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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.
Illustration: Davies Christian
China’s private sector

How Beijing became China’s biggest tech venture capitalist, from AI to chips

China’s tech sector thrives on state-backed investment, reshaping funding dynamics and sparking a debate about balancing risk and innovation.

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Banking & finance

Chinese investors pour US$1.2 trillion into private securities funds

Banking & finance

HKIC reports double-digit investment return as ‘patient capital’ bears fruit

Semiconductors

China Life sets up chip fund to support long-term innovation

The US$737 million yuan fund for semiconductor investment to support chip firms with ‘substantial technical know-how and resources’.

An engineer examines a chip in a factory. Photo: Shutterstock
Robotics

Unitree IPO to test valuations as venture capital floods China robotics

The robot maker plans to raise 4.2 billion yuan by selling at least 40 million shares that implies a valuation of around 42 billion yuan.

DeepSeek

China’s DeepSeek nears US$7 billion haul in first-ever funding round

DeepSeek’s founder and CEO Liang Wenfeng is reportedly committing around 20 billion yuan of his own capital.

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Artificial intelligence

Exclusive | How early bet on photonics gave this Chinese venture capital firm an AI windfall

For Mi Lei, founder of venture capital firm CAS Star, the sudden fascination with photonics is less a surprise than a delayed validation.

Optics have been drastically revalued as AI clusters scale to unprecedented sizes. Photo: Shutterstock Images
Banking & finance

China’s private funds see assets soar by over US$400 billion amid tech boom

Chinese investors are putting more money into private equity, venture capital and other private funds amid a surge in tech investment.

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US-China tech war

China rejects claims of curbing US tech funding as Beijing pursues self-reliance

While reaffirming Beijing’s openness, the NDRC also stressed its support for home-grown AI and semiconductor industries.

Artificial intelligence

China’s AI start-up funding triples in first quarter amid bets on LLMs, robotics

The fundraising boom follows years of state-led efforts to channel capital into strategic sectors such as chips, AI and manufacturing.

AI-related start-ups in China secured more than 110 billion yuan in the first three months of the year. Photo: Shutterstock Images
Banking & finance

China private equity activity picks up as investors focus on tech, AI prospects

‘From a valuation point of view, this is still an attractive moment,’ as new growth drivers emerge from China’s tech sector, analyst says.

A staff member of Keenon Robotics debugs a humanoid robot in Pudong, Shanghai, on April 2. The robotics industry has attracted private equity interest in China. Photo: Xinhua
Technology

Hong Kong tech hub progress ‘significant’, Dalton Venture’s Steve Sun says

City’s measures to retain research talent and encourage the commercialisation of research results ‘gradually taking effect’, venture capitalist says.

Banking & finance

HKIC, Gobi Partners and HKU launch fund to back university research start-ups

Gobi-HKU Fund I makes first bets at launch, investing in robotics and AI drug design spin-offs born from university research breakthroughs.

China economy

China’s state-led venture capital revival risks losing momentum

Four government funds formed to back projects, but lack of funding diversity could risk stalling the industry again if policy shifts.

Several government funds have been formed in China to support investments in key projects. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images
United States

Opinion | Chilling effect of US outbound investment rules will extend beyond China

Outbound investment rules introduced last year are expanding and hardening into law, chilling US investment across Asia’s tech ecosystems.

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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at the USA House at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 21. Photo: AP
Banking & finance

Hong Kong’s US$8 billion wealth fund eyes fintech, aerospace and AI for growth

The Hong Kong Investment Corporation will use the city’s advantages amid global competition, geopolitical challenges, CEO Clara Chan says.

IPO

From labs to listings: capital markets are the next battleground in the AI race

Stock exchanges have become another barometer in the US-China tech rivalry as markets assess a wave of start-ups in real time.

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China technology

China’s nuclear fusion start-ups power up with record funding round

Startorus Fusion raised US$143 million, a record for a private firm, while Supermag New Energy received ‘several hundred million yuan’.

China has launched an association specifically tasked with accelerating funding for the commercialisation of nuclear fusion technology. Photo: Shutterstock
Mergers & Acquisitions

China’s M&A revival points to deeper investor confidence in growth prospects

Deal value is expected to rise, with strategic transactions and overseas ambitions driving momentum.

Banking & finance

China launches venture capital fund to lead the charge on tech investment

The fund, which will put state-backed money behind early tech bets, could guide trillions of yuan in private capital to chosen sectors.

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United States

China’s AI sector poised for growth despite US restrictions: venture capitalist

China’s AI sector gains confidence with DeepSeek’s emergence, but tech ecosystem needs to improve, GSR United Capital’s Zhou Qi says.

China and the US are the two top players in global AI development, with the former leading in humanoid robotics and open-source large language models, according to a venture capitalist. Photo: Reuters
Robotics

China’s Deep Robotics raises US$70 million as sector draws more investors

Company founder Zhu Qiuguo says the new funding would be used for research and the recruitment of top robotics talent.

Deep Robotics’ LYNX M20 quadruped robot is designed to support logistics and delivery operations. Photo: Handout
Banking & finance

Healthcare and tech to drive Asia-Pacific private equity deals amid slower growth

Asia-Pacific private equity managers are forecasting higher returns and fewer geopolitical risks than peers elsewhere, a new survey finds.

Fashion

How did Kim Kardashian’s Skims become a US$5 billion brand?

The shapewear and athleisure brand founded by Kardashian has been valued in the billions after a recent round of fundraising led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives in the US.

Banking & finance

Opinion | As markets grow more fragile, matter of time before the bubble bursts

The news and stories that move markets could well be a leading indicator of when markets fail.

The floor of the New York Stock Exchange on September 10. Photo: AP
Artificial intelligence

US start-up Anthropic unveils cheaper model to widen AI’s appeal

Haiku 4.5 offers coding abilities similar to Sonnet 4 but at about one-third the cost, the company says.

Anthropic has released the latest version of its Haiku AI model. Photo: Reuters
Artificial intelligence

Nvidia to invest in Musk’s xAI as part of US$20 billion funding

Nvidia is investing as much as US$2 billion in the equity portion of the deal, sources say.

Artificial intelligence

AI dominates venture capital investing in 2025, pulling in US$192.7 billion

That puts 2025 on track to be the first year where more than half of total VC dollars go into the AI industry, according to PitchBook data.

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