pinduoduo is investing in agritech – TechCrunch

Back in 2018, Pinduoduo sent shock waves through the investor community when it raised $1.6 billion from a Nasdaq listing as a three-year-old company. Online shoppers in China were excited to see its rise as an alternative to long-time market dominators Alibaba and JD.com. But the startup founded by former Google engineer Colin Huang has ambitions well beyond e-commerce. It's answering the Chinese government's call to modernize the country's agriculture and bolster the rural economy. Life in China has become highly digital in many facets, from retail and entertainment to education and healthcare. But agriculture remains an exception.