China Money Podcast - Audio Episodes: Recent Episodes
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, guest Gary Rieschel speaks to Nina Xiang about US-China competition, venture investment in China under the current geopolitical environment, and more.
Gary Rieschel Founding Managing Partner, Board Member Qiming Venture Partners Shanghai, China
Rieschel has more than 25 years of operating and investing experience. He is widely recognized as a leading venture capitalist in both the U.S. and China and is Founding Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partners, a firm with over $6.2B USD under management focused on early stage investments in China.
Prior to Qiming, Rieschel was the founder or lead investor in several major venture capital firms in the U.S. and China including SOFTBANK Venture Capital, Mobius Venture Capital, SAIF Partners (China), and Ignition Partners (U.S.). Rieschel served on Softbank Corporation’s Board of Directors for seven years. Prior to being a venture capitalist, he held senior executive positions at Cisco Systems, Sequent Computer Systems, and Intel.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending September 24.
There were only 72 startup and growth stage investment deals that closed over the past 5 days in which Chinese startups raised US$1.775 billion. This is down from last week's great week of 103 startups raising a combined US$2.55 billion. Startups this week like Hai Robotics, Black Sesame, and Airwallex raised capital, and more than 460 venture capital and private equity firms got involved with the 72 deals. Investors in this week's deals include Sequoia Capital China, 5Y Capital, Source Code Capital, Legend Star, 01 Venture Capital, DST Global, and Sunic Capital. This is the September 24, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending September 17.
There were 103 deals closing over the past 5 days in which Chinese startups raised US$2.55 billion. Startups like Keenon Robotics, DeepRoute, and Cytovia Therapeutics raised capital, and more than 520 venture capital and private equity firms got involved with the 103 deals. Investors in this week's deals include Alibaba Group, Yunqi Partners, Morningside Ventures, IDG Capital, Addor Capital, Zhongguancun Development Group, and Sequoia Capital China. This is the September 17, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending September 10.
We counted 93 deals closing over the past 5 days in which Chinese startups raised US$2.565 billion. That's a total deal volume drop of 6 deals from the previous week, but a value per deal increase of about 4%. Startups like RootPath Genomics, Distinct HealthCare, Caocao Zhuanche and TimeCab raised capital, and over 400 venture capital and private equity firms got involved with those 93 deals. Investors in this week's deals include Tencent Holdings, Decent Capital, BlueRun Ventures, CDH Investments, CICC Capital, Sky9 Capital, Hony Capital, and Matrix Partners China. And the latest book from China Money Network's founder Nina Xiang was released this week and titled "The US-China Tech War".
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending September 3.
As we enter September, there were 99 deals over the past 5 days in which Chinese startups raised US$2.3 billion. Startups like Zeekr Technology, YGL Intelligence, and Yunyou Freight all raised capital, and over 440 venture capital and private equity firms got involved with those 99 deals. Investors in this week's deals include Intel Capital, DST Global, Haochen Capital, GL Ventures, Goldman Sachs, CCB International, Boyu Capital and Gobi Partners. And China Money Network released the "China VC Tracker" for the month of August, which follows more than 400 deals that closed last month.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending August 27.
There were 87 deals over the past 5 days where Chinese startups raised US$2.71 billion. Startups like Kuaikan Manhua, XREX and Ionova Life Science all raised large amounts of capital, and over 370 venture capital and private equity firms got a taste of those 87 deals. Investors in this week's deals include Shenzhen Capital Group, Greater Bay Area Homeland Development Fund, GSR Ventures, Tsing Song Capital, Systex Corporation, Metaplanet Holdings, Sequoia Capital China, Qiming Venture Partners, and FountainBridge Capital.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending August 20.
Which China-based startups raised big investments this week? There were 80 deals over the past 5 days where Chinese startups raised US$2.61 billion. And there were over 340 venture capital and private equity firms that got involved in those 80 deals. Investors in this week's deals include Temasek, INVESCO Private Capital, Loyal Valley Innovation Capital, GL Ventures, Yunfeng Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, Lilly Asia Ventures, Boyu Capital, Rencent Capital, and SPDB International. And they invested in a whole range of companies including those engaged in biotechnology, blockchain, agriculture, fintech and electric vehicles.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending August 13.
There were 86 deals this week where Chinese startups raised US$2.02 billion. And there were over 320 venture capital and private equity firms that got involved in those 86 deals. Investors in this week's deals include Sequoia Capital China, China Growth Capital, Orbimed, Matrix Partners China, Source Code Capital, Volcanics Venture, 5Y Capital, Hopu Fund, Oriza Holdings, Zhencheng Capital, and Keli Capital. And they invested in a range of companies including those involved with pharmaceuticals, home renovation, mobile phone design, aerospace technology, smart conferencing, and biodegradable materials.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending August 6.
Chinese startups raised US$1.905 billion this past week across 85 deals. And there were over 460 venture capital and private equity firms that got involved in those 85 deals. Investors in those deals include IDG Capital, Deppon Express, CMB International, Eight Roads, CICC Capital, GL Ventures, Boyu Capital, Goldman Sachs, Changjiang Securities, Saiying Capital, Redmile Group and Tencent Holdings. And they handed cash to a range of companies including those involved with rocket technology, virtual reality hardware, semiconductors, Internet marketing technology, and autonomous mining vehicles. And in our just-released China VC Tracker report, we saw an aggregate of 350 VC financing deals worth about US$12.05 billion recorded in July 2021, an increase of US$720 million compared with June.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending July 30.
Deal value in China dropped precipitously in the past five days compared to the week before. This week we counted 83 Chinese startups and growth-stage companies raising a total of US$1.395 billion in venture capital. But last week there were 84 companies who combined to raise US$2.28 billion. So with a nearly-identical number of deals each week, the past five days saw a drop of about 40% in average deal value. There were over 250 private equity and VC investors handing out cash this week including GGV Capital, Baidu, Legend Capital, Xianghe Capital, Verity Ventures, Zhen Fund, Lilly Asia Ventures, and Sherpa Venture Capital. And they got involved with a range of startups, including those engaged in blockchain platforms, sparkling water, online games, outbound e-commerce, and immunocytochemical technology. This is the July 30, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending July 23.
Eighty-four Chinese startup and growth-stage companies raised a combined US$2.28 billion over the past five days. Investors in the 84 deals this week include DST Global, General Atlantic, Dawang Capital, Capital Today, Ocean Link, Andreessen Horowitz, GGV Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Addor Capital, Highlight Capital, and CS Capital. And they took stakes in a range of businesses including those involved in dental surgery, robotic automation, analog chip development, e-commerce, medical marketing, autonomous vehicles, and fintech. This is the July 23, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending July 16.
This was a great week for Chinese venture capital investments, as we counted 79 startup and growth-stage companies who raised a combined US$2.85 billion over the past five days. Investors in the 79 deals this week include the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, MSA Capital, Matrix Partners China, Merck Research Lab, Joy Capital, China Growth Capital, Waverider Capital, L Catterton, Linear Capital, Vertex Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners, and Primavera Capital. And they took stakes in a range of businesses include those involved in biotech, restaurant franchising, aeronautics, outbound e-commerce, skin care, media intelligence, cloud storage, and cybersecurity. This is the July 16, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending July 9.
We're in the full swing of July and we counted 77 startup and growth-stage Chinese companies who raised a combined US$2.12 billion over the past five days. To put this week's deal total in perspective, last week there were 76 deals totaling a little bit more than US$1 billion. So this week we had one more deal at 77, but the combined deal value was more than double last week's total! This week's 77 deals included investors like GenBridge Capital, JD.com, Sequoia Capital China, Qiming Venture Partners, Shunwei Capital, Lenovo Capital, and Jucheng Capital. And they invested in a bunch of companies, including those engaged in an e-commerce platform for imports, computational biophysics, and an online meeting SaaS solution provider. This is the July 9, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending July 2.
