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Venture capital market

Venture capital market
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Venture capital market. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
Artificial intelligence start-up Stepfun raised a hefty, undisclosed amount in its latest funding round. Photo: Handout
Artificial intelligence

Shanghai firm helps AI start-up Stepfun raise ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’

Fortera Capital, a private-equity firm under the Shanghai State-owned Capital Investment Co, led Stepfun’s recent series B funding round.

ByteDance

Fund of ByteDance’s billionaire founder gets Hong Kong asset management licence

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Artificial intelligence

Chinese start-up Zhipu AI adds US$412 million to war chest in crowded market

China technology

Chinese venture capital firm finds growth in niche spending amid overall slump

BA Capital has been able to tap into niche consumer areas to grow into a firm with US$1.38 billion under management.

Furry dolls from Chinese toy company Pop Mart are pictured during the opening ceremony for its new store in Bangkok on July 5. Photo: Xinhua
China's economic recovery

China touts ‘bold capital’ to coax risky plays amid waning investor confidence

Concept of ‘bold capital’ has emerged amid national efforts to improve policy environment for investors that both encourages and forgives their attempts.

Artificial intelligence

Moonshot AI founder’s dispute with 5 investors up for arbitration in Hong Kong

The five firms that invested in Moonshot AI founder Yang Zhilin’s last venture, Recurrent AI, claim he has ‘uncleared liability’.

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Semiconductors

China’s AI chip unicorn Moore Threads moves closer to possible IPO

The GPU and AI-accelerator start-up, founded by an Nvidia veteran, has become a joint-stock company after fresh investments.

Moore Threads is one of China’s top GPU designers. Photo: Handout
Artificial intelligence

Chinese unicorn Zhipu AI raises US$210 million to invest in start-ups

The Z Fund says it aims to take advantage of its parent’s leading position in China’s AI sector to discover promising early-stage start-ups.

Banking & finance

China’s economic stimulus is a boon for APAC private capital market: Preqin

China’s contribution to the region’s market for private capital has tumbled, but measures from Beijing could spark a turnaround.

Banking & finance

China Renaissance names missing founder’s wife to chair investment bank

Hui Yin-ching, also known as Xu Yanqing, was designated as the chairperson of the bank’s board and executive director effective October 9, Renaissance said.

China Renaissance’s founder Bao Fan and his wife Hui Yin-ching during the 2018 Breakthrough Prize at NASA Ames Research Center on December 3, 2017 in Mountain View, California. Photo: Getty Images.
Start-ups

Hong Kong’s MindWorks defies private capital slump with new start-up fund

MindWorks closed a US$220 million fund, with backing from sovereign wealth funds, a university endowment, and ‘new economy entrepreneurs’.

General view of high-rise buildings in Central district, Hong Kong, February 22, 2024. Photo: Sun Yeung
Artificial intelligence

Sam Altman could get 7% stake if OpenAI shifts to for-profit model

OpenAI is considering these changes against the backdrop of an exodus of senior managers, including Mira Murati.

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Banking & finance

Will new policy encourage Chinese banks to invest in struggling start-ups?

Beijing’s encouragement for banks to boost investment in unlisted companies is a big move in the effort to support start-ups, analysts say.

China technology

China eyes sci-tech venture capital to boost industrial upgrade, economic growth

Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday the development of venture capital is critical to sci-tech innovation, industrial upgrading and the growth of the economy.

A visitor learns about an inspection drone at an exhibition of the 2024 Low Altitude Economic Development Conference in Wuhu, east China’s Anhui province. Photo: Xinhua
Start-ups

Start-up funding in China remains weak, but may see a recovery this year

Funding for start-ups in China remains at a low point, although the amount raised in the first half is already more than 50 per cent of 2023’s total, suggesting a potential recovery.

Dollar-based funding for start-ups in China accounted for only 2.5 per cent of the total in the first half of 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE
Artificial intelligence

AI pioneer Li Feifei raises US$230 million for new start-up

The new venture on 3D spaces counts venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, as well as actor Ashton Kutcher and Google’s Eric Schmidt as investors.

Investing

Chinese firms in mobility, hardware are big draw for venture funds, report shows

125 Chinese firms with overseas operations received funding across 156 deals during the period between November 2023 and August this year.

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Millionaires and billionaires

12 Silicon Valley CEOs and investors backing Kamala Harris – unlike Elon Musk

Elon Musk may be vocal in his support for Donald Trump, but several prominent tech CEOs and VCs are signing on to support Kamala Harris for US president.

Mark Cuban, Reid Hoffman and Steve Wozniak are all supporting Kamala Harris in her race to the White House. Photos: @mcuban; @reidhoffman/Instagram; EPA/TWT
US-China tech war

US-sanctioned Chinese AI chip champion Biren plans IPO

The Shanghai-based unicorn, seen as a potential Nvidia competitor on the mainland, has begun its IPO tutoring process.

Artificial intelligence

OpenAI valuation to reach US$150 billion in latest fundraising round

The US start-up is also in talks to raise US$5 billion in debt from banks in the form of a revolving credit facility, a source says.

China technology

China’s technology sector relies heavily on capital from SOEs, government funds

Investment guru Fang Fenglei said the situation could lead to ‘a big problem’ in the industry because it goes against existing Chinese law.

Roughly 80 per cent of investments in the country’s tech sector last year came from funds backed by the government and state-owned enterprises, according to investment guru Fang Fenglei. Photo: Shutterstock
Mergers & Acquisitions

US private-equity firm invests in Chinese-owned personal care brand Stenders

Investment firm says now is a good time to lean into China’s consumer sector amid lower competition and valuations.

An assortment of Stenders bath bombs. Photo: Handout
US-China tech war

China’s chip industry becomes key breeding ground for unicorns

As start-up funding dwindles, investments are concentrated in a few unicorns, such as those in the integrated circuit sector.

Artificial intelligence

Chinese unicorn Zhipu AI raises new funding from state-backed investor

State-backed investment vehicle Zhongguancun Science City Innovation Development estimates Zhipu AI’s value at around US$2.8 billion.

Artificial intelligence

Nvidia, Apple in talks to join OpenAI’s new funding round

Nvidia has discussed investing about US$100 million, while Apple and Microsoft are also mulling participation, sources say.

Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft are in talks to join OpenAI’s latest funding round, sources say. Photo: Bloomberg
Semiconductors

Enflame, China’s Tencent-backed Nvidia wannabe, flags IPO plan

The Shanghai-based unicorn has begun the so-called tutoring process, compulsory for IPO applicants in China.

Enflame products on displayed at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in July. Photo: Che Pan
Robotics

Former Huawei ‘Genius Youth’ recruit launches humanoid robots to rival Tesla’s

‘We’re now at the forefront of the industry,’ Agibot founder Peng Zhihui declared after launching his firm’s new-generation family of humanoid robots.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Regulatory, geopolitical uncertainties cloud M&A in China: Deloitte

Investors are not sure about the economy, confidence is not high and they want the Chinese government to take steps to drive growth, Deloitte’s Stanley Lah says.

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