AVCJ

Weekly digest - July 12 2023

avcj-230712cvr-72
  • AVCJ
  • LinkedIn  
  • Google plus  
  • Save this article  

 

12 July 2023
FRONTIER FUNDRAISING: ROADS LESS TRAVELLED
COVER STORY
GPs in frontier markets are increasingly dependent on multilateral development banks. It's not a major problem now, but it could become one in a long downturn.
PORTFOLIO
TRUE NORTH AND INTEGRACE
TRUE NORTH AND INTEGRACETrue North has spent five years transforming Integrace from a low-margin drug portfolio into a broader, better-performing platform with digital capabilities. The M&A story isn’t finished yet.
DEAL FOCUS
NATIONAL TEAM DRIVES HITHIUM TOWARDS CHINA IPO
NATIONAL TEAM DRIVES HITHIUM TOWARDS CHINA IPOGovernment and state-owned investors accounted for most, but not all, of Xiamen Hithium Energy Storage Technology’s USD 622m Series C, underlining where China’s strategic priorities lie.
DEAL FOCUS
AEROFUGIA WINS SUPPORT FOR EVTOL TILT
AEROFUGIA WINS SUPPORT FOR EVTOL TILTChina’s Tsinghua Holdings Capital regards eVTOL as the best way to leverage electrification of the skies. Aerofugia became a preferred target by virtue of its Geely ties and commitment to tilt-rotor technology.
DEAL FOCUS
COPE MOVES FAST WITH MALAYSIA PET FOOD PLAY
COPE MOVES FAST WITH MALAYSIA PET FOOD PLAYRecognising a local champion in a pandemic-proof category, COPE Private Equity flipped a significant minority stake in Malaysian petfood maker Pet World in just over two years.
By the Numbers
AVCJ RESEARCH
SPACE COWBOYS?
Space Pioneer hailed the successful maiden voyage of Tianlong II in April as the first time a privately-owned, liquid-fuelled rocket had reached orbit on a debut flight from China. Last week, Boyu Capital led a Series C for the company amounting to several hundred million renminbi.
There were four PE and VC investments into Chinese space technology companies – working under a somewhat restrictive definition of rocket developers and satellite builders – in the first half of 2023, according to AVCJ Research. Space Pioneer makes five, which suggests full-year deal count could exceed the seven posted in 2021, if not the record-equalling 11 in 2022.
Prior to 2015, there were barely any investments at all. Activity only really took off in 2018, partly on the coattails of pioneers like LandSpace, OneSpace, and I-Space. They remain the industry’s best-funded start-ups. Of the 78 Chinese commercial space companies tracked by the US-based Institute for Defense Analyses as of year-end 2018, four in five were less than three years old.
Intensifying US-China technology competition has given the industry extra edge (although no access to foreign capital). Satellite internet was classified as new infrastructure in 2020, opening the door to greater policy support. China wants the private sector to catch up with the likes of US-based SpaceX, which plans to launch as many as 42,000 satellites into near-earth orbit.
By industry standards, Space Pioneer is relatively mature with CNY 3bn (USD 416m) raised to date across multiple funding rounds. It is one of five companies for which AVCJ Research has captured at least five funding rounds – and these players account for more than half of the investments received by the industry. China space tech has a long tail of sparsely backed, barely proven start-ups.
CHART
All of the trends featured here were sourced from AVCJ's proprietary database, AVCJ Research, featuring comprehensive information on private equity deals, fundraises and exits.
The rest of the week
FUNDS
DEALS
OTHER
For your calendar
UPCOMING EVENTS

 

  • LinkedIn  
  • Google plus  
  • Save this article  

More on Region

Latest News

world-hands-globe-climate-esg
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey

Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...

  • GPs