Proving that we're in a Silicon Dragon 2.0 era, long-time VC firm
Qiming Venture Partners closed three new funds amounting to $1.39 billion: $935 million for its 6th U.S. dollar fund, ¥2.1 billion for its 5th RMB fund, and $120 million for a first-time U.S. fund investing in healthcare led by founding managing partner
Gary Rieschel.
The fund raising was no doubt buoyed by 9 IPOs in the past 18 months and some 20 unicorn-valued portfolio companies status such as smartphone maker
Xiaomi, group buying site
Meituan-Dianping and bike-sharing upstart
MoBike.
In other fund news,
NIO Capital, linked to innovative, low-priced Chinese electric vehicle maker NIO, is reportedly closing in on a $500 million offshore fund to invest in automotive technologies. It's part of China's drive to become the Detroit of electric cars.
NEW FUNDINGS
Alibaba
has led a $717 million investment in rural China e-commerce platform
Huitongda Network.
Rival
Pingduoduo raised $3 billion earlier in April from Tencent. Rural e-ecommerce is a hotspot as Chinese tech titans chase the next promising markets.
Sequoia Capital China has backed Beijing-based fintech and big data startup
100Credit in a $150 million, Series C funding led by state-owned
China Reform Fund Management. 100Credit helps financial service providers manage loans and insurance policies.
Investors are pouring millions into China's long-term rental housing market.
Morgan Stanley led a $100 million infusion in China rental apartment operator
QingKe while rival
Ziroom raised $621 million in new funding from
Sequoia,
Tencent and
Warburg Pincus.
Youdao, an online education spin-off of Chinese gaming company NetEase, has pulled in a $1.1 billion strategic investment from Tsinghua Holdings.
Tencent co-leads $159 million investment in big data startup MiningLamp, a Series C round.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Funding Societies
, a peer-to-peer lender in Southeast Asia, has raised a $25 million series B funding from
Softbank Ventures Korea
as well as exiting investors
Sequoia India, Golden Gate Ventures and Indonesia's
Alpha JWC Ventures.
Automated scooter rentals have caught on in India, as reports surface that scooter-sharing startup
Vogo is raising funds from ride-sharing leader
Ola.