Ameba Capital closes second China VC fund at $157m

Founded in 2011, Ameba raised $25 million for its debut fund, principally from successful Chinese entrepreneurs in the technology sector. All existing LPs in Fund I have re-upped in the new vehicle, which came in oversubscribed. A new generation of tech entrepreneurs, whose businesses were backed by the debut fund, have also committed capital to Fund II.

"Over the past few years, our portfolio companies' entrepreneurs worked very closely with us and we have built mutual trust. The companies grew to a stage where the founders wanted to sell. Following their exits, they have excess cash and they want to continue working with us as LPs. With them, we can build a bigger ecosystem in the technology space," said Ameba co-founder Andrew Teoh, who previously led corporate finance and corporate development in Alibaba. 

The venture capital firm also brought in two institutional LPs into Fund II: one traditional renminbi fund-of-funds and one Greater China-focused family office.

"I talked to a few renminbi institutional LPs for Fund II. Although their commitments have yet to become very significant, it paves the way for more institutional involvement in the future as we scale. Fund I is already run as an institutionalized VC fund," Teoh said. "I am sure if we do well they will be just like our Fund I LPs and contribute more capital."

Fund I has backed 35 start-ups, including online fashion site Mogujie, taxi-booking app Kuaidi Dache, personal finance app Wacai, and online education firm Chuanke. There have been six exits through sales to Chinese internet firms and listed companies, or through listings on the New Third Board. Teoh said there are several more portfolio companies preparing to list on the New Third Board.

The investment strategy for Fund II is largely consistent with that of its predecessor. It targets start-ups looking to raise seed through Series B rounds in the fields of e-commerce, online education, online finance, advertising technology, data processing, enterprise services, and software.

"The  market is generally cooling down and valuations are adjusting as companies become more realistic. That is why we decided to ramp up the Fund II fundraising. When I started our first fund in 2011, the market was in a similar cycle to the current one and we were active investors. I look forward to these kinds of market conditions," Teoh said.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Fundraising
• Renminbi fund
• Early-stage
• Technology
• China
• Fundraising
• Renminbi
• seed
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• Venture