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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.
Healthcare is one of the sectors expected to drive private equity deals in 2026. Photo: Shutterstock
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?

Banking & finance

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

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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Banking & finance

Blackstone hits US$10 billion goal on Asia buyout fund amid PE chill

Fundraising amid investor caution about private equity amid high borrowing costs, fewer listings and declining secondary buyouts.

The logo of Blackstone is pictured in New York City on July 29, 2025. Photo: Reuters
Artificial intelligence

Anthropic says new model can code on its own for 30 hours straight

Claude Sonnet 4.5 is also intended to excel at using a person’s computer to take actions for them, the company says.

Artificial intelligence

Alibaba leads US$60 million investment in AI video generation start-up AIsphere

AIsphere’s PixVerse has over 100 million users globally, more than double the number it had at the start of the year.

Banking & finance

Qatari fund invests US$2 million in CK Asset-backed start-up Nexx

Doha-based Rasmal Ventures, backed by the Qatar Investment Authority, invests US$2 million in Hong Kong’s Nexx.

From left, Nexx Global’s CEO Oscar Hui, chairman Houston Huang and vice-chairman John Chan. Photo: Handout
Artificial intelligence

Alibaba Cloud leads US$140 million funding round for AI start-up X Square Robot

The growing investor interest in embodied intelligence reflects the rapid advances being made by China’s humanoid robot makers.

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Alibaba Cloud has been increasing its outlay on robotics and embodied intelligence. Photo: Shutterstock
Artificial intelligence

US start-up Anthropic blocks Chinese firms’ subsidiaries from AI access

The changes mark an escalation from previous measures that targeted only companies located within China.

Artificial intelligence

Venture firm Lanchi doubles down on Chinese AI, robotics start-ups with new fund

Lanchi is committed to investing in Chinese embodied AI start-ups because of the improving abilities of robots and abundance of applications.

Artificial intelligence

AI start-up Anthropic in talks to raise US$10 billion in new funding

The new financing would mark a significant jump in valuation for the company and cement its status as one of the leading AI developers.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Photo: AP
Insurance

Hong Kong virtual insurer Bowtie Life raises US$70 million in third funding round

Company, established in 2018, cites Hong Kong’s stock market rally for its success in raising funds.

Fred Ngan, Bowtie Life Insurance co-founder. Photo: Enoch Yiu
Artificial intelligence

Manus AI lays off China staff, scrubs social media, shelves mainland service

The start-up has relocated to Singapore with an eye on overseas clients and funding amid heightened US-China tensions.

Artificial intelligence

Robinhood CEO raises US$100 million to build AI models for maths

Harmonic adopts a maths-first approach, which it hopes will make its model better at solving complicated problems than large language models.

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Artificial intelligence

Hong Kong’s financial centre status gives it an edge in AI market, experts say

SenseTime chief financial officer Wang Zheng says ‘having easy access to capital is extremely important’ for AI companies.

TabbyML co-founder Lucy Gao (left) and SenseTime chief financial officer Wang Zheng highlight the benefits for AI firms in Hong Kong on Tuesday at the SCMP’s China Conference 2025. Photo: Eugene Lee
Artificial intelligence

Alibaba leads US$14 million funding round in Chinese AI agent start-up

AI agents, designed to perform specific tasks, are increasingly seen as the future of business automation.

Robotics

Unitree Robotics now a unicorn with ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent funding

The Chinese humanoid and robot dog maker is valued at US$1.3 billion in its latest financing round.

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Banking & finance

US venture capital firm to unload stakes in 40 Chinese tech start-ups

Chinese venture capitalists, government-backed funds expected to fill a funding gap left by retreating international investors, analyst says.

Eight Roads has invested in companies including autonomous-driving firm Pony.ai. Photo: AFP
Robotics

Unitree eyes pre-IPO fundraising, valuing robot maker up to US$2 billion: report

Raising fresh capital casts a spotlight on how China’s leading humanoid robot makers are pushing forward mass production this year.

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Passersby film a Unitree G1 humanoid robot at a park in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province. Photo: Reuters
RedNote

China’s RedNote sees valuation soar with backing from GSR Ventures

The social media platform has garnered traction among investors following the Chinese government’s pledge to support private firms.

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Banking & finance

Opinion | As geopolitics hits venture capital, Asia must start funding its own tech

For all its technical firepower, Asia remains undercapitalised. With funds no longer flowing freely, it needs a financial system that serves its purpose.

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Artificial intelligence

DeepSeek rekindles US venture capital’s interest in China’s AI scene

Thrive Capital and Capital Group have made separate visits to the country to discuss AI with local companies and funds, sources say.

An interactive robot seen at an AI exhibit in an expo in Nanning, Guangxi. Photo: Xinhua
Artificial intelligence

Silicon Valley venture capitalists sit back from investing in AI

Amid sky-high valuations, even major venture capital firms can no longer compete with deep-pocketed backers like SoftBank and Microsoft.

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Silicon Valley venture capitalists are taking a wait-and-see approach in the AI sector amid sky-high valuations. Photo: Shutterstock
Banking & finance

Hong Kong to be hub for ‘patient capital’ by nurturing start-ups: Paul Chan

City will support tech start-ups with long-term investments and strategic partnerships, Chan says.

Artificial intelligence

Meet Chinese start-up Xreal, Google’s partner in AR glasses project

Project Aura provides a big boost to Xreal’s credentials in the smart glasses arena, while widening its reach in the international market.

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