AVCJ Awards 2018: Fundraising of the Year - Venture Capital: Sequoia Capital China

There are venture capital firms that raise funds quickly and then there's Sequoia Capital. "Our fundraising process did take about two weeks," Eva Ip, CFO of Sequoia Capital China, said on receiving the award for VC fundraising. "The credit goes to all our LPs, most of whom have supported us for more than 10 years and supported us for every fund we have raised."

Those investors are backing a very different creature to the Sequoia China of 2006, which raised $250 million for its debut fund not long after Neil Shen established the local franchise. The firm now has 10 times as much dry powder at its disposal, following the final close for its latest set of funds. This total does not include renminbi-denominated resources.

Sequoia raised $550 million for its seventh VC vehicle, roughly in line with the previous vintage. A new addition for 2018 was a $150 million seed fund. Just as the growth fund allows Sequoia to participate in later rounds, the seed fund allows the firm to go earlier, accessing attractive opportunities before valuations begin to escalate. Sequoia is already an LP in various smaller venture funds as a means of generating information and deal flow.

Sequoia is not alone among Chinese VC firms in raising multiple funds that enable it to operate across the spectrum. However, its growth investment business – which is executed by a separate team – is arguably the best-established in the country. The GP is already on Fund V in the growth space, raising $1.8 billion. Fund IV closed at $899.5 million.

This could be linked to the number of Sequoia-backed companies that achieved scale but have yet to go public, meaning there is scope for early investors to continue supporting them for longer. Of the 164 unicorns identified in a Chinese government report published earlier this year, Sequoia is an investor in 35. The GP's portfolio includes the likes of Didi Chuxing, Meituan-Dianping, Jinri Toutiao, Bitmain Technologies, DJI, and Nio. So far, only Meituan-Dianping and Nio have completed IPOs.

Sequoia is also said to be targeting $8 billion for its first global growth fund, with a substantial portion of the capital likely to be invested in the firm's larger Chinese companies.   

Pictured: Eva Ip of Sequoia Capital China with Huisheng Consulting's Paul Liu

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Greater China
• Fundraising
• Venture
• China
• Sequoia Capital
• AVCJ Awards