We're at the start of July, and we counted 76 startup and growth-stage Chinese companies who just managed to top a combined US$1.05 billion in the past five days. But while the total take this week was low, the month of June still hit a high point for Q2 with an aggregated 334 investment deals worth a total value of US$11.33 billion recorded in June 2021. This week's 76 deals included investors like Rotating Boulder Fund, Cowin Capital, Shenzhen Zhongmeiyin Investment, Matrix Partners China, Shunwei Capital, CITIC Securities, Nokia Growth Partners, and Sequoia Capital China. And they invested in a range of companies, such as those involved in logistics, clinical stage biopharmaceuticals, and cellular immune testing. This is the July 2, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending June 25.
As we end the last full week prior to end of the first half of the year, we count 82 startup and growth-stage Chinese companies who raised investments totaling US$1.975 billion in the past five days. This week's 82 deals included investors like Eastern Bell Venture Capital, Shunwei Capital, GL Ventures, Warburg Pincus, South River Capital, Xi'an Investment, Grains Valley Venture Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, and Trustbridge Capital. And they invested in a range of companies, such as those involved in artificial intelligence, pharmaceutical drug discovery and a noodle shop chain. This is the June 25, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending June 18.
Even with the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival holiday this week, we still saw some large fundings for Chinese startups and growth-stage companies. Last week there were 73 deals totaling US$3.99 billion, and this week there were 70 deals totaling US$2.28 billion. This week's 70 deals included investors like IDG Capital, Temasek, Lake Blue Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, GGV Capital, Baidu Ventures, GL Ventures, and Cambrian Venture Capital. And they invested in a range of companies, such as those involved in e-cigarettes, online content, and pharmaceuticals. This is the June 18, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending June 11.
This was a massive funding week for Chinese startups with 73 dealings closing for a total just shy of US$4 billion! To put this week's huge investment scale in perspective, last week there were 10 deals fewer than this week, but last week's total deal value was a full US$2.3 billion less than this week. Investors such as Sequoia Capital China, IDG Capital, AVIC Capital, Yingke PE, Matrix Partners China and Gaosheng Capital all piled into some big deals in artificial intelligence, robotics, e-commerce, cybersecurity, blockchain, online payments, marketing technology and healthcare technology. This is the June 11, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending June 04.
Deal flow was on the low side in China this week with only 63 documented fundraise closings, but we still saw some mega fundings, such as the US$200 million Series B for a Shanghai-based healthcare company and a US$190 million Series D closing for an 8-year-old artificial intelligence firm. Investors in key deals this week include China Merchants Venture, Sequoia Capital China, Greenwoods Investment, WuXi AppTec, N5 Capital, Matrix Partners China, Legend Capital, and Chenhui Venture Partners. This is the June 04, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending May 28.
Frequent China Money Podcast listeners know that last week we counted 73 Chinese startups closing their funding rounds. Well, this week we had another 73 deals close in China. But the good news is this week's total deal size increased. Last week's 73 deals totaled US$1.295 billion. And this week's total deal size amounted to US$1.7 billion. That's about US$400 million more this week on the same number of deals. Investors in key deals this week include Sourcecode Capital, Shunwei Capital, CICC Capital, China Life PE, China Asset Management, ABC International, Cormorant, CDBI Partners, Proxima Ventures, GP Capital, FutureX Capital, and Forebright Capital. This is the May 28, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending May 21.
After last week's massive number of startup fundings hitting 80, we came very close this week, as 73 Chinese startups, growth stage, and pre-IPO companies closed big funding over the past 5 days totaling US$1.295 billion. And whereas last week we had a nice mix of cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, and e-commerce firms in China raising capital, this week's highlighted companies are all from the biotech and healthcare sector. Investors in key deals this week include Lyfe Capital, HG Capital, Green Pine Capital Partners, Matrix Partners China, Oriza Holdings, Newley Capital, Yinglian Health Industry Fund, WuXi AppTec Group, and Sequoia Capital China. This is the May 21, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending May 14.
After coming out of the Chinese holiday last week, this week saw a massive number of startups closing frothy financing rounds. We monitored 80 different startup, growth stage, and pre-IPO investment deals closing over the past 5 days totaling US$2.66 billion across China. The 80 cash-infused startups include a blockchain bank, a fresh food e-commerce platform, and an HR services firm. And this week's investors include dozens of top-tier private equity and venture capital firms such as Aplus Capital, GDD Industry Fund Investment Group, Tiger Global Management, Shanghai Huajing Economic Development, Baidu Ventures, FountainVest Partners, SoftBank Vision Fund, Shunwei Capital, Primavera Capital, Fidelity Investments, Shenzhen Capital Group, Matrix Partners China, Genesis Capital, Sequoia Capital China, and Goldman Sachs. This is the May 14, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending May 7.
It's been a long holiday week in China, but dozens of startups still managed to close deals to raise additional funding. We monitored 34 different startup, growth stage, and pre-IPO investment deals closing over the past 5 days totaling US$880 million across China. Investors such as GP Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, Panlin Capital, Champion Ascend, Forebright Capital, SoftBank Ventures Asia, DCP Capital, and Sequoia Capital China all made investments this week in a bunch of startups. This is the May 7, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending April 30.
It's the last day of April, and we monitored 69 different startup, growth stage, and pre-IPO investment deals closing over the past 5 days totaling US$1.18 billion across China. Investors such as InnoAngel Fund, Susquehanna International Group, Sinopharm Capital, BioTrack Capital, GGV Capital, SenseTime, China Reform Holdings, and CDH Investments all made investments this week in a bunch of startups ranging from transportation, to healthcare, to space exploration, and everything in between. This is the April 30, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending April 23.
We monitored 75 different startup, growth stage, and pre-IPO investment deals closing in the past 5 days totaling US$1.77 billion across China. Investors such as BioTrack Capital, Sherpa Venture Capital, IDG Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures, 3H Health Investment, HG Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Alwin Capital, and Kunlun Fund all made investments this week in a bunch of startups ranging from gene editing to building information modeling to online education to artificial intelligence to cross-border trade, and everything in between. This is the April 23, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending April 16.
We are at the midpoint of the month of April, and we recorded 58 different startup, growth stage, and pre-IPO investment deals closing in the past 5 days totaling US$1.5 billion. Investors such as Sequoia Capital China, Tencent Holdings, Nio Capital, GSR Ventures, Cygnus Equity, C Ventures, BAI, CITIC PE, and Northern Light Venture all made investments this week in a wide range of companies like China's version of the U.S.-based Peloton and a cancer screening startup. This is the April 16, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending April 9.
This week was punctuated by the Qingming Festival in China that closed businesses, but we still recorded 51 different investment deals closing in the past 5 days totaling an incredibly high US$3.4 billion. Investors such as DST Global, Tiger Global Management, General Atlantic, CMC Capital Partners, Capital Today, Sequoia Capital China, Ocean Link, Hony Capital, Aspex Management, 3W Fund, Zhen Fund, APlus Partners, Innoangel Fund and Cygnus Equity all made investments this week. Welcome to the April 9, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending April 2.
April is the cruelest month, wrote poet T.S. Eliot. But if April is anything like the month of March that just closed, it will be a record-breaking month for startups and investors in China. An aggregate of 336 venture capital deals worth US$12.02 billion were recorded in March 2021, and 76 different investment deals closed in the past 5 days alone totaling US$2.385 billion. Investors such as Matrix Partners China, Yingke Private Equity, Topping Capital, China Everbright Limited, Tencent Holdings, Sequoia Capital China, GGV Capital and Lilly Asia Ventures all made investments this week. Welcome to the April 2, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending March 19.
