China’s Legend Star closes $127m VC fund
Legend Star, the early-stage investment arm of China’s Legend Holdings, has closed its third VC fund at RMB800 million ($127 million).
This is the first time the GP has raised capital from third-party investors, having previously operated for 10 years as a captive unit. In line with the latest fundraising, Legend Star has become independent from its parent company, a statement said.
Launched in March last year, the fund was substantially oversubscribed, receiving RMB2 billion in prospective commitments from more than 20 Chinese investors.
Legend Holdings, which is also the sponsor of China-focused GPs Hony Capital and Legend Capital, remains the largest LP in the fund. Other backers include the Chinese Academy of Sciences Holdings (CAS Holdings), Hong Kong-based family office VMS Investment Group, fund-of-funds CreditEase, and Hony Capital.
Legend Star was launched in 2008 as a start-up incubator and angel investor, with interests in technology, media and telecom (TMT) and healthcare. It has invested more than RMB2.5 billion in 200 start-ups, including image recognition company Face++ and genomic big data player Burning Rock Biotech.
The latest fund has the same remit as its predecessor vehicles, targeting early-stage companies in the areas of TMT, healthcare and artificial intelligence.
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