SILICON DRAGON NEWS
www. Silicon D ragonV entures.com       @SiliconDragon        Feb. 2, 2020    
FEATURED EVENT

March 25
Silicon Dragon
Sydney
  

VC & Tech Get A 
Boost In Australia 
With A Link To
Silicon Valley 
Asia


Partner Event
 
February 13, 2020
Jerusalem

Is Three A Crowd? 
Panel: 10:55am
Experts from Alibaba, Infinity, and Silicon Dragon explore 
growing tech links in 
turbulent times:  
Israel, China,
Silicon Valley   

OurCrowd Global 
Investor Summit

Use partner code: 
OCsdg20



Santa Clara, Feb. 25
Philadelphia, April 25

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events@
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Silicon Dragon 

Circle Dinners

 

 Thought Leader 
 
Series

NEXT Dinner


 

Los Angeles: March 19
Invite Only

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..
Silicon Dragon 2020 
Event Calendar

LA Dinner, March 19
Sydney, March 25
Hong Kong, April 22
New York, June 18
Los Angeles, July 29
Silicon Valley, Sept. 17
Singapore, Nov. 12
Awards, Nov. 19
Vegas, Jan. 7
 
 
US-China Split Starves Startups
Issues over national security threats and competition with China for future technology leadership are stopping the flow of China investment in US tech companies. Cross-border U.S.-China collaboration that has long fueled next-generation innovations is being stifled.    
San Jose-based virtual reality start-up  uSens was ramping up quickly until late last year when issues over the U.S.-China tech cold war intervened. The fast-charging computer vision company hit a dead end when it couldn't raise funding from its previous Chinese investors including IDG Capital and Fosun Kinzon Capital that had pumped $27 million in the startup.
Now uSens has shut down its U.S. office, laid off everyone except one salesperson, and moved remaining staff to China. Read Rebecca Fannin's article at CNBC.com here: starved for capital

New Funds Launch In The US From China VC Veterans
Several new state-side only funds are being launched from partners at Chinese funds that have retreated from the US. For instance, two partners from  ZhenFund  are each launching their own funds now that the Chinese venture firm has stopped investing in the U.S.  Olivia Wang  is launching  Olive Capital  while  Wei Ziang  is going out with his firm, named  Momentor . Additionally, partners at  Hone Capital , which was set up with capital from Chinese private equity and venture firm CSC Group , are preparing to raise a new fund.  Last but not least,  Tracy Wang,  previously with  ZZ Ventures  is embarking on a new fund,  Agate Capital Partners , with  DCM  partner emeritus  Dixon Doll  as chairman.

Impact of Coronavirus on China deal-making
Worries about the impact of a decoupling with China and the U.S. were already prevalent. Now the coronavirus is taking its toll as cross-border travel is shut down and deal flow has halted for venture firms and startups.  The effect will last for months. Longer term, it seems clearer than ever than Silicon Valley will keep its image of tech central globally but with less China influence.
Will disruption again lead to new opportunities?

DEALS

 Another edtech startup in India, InterviewBit, has raised $20 million in a first round from Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital India.    

China Mapleleaf Educational Systems has made a cash offer to buy Kingsley EduGroup in Malaysia in a bid led by Ballas Capital.

B2B marketplace Zetwerk brings in $2.4 million in venture debt from InnoVen Capital.  Existing investors Sequoia India, Accel, and Kae Capital also participated in the financing.     

FUNDS
Ribbit Capital is raising $420 million for its latest fund to invest in more fintech startups.  

The Indian government is preparing to start a seed fund to support early stage startups.  

NOTEWORTHY
China has exported many things successfully except for its superapps to India. Economic Times.  

Smart move by Alipay to apply its data knowhow to launch this "real-time virus tracking data" platform.
Plus
Talk about timing! Thanks to the current coronavirus (#WuFlu) closedown, Hong Kong is transitioning further into e-commerce (especially home delivery), and HSBC chooses this moment to charge small businesses to use their payment platform, "PayMe". And they don't even make it competitive to credit card fees. (Digital marketing pro Napoleon Biggs)

Coronavirus will hurt global growth. China's place in the global economy has grown dramatically since the U.S. triggered earlier recessions. The U.S. still matters a lot in the global economy, but much less than it used to. China, on the other hand, matters much more. Just how much will be measured as the story of coronavirus plays out in the weeks and months ahead." (FT paid)   

San Francisco Circle Dinner: 
Rethinking China Strategies  
Silicon Dragon  gathered its circle of connections in San Francisco at a recent dinner hosted by  Nixon Peabody  to ponder the latest issues with US-China tech and trade and discuss how business strategies are being impacted. See more photos at SF Circle Dinner