From Chinese business enterprises to hutongs and everything in between in China, we are nearing the end of March 2021 and in the past 5 business days we analyzed 72 of the top startup and private company deals closing with private equity and venture capital firms in China with a combined raise of more than US$2.3 billion in everything from seed to pre-IPO rounds. Investors such as KKR, Hillhouse Capital, Vision Plus Capital, Temasek Holdings, Zhen Fund, Orchid Asia, Source Code Capital, Vstar Capital, and Fidelity International all got involved in the dozens of deals this week with firms like Hetao101, NewMed Medical, and Yuanhua Intelligent. It was a great week for both China startups and alternative asset investors, so welcome to the March 26, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending March 19.
We passed the halfway point this week for March 2021, and in the past 5 business days we took a deep dive into nearly 80 deals closing with private equity and venture capital firms in China with a combined raise of more than US$2.79 billion in everything from seed to pre-IPO rounds. Investors such as Sequoia Capital China, Temasek, Tiantu Capital, Cherubic, SoftBank, Tencent, Firstred Fund, Everest Venture, and Shunwei Capital all got involved in the dozens of deals this week. It was a great week for China startups and alternative asset investors, so welcome to the March 19, 2021 edition of the China Money Podcast where we update you on the news, data, and insights you need for making private equity and venture capital decisions in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending March 12.
We are nearing the ides of March 2021, and in the past 5 business days we counted over 70 deals closing with private equity and VC firms in China with a combined raise of more than US$2.3 billion in everything from seed to pre-IPO rounds. And one firm even raised a whopping 700 million in its Series A, while we saw other news concerning Huawei, AstraZeneca, and Xpeng Motors dominate the investment headlines. Startups in China this week raised funding from over 250 corporate venture capital, private equity and regular venture capital firms like Matrix Partners China, Hillhouse Capital, Warburg Pincus, Shenzhen Capital Group, Lilly Asia Ventures, Hina Group, Fengrun Investment, New Hope Group, Xiaomi, Fuho Capital, Meridian Capital, FutureX Capital, Addor Capital, GSR Ventures, Cowin Capital, Brill Capital and many others. Matoka Capital's Danny Levinson sits in as guest host this week too.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending March 5.
So this was another great week for startups and growth companies eyeing China's venture capital and private equity coffers. We saw over 60 documented investment deals close this week, and those deals totaled more than US$1.5 billion. True, this was a 50% drop from last week's massive US$3.2 billion, but this was a week of quality, not quantity, with deals done by firms like Matrix Partners, Centurium Capital, Cedarlake Capital and China Unicom. Plus a bunch of Clubhouse clones are popping up in China while the automotive sector sees new investments in electric vehicle services.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending February 26.
This was a massive week for China's venture capital and private equity investors as well as the startups and businesses that closed their funding rounds. We documented 99 deals that closed this week, and those deals totaled more than 3.204 billion US dollars. Just a massive week of dealflow across China! Key investors making commitments in China this week included Temasek Holdings, GGV Capital, Zhen Fund, BAI, GSR Ventures, Huaxing New Economic Fund, Lightspeed China Partners, Sequoia Capital China, Millennium Capital, and Oceanpine Capital.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending February 19.
Matoka Capital's Danny Levinson sits in as guest host, and topics covered include private equity and venture capital deals done this past week with Sequoia Capital China, Tencent Holdings, KKR, Qiming Venture Partners, Temasek Holdings, Primavera Capital, FountainVest Partners, Evergrande Group, DCP Capital, DT Capital Partners, Redhill Capital, Join Hands Capital, and Yuanju Capital. Plus we break down the numbers in the massive Changsha-based Xingsheng Youxuan deal and in the Suzhou-based Liangyihui deal, respectively.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture investment and tech sector for the week ending February 13.
Topics covered include private equity and venture capital deals done with CITIC PE and Guotai Junan; HNA's court-mandated reorganization; UnionPay online financial transactions during New Year’s Eve 2021; and the logistics industry gets some good news.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of September 9 to September 13, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Chinese all-electric vehicle brand Byton is raising a series C round at US$500 million after the start-up experienced a management shake-up and reported layoffs; Sky9 Capital closed two new funds with US$440 million in total capital commitments; and Houbank, a Chinese online peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform that counts Sequoia Capital China as a major shareholder, has been put on file for investigation and prosecution of alleged "illegal absorbing public deposits."
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of September 2 to September 6, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Alibaba Group paid about US$2 billion to acquire Kaola, an import e-commerce platform operated by NetEase, Xianghe Capital closed its second USD fund at US$425 million and debut RMB fund at RMB1 billion (US$139.30 million), and Chinese automotive company Geely sued WM Motor for "infringement of trade secrets."
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of August 26 to August 30, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) unicorn Megvii, the developer of facial recognition software Face++, filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, Tencent poured US$125 million into Kuaikan Manhua, an online platform for Chinese original comic artwork targeting young readers, and Ince Capital Partners raised US$163.3 million for its debut fund.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of August 5 to August 9, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Venturous Group is creating a capital pool worth US$1 billion to power the second transformation of China driven by smart urbanization and digitization, Didi Chuxing launched an independent company for its autonomous driving unit, and JD.com is leading a new round of investment worth nearly RMB1 billion (US$141.83 million) in Xinchao Media Group.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of July 29 to August 2, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Chinese investment bank China Renaissance's private equity unit raised its third RMB-denominated fund at over RMB6.5 billion (US$943.08 million), Chinese venture capital firm Joy Capital closed an early-to-growth-stage fund at over US$700 million for TMT and consumption investments, and Didi Chuxing teamed up with British oil and gas major BP to launch a joint venture for the construction of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of July 22 to July 26, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include SoftBank launched "SoftBank Vision Fund 2" to raise US$108 billion to facilitate the continued acceleration of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, China collected about RMB200 billion (US$29.08 billion) for "Big Fund II" to back homegrown chip developers, and Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing secured a US$600 million investment from Toyota.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of July 15 to July 19, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include SoftBank-backed Chinese robotics start-up CloudMinds filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York stock exchange to raise up to US$500 million, SoftBank Ventures Asia reached the first closing of "Growth Acceleration Fund" at about US$269 million, and Chinese online K12 education platform Knowbox closed US$150 million in a series D round of financing led by Alibaba Group to enhance its artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled education offerings.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of July 8 to July 12, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Hong Kong-based growth capital fund Genesis Capital reached the final closing of its second fund at US$850 million in total capital commitments, Chinese logistics robotics firm Geek+ was close to secure over US$150 million in a series C1 funding round, and Plum Ventures raised RMB532.5 million (US$77.49 million) for its fifth angel fund.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of July 1 to July 5, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Chinese biotechnology firm Lepu Biotech closed RMB900 million (US$131.47 million) in a series A round, Tencent led a series C round worth RMB250 million (US$36.32 million) in Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Synyi, and Qualcomm Ventures backed Chinese autonomous driving firm Zongmu Technology.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of June 24 to June 28, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Warburg Pincus closed "Warburg Pincus China-SEA II" at over US$4.25 billion for investments in China and Southeast Asia, Chinese online healthcare services provider Miaoshou Doctor confirmed to be valued at over RMB7 billion (US$1.01 billion) after a series C3 round, and JD Logistics reached the first closing for its debut RMB fund.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of June 17 to June 21, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include China issued eight principles to regulate the research and application of artificial intelligence (AI), Centurium Capital closed its debut China fund at over US$1.89 billion in capital commitments, and Cathay Capital reached the first closing for its second investment vehicle at €320 million (US$359.40 million) to support start-ups in China, Europe and North America.