ByteDance’s Valuation Is Reportedly North of $110B

Very huge: ByteDance is the Chinese tech conglomerate behind TikTok and other consumer AI apps. The “startup” has a private market valuation between $110 billion and $140 billion, based on recent secondary sales, Bloomberg reports.

• On Monday, ByteDance hired former Disney exec Kevin Mayer to become its COO and to lead TikTok. TikTok topped an estimated 2 billion downloads a few weeks ago.

Facial recognition: CloudWalk and SenseTime are two of the four “AI Dragons of China.” A couple weeks ago, CloudWalk (also known as Megvii) raised $250 million to become the fourthmost well-funded facial recognition company in China. SenseTime is considering raising $1 billion, the WSJ reported earlier this month.

• Bottom line: Biometrics are booming in China.

Protein: StartupNautilus Biotechnology announced a $76 million Series B yesterday. Nautilus is developing tech for proteomics analysis and quantification. Proteomics = the study of protein.

Star Wars: Xwing raised $10 million in Series A financing. The SF-based startup, focused on autonomy in aviation, will presumably use the new funds to recruit Luke Skywalker.