JD.com, one of China's largest e-commerce companies, is launching a new Beijing-based accelerator program for artificial intelligence and blockchain startups. Called AI Catapult, its first batch includes six companies: Bankorus, CanYa, Bluezelle, Nuggets, Republic Protocol and Devery. In an announcement, JD.com said startups will work with its operational teams to "test real-world applications of their technologies at scale." This includes its logistics unit, which recently raised $2.5 billion and claims to run the largest last-mile logistics network in China. Though Alibaba Group is probably better known outside of China, JD.com is a formidable rival.

Business-software maker Workday, Inc. announced it has set up a $250 million (Rs 1,606 crore) venture fund to invest in early-stage and growth-stage startups working in the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, augmented reality and virtual reality, in order to come out with enterprise solutions. The announcement of the fund called Workday Ventures, to be run by company executives Leighanne Levensaler and Mark Peek, comes seven months after the company made clear its intent to open Workday Cloud Platform to "customers and a broader ecosystem of partners, independent software vendors, and developers". Workday Ventures, according to the company, builds on this effort. In addition to funding, companies in the Workday Ventures portfolio will gain access to the firm's experience, market know-how, global reach, as well as product executives and leadership. Founded in 2005, Workday delivers financial management, human capital management, and analytics applications designed for large companies, educational institutions, and government agencies.