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of June 10 to June 14, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Chinese securities regulator launched the much-anticipated Nasdaq-style high-tech board, Vivo Capital rounded up over US$1.28 billion for the ninth private equity fund, and HSBC introduced a US$880 million technology fund for China's Greater Bay Area.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of June 3 to June 7, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Sinovation Ventures closed the third RMB-denominated fund at RMB2.5 billion (US$361.72 million), China issued the first batch of 5G licenses for commercial use, and ByteDance, the Chinese operator of short videos app TikTok, invested RMB1.26 billion (US$182.27 million) in a pre-initial public offering (IPO) round of financing in Chinese sports commentary app Hupu.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of May 27 to May 31, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include global investment powerhouse Warburg Pincus plans to raise up to US$4.25 billion for its second China and Southeast Asia-focused private equity fund, cloud computing infrastructure developer Beijing Qinhuai Technology secured US$570 million fresh funds from Bain Capital, and K12 online after-school tutoring services provider GSX Techedu seeks to raise US$208 million in an IPO in the United States.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of May 20 to May 24, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Chinese online travel service platform Mafengwo secured US$250 million in a new round of financing led by Tencent, innovative drugs developer Allist Pharmaceuticals raised RMB1.18 billion (US$170.75 million) fresh funds, and JD-backed ESR closed a new fund to focus on the development of "large-scale logistics facilities" in Japan.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of May 13 to May 17, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com entered into agreements for a series A funding round of its healthcare unit, JD Health, Singapore-listed property major CDL agreed to invest nearly US$1 billion in China, and the Shanghai government issued a guideline, seeking to transfer the global financial hub into a "hotbed" for AI innovation.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of May 6 to May 10, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Megvii raised US$750 million fresh funds, Allianz Real Estate committed US$600 million to GLP's China and Japan-focused funds, and Chinese retail giant Suning.com teamed up with Jack Ma-backed Yunfeng Capital to launch a private equity fund with an aim to raise up to US$2.5 billion.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of April 29 to May 3, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Suning.com, one of the largest retailers in China, planned to team up with private equity firm Guojun Capital to launch a fund of funds with a target size of RMB10 billion (US$1.48 billion), CITIC Capital Partners acquired Hangzhou UCO Cosmetics in a RMB1.4 billion (US$207 million) carve-out transaction, and Chinese lithium-ion battery maker Phylion Battery secured RMB810 million (US$120 million) in a pre-IPO funding round.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of April 22 to April 26, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include private equity company Hosen Capital saught to raise as much as US$1 billion for its third USD-denominated fund for acquisitions of Asian food producers, new energy vehicle (NEV) maker Hozon Auto secured RMB3 billion (US$446 million) in a series B round, and private healthcare network Tencent Trusted Doctors entered the unicorn club after a US$250 million new funding round.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of April 15 to April 19, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Londian, a Chinese high-tech company that specializes in power equipment, new energy and new materials, raised US$250 million fresh funds from SK Group, DCP Capital closed its debut USD fund at over US$2 billion, and Ping An raised about US$758 million in capital commitments for new funds.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of April 8 to April 12, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Dignari Capital Partners, a Hong Kong-based firm that specializes in credit and special situations investments, hit the final close for its second China-focused investment vehicle at US$626 million, Chinese venture capital firm Source Code Capital raised US$570 million fresh funds to finance early-to-middle-stage new economy companies, and Chinese healthcare-focused Shiyu Capital reached the final close for its second RMB fund at over RMB3.18 billion (US$473 million) in committed capital.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of April 1 to April 4, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Intel Capital injected US$177 million into 14 start-ups including China's Cloudpick and EEasy Technology, Alibaba closed a strategic investment in Chinese furnishing services start-up "Many Craftsmen," and Alibaba-backed Chinese online celebrity incubator Ruhnn Holding Ltd raised US$125 million in a U.S. IPO.
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Chinese co-working space operator Ucommune is seeking to maximize the value of the thousands of start-ups and entrepreneurs on its platform, by bridging start-up resources with Chinese schools and students through a newly-introduced brand, Ucommune Academy.
"We're trying to figure out the future [development] direction of the co-working space because co-working is a new concept in China, with only three to four years' history," said Josh Zhang Peng, chief strategy officer of Ucommune and executive headmaster of Ucommune Academy, in a phone interview with China Money Network earlier this month. Zhang said that Ucommune believes education is an effective avenue to test if the new business model can truly help them export start-up resources and capacities.
Ucommune launched the new brand as the Chinese government is aspiring for home-grown innovation and an upgrade of its economy in the industrial value chain. Chinese educational institutions were among the first group to answer the government policy by starting to provide entrepreneurship and innovation education to students in senior schools and universities. "But the Chinese market already stepped forward, while schools are slow to catch up, so we think maybe our capacity in serving the market can be helpful in building the equivalent entrepreneurship education," said Zhang.
Josh Zhang Peng is the chief strategy officer of Chinese co-working space operator Ucommune and executive headmaster of Ucommune Academy, an entrepreneurship and innovation education affiliate launched by Ucommune in March 2019.
Ucommune Academy raised nearly RMB10 million (US$1.48 million) in an angel round led by Letai Capital, an investment vehicle of Chinese online learning service provider Shanghai Retech Enterprise Management Group. The company already forged cooperation with a few universities in Beijing, with a 2019 plan to scale up across China through collaborations with over 50 schools. Read an interview Q&A below. Also subscribe to China Money Podcast for free in the iTunes store, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Below is an edited version of the interview.
Q: Can you give us a brief introduction of Ucommune Academy, including what does it do, and what are the reasons behind the launch of this brand?
A: Ucommune Academy was launched in 2018. As we have gathered over 10,000 small and medium enterprises on our co-working platform Ucommune after three-and-half-year operation, we want to maximize the value of these companies and entrepreneurs.
Since 2014, Premier Li Keqiang launched the so-called "massive entrepreneurship" as a national policy, universities are actually among the first group of institutions to answer the government's appeal. A lot of Chinese universities started to build their entrepreneurship academies or entrepreneurship faculties. But since universities don't a resourceful start-up related ecosystem, Ucommune Academy wants to help universities build their entrepreneurship education.
Universities and senior schools are the first tier we target by helping students start their own projects and businesses. We seek to select high-end entrepreneurs: someone who has run a business for over one year; someone who already attracted venture capital in series A or B round; someone who is a pioneer in a certain industry. We send these entrepreneurs to schools to teach students how to start a business. By doing so, we try to link the market with universities, and also give universities more innovative ideas, information, support, and service in their entrepreneurship education.
Q: What are the most frequently-asked questions from these young students you've talked to?
A: The most frequently-asked question is: If I start a business, what could be the most valuable industries to start with? Because they don't know the general trend. To give them the answer, we usually select the most popular industries based on the start-ups on the Ucommune platform,
In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of March 25 to March 29, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Chinese multi-service property firm Ke.com is raising US$800 million in a series D round led by Tencent, Chinese big data solutions provider MiningLamp Technology secured RMB2 billion (US$297 million) in a series D round, and Chinese fresh food chain supermarket Yipin Shengxian completed a RMB2 billion (US$297 million) series B round.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of March 18 to March 22, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include Alibaba-backed Chinese car service provider UCAR would pay RMB4.10 billion (US$610.63 million) for a 67% stake in car manufacturer Borgward, Chinese state-owned investment firm NewMargin Ventures launched a RMB10 billion (US$1.49 billion) new fund, and Singapore-based investment firm Tembusu Partners said to launch several China-focused funds totaling at least RMB1 billion (US$149.26 million).
