GGV seeks $1.9b for new venture funds

In a regulatory filing, GGV listed the new funds as GGV Capital VII, GGV Capital VII Plus, GGV Discovery, and GGV Capital VII Entrepreneurs Fund. The firm did not provide details on the strategy of each fund or the distribution of the capital that it plans to raise, but the naming convention follows that of its last fundraise, which closed at $1.2 billion in 2016.

GGV Capital VI and VI Plus respectively represented a main fund supporting early and growth-stage investments, and top-up fund for follow-on transactions. GGV Discovery I focused on seed and early-stage deals, mostly for Chinese entrepreneurs, and GGV Capital VI Entrepreneurs Fund was intended to allow members of the GGV network to participate in deals.

The separate funds strategy was a response to changing market dynamics, including a growing number of serial entrepreneurs starting multiple businesses that GGV could support from an early stage. The firm also saw Chinese start-ups transitioning from copying the US market to creating original technology innovations themselves.

GGV targets three main sectors – social and mobile commerce, internet-of-things (IoT), and robotics – along with software-as-a-service (SaaS) and cloud technology. Recent investments include a $20 million Series B round for Chinese online reading platform Koala Reading and a $65 million extended Series B round for second-hand goods trading platform Xiangwushuo.

Earlier this year GGV closed its first renminbi-denominated fund at RMB1.5 billion ($236 million). The GP joined a growing number of international fund managers seeking to raise renminbi capital because it affords them additional flexibility when investing in China, in addition to allowing them to target an increasingly diverse landscape of Chinese LPs.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• North America
• Venture
• Fundraising
• Technology
• China
• GGV Capital
• TMT