Chinese firms in mobility and hardware fields are big draw for venture capitalists

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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Chinese flying taxi maker EHang’s electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle is on display at the 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 8:00pm, 13 Sep 2024Updated: 8:25pm, 13 Sep 2024

Chinese companies expanding overseas, especially in the fields of mobility and smart hardware, remain a major draw for venture-capital funds, according to new data and remarks shared by industry insiders on Friday at the 2024 China International Fair For Trade In Service in Beijing.

About 125 Chinese firms with overseas operations received funding across 156 deals during the 10-month period between November 2023 and August this year, according to a report by Beijing-based mobile marketing research firm Morketing, which hosted an event on Friday as part of the the four-day fair that concludes on Sunday.

The proportion of financing valued at more than 100 million yuan (US$14 million) accounted for roughly 40 per cent of those deals, the report showed. That was up from 33 per cent during the first 10 months of 2023, when 153 mainland firms were involved in 172 funding deals.

“This indicates that the capital market’s confidence in Chinese companies and its recognition of their future growth potential is gradually increasing”, Morketing said in the report released on Friday.

A visitor takes a photo of Chinese luxury carmaker Hongqi’s new EH7 electric vehicle car, which will start sales in Europe this autumn, during the 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services at the China National Convention Centre in Beijing on September 12, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

The report found the most popular targets for investors are companies involved in automobile and mobility, as well as intelligent hardware, which accounted for 24.7 per cent and 16.4 per cent, respectively, of the total deals in the November to August period.

There were 29 funding deals in automobile and mobility – including electric vehicles and electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles – during that period, compared with 11 deals in the first 10 months of 2023.