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of March 11 to March 15, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include SoftBank plans to pour an additional US$1.6 billion into Didi Chuxing, China beefs up efforts to boost the industrial internet development by setting up a series of preliminary industry standards in 2020, and Lufax unveiled series C round to reach a US$39.4 billion valuation.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of March 4 to March 8, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include China's securities watchdog finalized regulations for a Nasdaq-style innovation board to help the country's most valuable start-ups raise capital, Chinese online marketplace for classifieds, 58.com, entered into an agreement to sell its stake in online car trading platform Chehaoduo for US$713.6 million, and Baidu invested RMB3 billion (US$446 million) in Chinese electric vehicle start-up WM Motor.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of February 25 to March 1, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include SoftBank Vision Fund invested US$1.5 billion in Chinese auto retail services platform Chehaoduo, Chinese AI chips designer Horizon Robotics raised US$600 million in a series B round, and Tiger Global and Ant Financial led a US$500 million series C round in Chinese online apartment rental platform Danke Apartment.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of February 18 to February 22, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include American property developer Greystar-led China fund reached first close at US$450 million, Hong Kong-based on-demand logistics company Lalamove secured US$300 million in series D round, and China is set to debut the world's first 5G railway station in Shanghai by late 2019.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of February 11 to February 15, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include TPG Capital Management has reached the final close of its seventh Asia-focused private equity fund "TPG Capital Asia VII" with over US$4.6 billion in commitments, Hong Kong-based venture capital fund All-Stars Investment has collected US$500 million to expand its portfolio of start-ups, and Tencent leads a US$300 million investment in American social media network Reddit.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of January 28 to February 1, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include China unveiled detailed rules for the new Nasdaq-style technology board in Shanghai, Indonesian ride-hailing company Go-Jek reached the first close of its series F round of financing led by Google, Tencent and JD.com, and Chinese private equity firm ClearVue Partners plans to raise US$600 million for its third fund.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of January 21 to January 25, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include China has approved the establishment of a Nasdaq-like science and technology board in Shanghai, Beijing further broadened the tax incentives for investments in the country's technology start-ups, and CITIC Capital plans to raise US$2 billion for distressed assets investments in China.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of January 14 to January 18, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include China will introduce a positive policy to attract foreign direct investment, CITIC Construction teams up with Japanese ITOCHU to launch a fund for building data centers in China, and American venture capital firm Redpoint Ventures anticipates raising US$400 million for two China-focused funds.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of January 7 to January 11, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered China pledges to grant temporary 5G licenses in 2019 to promote its commercial use by year end, Chinese private equity firm Sinocurrent launches a US$1.45 billion mergers and acquisitions fund, and Hong Kong-based financial services company China Everbright Limited raises US$539 million for its CEL Global Investment Fund.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of December 31 to January 4, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang in Hong Kong.
Topics covered include China's unmanned probe Chang'e 4 makes historic touchdown on the far side of the Moon, Lightspeed China Partners raises US$560 million for its largest fund family IV, and Chinese venture capital firm Shenzhen Capital Group launches its first US$524 million merger and acquisition fund.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of December 24 to December 28, 2018, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include China considers a new foreign investment law to curb forced tech transfer, Chinese bike-sharing firm Hellobike raises several billions of yuan in a new round of financing led by Ant Financial and Primavera Capital Group, and China's state-owned firm SIIC sets up US$7.28 billion fund for biomedical investments.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of December 17 to December 21, 2018, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include Hong Kong-Based private equity firm Gaw Capital eyes final close of US$2 billion fund by the second quarter of 2019, Lightspeed China Partners targets to raise US$560 million across two new funds, and Baidu's fintech spin-off Du Xiaoman Financial gets US$2.89 billion credit line from Bank of Tianjin.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of December 10 to December 14, 2018, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include China potentially eases its high-tech push formulated in the "Made in China 2025", Eastern China's Zhejiang Province plans to invest over US$17.5 billion to accelerate the technology industry, and China launches US$12.8 billion fund to boost high-tech industries in the Greater Bay Area.
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Chai Xiangfei, founder of Chinese artificial intelligence startup HuiyiHuiying, is modest and painfully honest, something that is rare among Chinese entrepreneurs.
When asked about the future of applying AI technology to the healthcare sector, Chai did not talk about billion-dollar market potential. "I always tell my team that...the most important thing is who can survive longer. If one can survive for five years, he/she will be the winner," Chai told China Money Network in an interview in HuiyiHuiying's headquarters in Beijing last week.
The honesty may come from Chai's experience as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Radiation Oncology at Stanford University, as well as working at the Holland Cancer Research Center and the radiology department in Leuven University. Before founding the Beijing-based medical imaging AI startup in 2015, Chai had worked in fields that rely on precision and accuracy.
But venturing into the tech startup world in China for almost three years has altered Chai's mentality, for sure. "I changed from the mindset of an engineer and a scientist to a businesses person. Before, we only thought about the technology and products. But now the more important things are: How can you make money? Who are the real payers for your products?" Chai confessed.
This focus on the end user has led HuiyiHuiying to create products with maximum value potential. Since hospitals are the paying clients for HuiyiHuiying's medical imaging AI products in China, the company has focused on hospitals' needs on key diseases: major vascular diseases and cancers including breast cancer, lung cancer and liver cancer. These two types of diseases accounted for roughly 66% of the causes for death in China in 2016, the biggest killer diseases by a wide margin, according to the World Health Organization.
Because hospitals are organized around disease types, HuiyiHuiying has designed its products to assist single disease throughout the diagnosis and treatment process. In November, the company launched two full cycle health management platforms for breast cancer and cardiac diseases.
"Different hospitals always have different processes that need to be adjusted to. For some big customers, we always need to adjust, even the algorithms, to do the fine tuning," said Chai.
If the future is the survival of the fittest for healthcare AI startups, HuiyiHuiying is currently among the strongest in China. Last month, Intel Capital led a strategic investment round in the company, with participation from Beijing Singularity Power Investment Fund, a state-backed firm.
Even though the company did not disclose how much it raised, people with knowledge of the matter said it is around RMB200 million (US$29 million) to RMB300 million (US$43 million). In January this year, Chinese private equity firm CDH Investments invested an undisclosed amount in the company.
In Chai's own words, Chinese venture capital markets has cooled during the second half of 2018, even though "AI was still very hot" during the first half. To be able to secure financing in today's crucial environment is a testament of HuiyiHuiying's team, but also its intense focus on execution and business fundamentals. Read an interview Q&A below. Also subscribe to China Money Podcast for free in the iTunes store, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Below is an edited version of the interview.
Q: HuiyiHuiying last month raised strategic investments from Intel Capital and Beijing Singularity Power Investment Fund. Was it easy to close this funding round in the so-called "VC winter"?
A: The Chinese VC market, especially during the second half of 2018, fundraising has become more difficult in general, even for the AI industry. During the first half, fundraising in other industries was difficult but AI was still very hot.
I guess investors have become more selective in companies, with a stronger focus on if you have a viable business model,
In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of December 3 to December 7, 2018, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include China unveils 38 punishments for serious intellectual property (IP) violations, China Mobile plans to set up a US$1.46 billion 5G industrial fund, and China's renowned physicist and founder of Danhua Capital Zhang Shoucheng commits suicide.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of November 26 to November 30, 2018, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include Chinese private equity firm Boyu Capital seeks to raise at least US$3 billion for new USD-denominated fund, China's authorities tightens norm on systemically important financial institutions deemed as "too big to fall", and Legend Capital raises US$257 million From South Korea's SK Group to co-launch a fund in China.
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Spencer Deng, founder of Shenzhen-based robotics and AI start-up Dorabot Inc., wants to build a Silicon Valley startup with Shenzhen speed to fully automate the whole logistics process. Ever since being put into an internship as a teenage delivery boy at EMS, the 30-year-old entrepreneur has been thinking about how to solve this complicated puzzle making machines do all the boring and repetitive logistics work.
Now, leading a team camped out in a remote warehouse in Shenzhen, Deng works with dozens of robotics geeks from around the world trying to solve specific puzzle pieces. In one corner, a Yaskawa robotic arm is being "trained" to read parcel labels on a conveyor belt, pick up the parcels and drop them into different sorting containers.
