Ren Lifeng,????? ?????? ?????? the vice president of ByteDance’s VR subsidiary PICO, has officially resigned from the company and opted to venture into cross-border e-commerce as an independent platform, according to the local media outlet TechWeb. Reports suggest that his startup project has secured investments from Sequoia China and IDG, with a post-investment valuation exceeding $50 million. Ren’s team includes several members from Douyin (China’s TikTok sibling), with even major veterans from the platform Douyin joining. Currently, PICO has not yet responded to this matter. In November 2023, PICO released a public statement announcing organizational restructuring and related team downsizing, impacting over 300 employees, which represents 23% of the workforce. [TechWeb, in Chinese]