Lightspeed China closes debut renminbi fund at $87m

The GP launched the vehicle in June of last year with a target of RMB500 million, three weeks before announcing a final close of its third US dollar-denominated China VC fund at $260 million. The renminbi fund is intended to give Lightspeed more flexibility in backing early-stage start-ups, it said at the time.

Institutional investors in the renminbi vehicle include fund-of-funds, government-guidance funds, family offices and internet companies. Numerous internet entrepreneurs also committed capital.

Much like Lightspeed China’s US dollar funds, the renminbi vehicle will investment in the technology, media, and telecom (TMT) space, with a particular focus on mobile internet, enterprise software and start-ups associated with the "internet plus" concept.

“We have seen the Chinese market become more mature, and an increasing number of institutional investors are willing to back professional managers who support local talent in building businesses,” Herry Han, a partner at Lightspeed China, said in a statement. (Han is pictured right with James Mi, the firm's co-founder and managing director.)

With more capital available from an increasingly sophisticated set of domestic LPs, a number of foreign PE and VC firms are looking to raise renminbi vehicles or enlarge existing pools of local currency capital. Morningside Venture Capital closed its debut renminbi fund at $143 million two months ago, while GGV Capital is said to be raising a local currency vehicle.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Fundraising
• Renminbi fund
• Venture
• China
• TMT
• Lightspeed Venture Partners
• Venture