With an aim to achieve cost savings and better efficiency in the task of sorting, Dorabot bought the Yaskawa robotic arm. It then placed cameras on the it, added self-made graspers, and built back-end systems to enable the arm to read labels via image recognition, quickly figure out how best to pick up the item based on its shape and material, and put it in the correct containers.
"One of the big reasons why the (robotics/AI) industry is growing so rapidly is that deep learning made huge breakthrough around 2010, leading to significant improvements in computer vision, facial recognition...This suddenly opened up a lot more applications (in other sectors)," Deng told China Money Network in an interview at Dorabot's Shenzhen headquarters. "If we capture enough data from the logistics industry (using image recognition), we might be able to improve optimization significantly."
The optimization part is best explained in an example. Dorabot is helping a global furniture company optimize pellet placement in their containers for shipping. It takes a lot of training for very skilled workers to know how to place the pellets to save space and material. But with cloud-based systems, AI algorithms and deep learning capabilities, the best placement solution takes a second to be generated, and the workers just need to execute it.
For now, most of Dorabot's products are in the research and development stage with a few being implemented in real-world use cases. But Deng's timing to start an AI company in logistics is impeccable.
Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com, as well as major express delivery firms, have all been pushing aggressively in smart logistics. During this year's 11.11 shopping festival, ALOG Technology, a key supplier of warehouse management services for Alibaba's Tmall Supermarket, worked with Chinese AI unicorn Megvii Technology and Ares Robot to help handle the massive 1.35 billion orders placed during a one-day event. A total of 500 fulfillment robots worked for five days non-stop (except for battery recharge) to fulfill 1.5 million goods, says Megvii in a Wechat post. Megvii acquired Ares Robot, a logistics robotics firm, earlier this year for an undisclosed amount.
In Deng's vision, however, making the logistics process partially automated is far from enough. Kiva Systems, now known as Amazon Robotics after it was acquired by the American e-commerce giant in 2012, is a symbolic solution most commonly seen in today's warehouses around the world. Alibaba's Cainiao warehouses use lots of similar fulfillment robots - mostly made by Chinese copycats of Kiva Systems - to move goods around in warehouses, so workers don't have to walk around to pick up or put back certain products.
"The difference between automation and robotics/AI is that there is no "thinking" or "learning" in automation," says Deng in the interview. "Automation is perhaps a lower level system that companies use before moving to more intelligent robotics/AI solutions."
In a way, what Deng envisions is a more "fancy" system that can further squeeze efficiency improvements from existing systems that have already cut significant numbers of human laborers.
In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of November 19 to November 23, 2018, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include Chinese intelligent electric vehicle start-up Leap Motor raises RMB2 billion (US$290 million) in series A round of financing, JD Finance forays into stock-breeding with facial recognition technology for pigs, and China's Shenzhen city launches two funds worth US$360 million.
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As moviegoers were mesmerized by the futuristic stories in Christopher Nolan's science fiction film Interstellar, Harvard University's theoretical physicist Lisa Randall says the high-grossing movie - even though "technically accurate" - failed to illustrate the type of extra dimensions she tries to picture in her own mind.
"They have to make it [the fifth dimension] visible to people looking at the screen, which means that some of the subtle effects - that are on scales that you'd never be able to see with your naked eyes, won't be shown in the movie," Randall explains in a recent interview with China Money Network in Hong Kong during her trip in Asia.
But as the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University with research interests in elementary particles, fundamental forces and extra dimensions of space, Randall appreciated how the movie inspired people's interests in science. That inspiration is critical in pushing scientific research forward, she believes.
Outside of sci-fi movies, what China has done in practical measures is "inspirational" too, and could be "ground-breaking", Randall says. For example, China's ambitious plan in building the world's most powerful particle collider will produce something twice the size and seven times as powerful as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).
The planned particle collider, namely China Electron Positron Collider (CEPC), is a long-term project first proposed by the Chinese high energy physics community in 2012. It is a facility used to measure the precise properties of the Higgs boson, or the so-called "God particle", which is regarded as a crucial link that could explain why other elementary particles have mass.
Scientists in China have released details for the collider, saying it will produce over one million Higgs bosons in a seven-year period. The project is expected to start construction in 2021 and be completed in 2027, and then put into operation one year after.
"Just the idea that it might exist [in China in the future] already has been an incentive for many people to come here," said Randall. "The prospect of having this collider has brought a lot of American physicist who I know – I mean, maybe other countries as well – to China."
Concerning the overall research environment in China, Randall says her main concern lays in the "hierarchical system" that she has observed. "It seems like it's an environment where there's one person who gets a lot of resources and people have to accommodate that," she says.
Instead of focusing funding a few great scientists and let them have the right to determine everything, Randall believes that China should spread resources more widely, so that the young generation can be more independent and have a chance to lead new innovations.
Lisa Randall is an American theoretical physicist working in particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University. Her research connects theoretical insights to puzzles in the current understanding of the properties and interactions of matter. She has developed and studied a wide variety of models to address these questions, most prominently involving extra dimensions of space. Read an interview Q&A below. Also subscribe to China Money Podcast for free in the iTunes store, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Below is an edited version of the interview.
Q: If you look at the global top 20 best universities to study physics, twelve are American universities and only one university is from China, which is Tsinghua University. Why American universities are so strong in providing good physics research environment? And what should China do to improve this?
A: Well, (American universities) have a longer history of doing this. I think it's only recently that China has had these very big modernization. One thing China is doing is promoting experiments and observations. There are dark matter experiments,
In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of November 5 to November 9, 2018, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include China-focused venture capital firm H Capital's plan in raising US$700 million fifth fund, Kai-Fu Le's Sinovation Ventures closing RMB2.5 billion (US$361.40 million) RMB-denominated fund, and Chinese e-sports team IG's 3-0 sweeping victory at the 2018 League of Legends World Championship.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of October 29 to November 2, 2018, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include Chinese President Xi urges to boost China's development of the new-generation artificial intelligence technology, U.S. charges Chinese firms for stealing Micron trade secrets, and Chinese Fortune Venture Capital launches a new RMB fund worth US$667 million.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of October 22 to 26, 2018, with Eudora Wang sitting in for Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include Bytedance is completing a US$3 billion pre-IPO round of financing, Tiger Global Management raises a US$3.75 billion technology-focused venture capital fund, Bridgewater files first private equity fund in China, and Tencent teams up with supermarket chain operators ParknShop and Yonghui to form a joint venture.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of October 15 to 19, 2018, with Eudora Wang who is sitting in for Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include China Life Insurance Company sets up a US$2.17 million fund, cross-border venture capital firm GGV Capital closes US$1.88 billion-worth new funds, and Chinese online, mobile advertising firm Panshi raises a US$320 million series D financing round, and Alibaba injects a US$290 million series C round of investment to Chinese liquor e-commerce retailer 1919 Wines & Spirits Platform Technology.
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After 10 years as a managing director at Chinese sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation (CIC), Winston Ma started his own investment firm earlier this year.
As chief investment officer of newly established China Silkroad Investment Capital, Ma plans to seek investment opportunities around a buzz phrase: Digital Silk Road.
After Chinese president Xi Jinping first raised the concept in 2017, Digital Silk Road has become part of what Beijing hopes to alleviate the negative perceptions related to traditional infrastructure projects that the Belt and Road Initiative has been financing in the past several years.
Compared to funding bridges, roads and dams, promoting e-commerce or supporting 5G networks have a lower chance of creating negative environmental impact. Other component of the Digital Silk Road could include adding big data platforms and other high-tech tools to make all types of projects more efficient.
Ma was among the first group of overseas hires by CIC at the Chinese sovereign wealth fund's inception in 2007. He was a founding member of CIC’s Private Equity Department, and later the Special Investment Department for direct investing.
Before CIC, Ma served as the deputy head of equity capital markets at Barclays Capital, as well as having worked at J.P. Morgan and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.
Ma is the author of multiple books, including China's Mobile Economy, Digital Economy 2.0, Investing in China, and The Digital Silk Road: China's New Growth Story. He spoke to China Money Network during during an interview on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting of the New Champions held by the World Economic Forum in Tianjin last month. Read an interview Q&A below. Also subscribe to China Money Podcast for free in the iTunes store, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Below is an edited version of the interview.
Q: You just published a new book: Digital Silk Road: China's New Growth Story. Tell us briefly the main ideas in this book?
A: This is the third book of a series on China's digital economy. The first book was China’s Mobile Economy, published in 2016 at the high time of China’s mobile Internet boom. The second book, Digital Economy 2.0., came out in 2017 after the G20 Hangzhou Summit, where President Xi and other leaders announced to use the digital economy evolution to bring new growth to the global economy.
The third book is titled Digital Silk Road, as President Xi last year used this term to describe the intersection between the digital economy and the Belt and Road Initiative. The third book focuses on China’s digital transformation and its global impact.
You can think of the Digital Silk Road as the convergence of the digital economy initiative and the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2013, when the Belt and Road Initiative was announced, people related it mostly to traditional infrastructures investments in things like railroads, reservoirs, dams, and high-speed rail.
However, in recent years, the digital economy is revolutionizing the global economy. So, it is natural to add the digital economy component to the Belt and Road Initiative. Specifically, when people think about the Belt and Road, they should think about smart infrastructure, that may include 5G networks, satellite towers, smartphone and its related economies.
Q: Do investments in Digital Silk Road work similarly to traditional infrastructure, where China offers the financing and expertise with strong government support?
A: Yes and no. It is similar in the sense that there is still a lot of government support and Chinese capital involved. But at the same time, you will see more diverse forms of investments for the Digital Silk Road. For example, you may see a lot of traditional projects financed by debt and banking loans. But for the Digital Silk Road, there may be more equity-linked investments.
Q: And more private capital participation?
A: That’s right. So traditionally,
In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of October 8 to 12, 2018, with Eudora Wang who is sitting in for Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include Chinese viggie-selling app Meicai raises US$600 million, Chinese Airbnb copycat Xiaozhu.com raises $300 million, Tencent Music's U.S. IPO delay, and Chinese telecom-maker Huawei launching self-developed AI chips.
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Jack Ma said last month that China needs to focus on "new manufacturing", while the U.S. launched a trade war in order to bring "old manufacturing" back to the world's largest economy.
Putting the contrast aside, the focus on new manufacturing has never been stronger in China. Efforts to build smart factories and government subsidies toward the initiative are growing across the country.
A recent report published by the China Development Research Foundation, a think tank initiated by the Development Research Center of the State Council, documented some of such campaigns.
In one example, Dongguan, a small city in coastal Guangdong province, has cut 250,000 jobs, or around 5% of the city's registered labor force, during a three-year "robot-for-humans" campaign. The city government spent RMB200 million (US$29 million) each year to finance companies to upgrade automation equipment. A company in Hangzhou has cut the number of workers to 11 to 13 per production line from 200 to 300 per production line ten years ago. Another kitchen appliances maker in Hangzhou received government subsidies equaling 5% of the costs to upgrade its production lines. Now it is able to cut labor force by over one third from three years ago and is aiming to achieve fully automated productions in ten years. Shenzhen government is spending RMB500 million (US$72 million) to support robotics, wearable and smart equipment sectors locally each year.
Our guest of this episode of China Money Podcast, Hao Jingfang, is one of the authors of the report. Hao is also a science fiction writer and won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette for "Folding Beijing" in 2016, becoming the first female writer in Asia to receive the award.
China's new manufacturing efforts echo Hao's observation that, "Whenever there’s a technological breakthrough, it is an advantage for Chinese tech companies to test the idea in a massive market."
As companies, governments and investors push to "upgrade" Chinese manufacturing to full automation and "intelligent factories", a large number of jobs will disappear. But the report concludes that with careful management and retraining of the labor force, China will be able to overcome the coming labor disruptions from mass adoptions of robots and AI.
However, Hao, a PhD graduate from Tsinghua University with degrees in both physics and economics, is concerned over the difficulties China will face transitioning from "technology adopters" to "technology originators."
"A lot of companies are just too short-sighted. Because in the past, there were many opportunities for those companies to make quick money...Perhaps there’s no patience in these companies to aspire for bigger things. And also the investors, they want to just copy the fastest successful business model. So they are not patient enough to make long term investment," Hao told China Money Network during during an interview on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting of the New Champions held by the World Economic Forum in Tianjin last month. Read an interview Q&A below. Also subscribe to China Money Podcast for free in the iTunes store, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Below is an edited version of the interview.
Q: You have written science fictions about China at a distant future. And as a director working at China Development Research Foundation, you have a unique vintage point observing China's technology space. What's your overall view of how the Chinese technology sector has grown and developed?
A: The Chinese technology sector has grown quite rapidly. It has advantages of a large (domestic) market and close relationships to its customers. Whenever there's a technological breakthrough, it is an advantage for Chinese tech companies to test the idea in a massive market.
However, there are some fallback too. The one main problem is the lack of basic research. Investments in basic research in China is comparatively lower comparing to developed countries.
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (Hyperloop TT) aspires to build 2,000 kilometers futuristic Hyperloop lines in China one day, says the firm's co-founder and chairman Bibop Gresta.
"We are talking to five provinces right now. Guizhou is the first one we signed," Gresta told China Money Network during an interview on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting of the New Champions held by the World Economic Forum in Tianjin.
https://youtu.be/Uw3a-Hi2yY8
Hyperloop TT has already sealed a deal with Guizhou province in China's southwestern region to build its first track in the country, the company said in an announcement two months ago. The deal marks the third commercial agreement for Hyperloop TT, following announcements on similar agreements in Abu Dhabi and Ukraine earlier in 2018.
"In the future, we will not build, maintain or operate anything but act as a licensing company with enormous knowledge and intellectual property (IP) technologies," Gresta said. "In Guizhou, we are foreseeing a six-month feasibility study, and then 38 months to implement the first line. We are talking about an overview of a maximum of five years to add the first passenger in China. Then we are planning to roll out 2,000 kilometers in China."
According to the People's Daily, the hyperloop project in Tongren, Guizhou province, is expected to cost about RMB10 billion (US$1.5 billion), covering a total distance of 60 kilometers (37.2 miles).
The California-based Hyperloop TT focuses on building hyperloop systems enabling capsules to travel in a vacuum tube, an idea first proposed by technology magnate Elon Musk. The technology is said to be able to move capsules reaching speed of up to 1,223 kilometers per hour (760 mph).
Hyperloop TT's ambitious plans in China comes at a time when the country is embroiled in a fierce trade war with the United States. The White House and U.S. President Donald Trump have repeatedly blamed China for unfair trade practices, IP infringements, and forced technology transfers. Gresta also discussed how his company deals with intellectual property protections when doing business in China. Read an interview Q&A below. Also subscribe to China Money Podcast for free in the iTunes store, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Q: For those who are not familiar, please give us a brief introduction of hyperloop Transportation Technologies?
A: My company is the first company to bring Elon Musk's vision to travel inside a tube at the speed of sound into reality. Imagine putting a capsule full of people inside a tube, sucking the air out of the tube so there's no resistance, and you can move people from point A to point B at almost the speed of sound using a tiny fraction of energy. Sounds like science fiction but we are actually building it.
Q: How much progress have you made in R&D? How ready is this technology now?
A: We have finished all the testing and prototyping, and now construction has started. There is a big prototyping construction in Toulouse, France. It will be divided into two parts. One is 320 meters and the other is 1.4 kilometers. This is the certification track which will also be used to certify the technology.
We have already started the development of the first commercial line in Abu Dhabi. Most recently, we signed a deal with the local government in Tongren City in Guizhou province to build the first commercial line in China.
Q: Certainly, there is a lot of potential, but there are also lots of criticisms and questions about how the technology will be realistic in terms of costs and potential risks. One of those criticisms comes from the consideration for safety.
Could you tell us a little bit about safety concerns and how do you plan to handle this issue?
A: All the criticisms are based on the initial designs of the hyperloop. Nobody has really looked into what we are doing. The most important thing you have to understand about the hyperloop is that it is based o...
In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of September 17 to 21, 2018, with Eudora Wang who is sitting in for Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include China AI Top 50, a ranking of China's 50 most successful AI companies, and Hillhouse's US$10.6 billion new fund, the largest such private investment vehicle raised for the Asian markets.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of September 3 to 7, 2018, with host Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include Goldman Sachs joining a US$450 million deal investing in Chinese fresh produce e-commerce firm MissFresh, Baidu Video scoring a US$100 million series B round from parent company Baidu Inc.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of August 27 to August 31, 2018, with host Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include China's plans to build a US$145 million superconducting computer, a number of Hong Kong IPOs including China's largest hotpot chain Haidilao, Xiaomi-backed Internet home appliances maker Viomi, and online renovation platform Tubatu.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of August 13 to August 17, 2018, with host Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include Chinese co-working space operator Mydream+ scoring US$120 million in VC funding, EV pioneer NIO drives to New York seeking for a US IPO, and Lu Qi, Baidu's former chief operating officer who stepped down in July, joining Y Combinator to lead its China efforts.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of August 6 to August 10, 2018, with host Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include Dada-JD Daojia, a Chinese online grocery delivery firm, raising US$500 million from U.S. retailer Walmart and JD.com, and Zhihu, China's Quora, scores a US$270 million new round, possibly before it's IPO.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of July 30 to August 3, 2018, with host Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include Chinese electric vehicle unicorn Xiaopeng Motors raising a US$587 million massive round, and China Money Network releases China VC Tracker for the month of July that analyzes VC market trends in the past month.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of July 23 to July 27, 2018, with host Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include WeWork China raising a US$500 million series B round of financing led by Temasek, the SoftBank Group the SoftBank Vision Fund, and Megvii Inc., also known as Face++, reportedly nearing a US$600 million round from investors including Alibaba and Boyu Capital.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of July 9 to July 13, 2018, with host Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include 58 Suyun, a freight business unit under Chinese online marketplace 58 Daojia, securing US$250 million funding, and Tiger Global Management leading a US$150 million round in Aihuishou, a Shanghai-based smartphone and consumer electronics recycle start-up.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of July 2 to July 6, 2018, with host Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include Chinese VC Tracker for the month of June, where a monster round completed by Ant Financial drove monthly VC deal value over 300% more than that of May, and computer vision solutions firm Trax raising a US$125 million round from Chinese investment firm Boyu Capital.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the China venture and tech sector for the week of June 18-22, 2018 with host Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include Chinese AI chip maker Cambricon's massive round worth several hundred millions of U.S. dollars, Vipkid's US$500 million series D+ financing, and lots of other VC news and tech topics.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the week of June 11-15, 2018 with host Nina Xiang.
Topics covered include Chinese AI company Yitu Tech's US$200 million venture round, Baidu Inc's plans to issue China Depositary Receipts, and China Money Network's efforts to compile a list of 50 leading Chinese AI companies to shed light on the industry.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the week of June 4-8, 2018 with host Nina Xiang and guest Fritz Demopoulos, founder of Queens Road Capital and co-founder of Qunar.com.
Topics covered include Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc.'s dual listing in Hong Kong and in China via the newly implemented CDR program, Ant Financial's massive US$14 billion new round, and how to keep up with shifting new tech trends in today's world.
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For Chinese venture capitalist Wei Zhou, founding managing partner of China Creation Ventures, the changes he has witnessed in China during his professional life have been awe-inspiring.
"When I graduated from university, most of my classmates were assigned jobs in semiconductor-related areas as we studied physical electronics. But they all left that industry because there was so little progress," Zhou told China Money Network in an interview in his firm's Beijing office two weeks ago. "Now, I think it is the best time to reinvest into that area."
Granted, Zhou recognizes that Chinese companies still lag behind Silicon Valley when it comes to core research breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) and other deep tech areas. But there are many positive developments in these sectors, creating new opportunities for VCs like himself.
"For the past decade, we didn’t invest much in deep tech, because it didn’t make money. Now we see the rise of AI in China, even if it is not as cutting-edge like Google, but the advantage in China’s AI sector lies in the speed with which Chinese people and even Chinese government are adopting new things," Zhou said. "This high and rapid adoption is enabling new technology to find commercialized applications more easily and swiftly."
For example, Zhou's firm invested recently in a company called CowaRobot, a low speed autonomous vehicle solutions company. One of the company's products is a road sweeping robot that is being tested in Changsha city, Hunan province. With around 300 cities in China with a population over one million, the potential mass commercialization of this robot could be huge. China Creation Ventures is also looking into sectors such as the private rocket launch industry in China, something that did not exist just a few years ago.
In 2007, Zhou joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers China and was responsible for Internet, wireless, media and online financial services investments. He has observed how the spending behavior of Chinese millennial is creating new investment opportunities that would have not made sense a couple of years ago.
"In the past, we always look for companies with potential to grow to over 200 million to 300 million users. We don’t want to invest in companies targeting users below 100 million because it’s too small. Now, even if a company only targets 30 million to 50 million users, it can still be very profitable and valuable," Zhou said, explaining that Chinese young people today pay for whatever they like online.
One example that illustrates this trend is Himalaya FM, an audio platform in China and a portfolio company of Zhou's firm. The company recorded RMB196 million (US$30.5 million) in revenues in December 2017 when it did a membership promotion for two days, something that would have been unimaginable in the past when users were unwilling to pay for content online. Another anecdote illustrating this shifting behavior is that factory workers are sometimes spending 1/3 of their monthly salaries on mobile entertainment, Zhou said. In the past, Chinese factory workers would be saving most of their income to send to their families.
China Creation Ventures completed fundraising for its first RMB fund at RMB1.5 billion (US$220 million) in July 2017, and reached first closing of its U.S. dollar dominated fund at nearly US$100 million three months later. Read an interview Q&A below. Also subscribe to China Money Podcast for free in the iTunes store, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Q: Which sectors do you find the best investment opportunities right now?
A: There is a different "hot sector" every month nowadays and they are shifting rapidly. For us, we first look at the macro trends on what will happen in the next several years, instead of specific sectors. For example, we sensed a turning point about two years ago on China's young generation taking a more prominent role in shaping consumption power,
In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the week of May 27 to June 1, 2018 with host Nina Xiang. Topics covered include China Money Network's freshly released China VC Tracker for the month of May, how Chinese AI company SenseTime raised US$1.2 billion in a two-month period, and how the battle to gain an upper hand in omni-channel retail continues between Tencent and Alibaba.
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In this episode of China Money Podcast, listen to all the news headlines in the week of May 21-25, 2018 with host Nina Xiang. Topics covered include two massive healthcare VC rounds, including Sequoia Capital and Yunfeng Capital's US$260 million investment in biomed firm Brii Bio, and Ally Bridge Group's US$300 million investment in Tencent-backed cancer detection start-up Grail. In addition, there are lots of insights from China's official blockchain report.
Be sure to subscribe to China Money Podcast for free in the iTunes store, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Follow us on Twitter @chinamoneypod, follow us on our LinkedIn page. Please scan the QR code below to follow us on Wechat.