HSBC launches $880m GBA tech fund

The GBA+ Technology Fund will target sectors including e-commerce, financial technology, robotics, biotechnology, and healthcare technology. Companies of interest will have demonstrated a business model, with most have already received venture capital or private equity backing.

“Technology firms often have different business models and access to different forms of funding, so we are adapting the way we do business to better meet their needs,” Neo Wang, co-CEO and head of commercial banking for Guangdong at HSBC, said in a statement.

HSBC described the GBA region as playing a key role in China’s economic shift towards high-value products and services. In 2018, the bank set up dedicated teams in Guangdong and Hong Kong to support technology companies in the region.

Other efforts in this vein include the launch in late 2017 of HSBC Qianhai Securities, which HSBC describes as the first joint venture securities company in mainland China to be majority-owned by an international bank. The bank has also targeted GBA via its peer-to-peer payments service PayMe, which has attracted more than 1.5 million users in Hong Kong since launch in early 2017.

GBA is a Chinese government initiative that aims to increase economic cooperation between the major industrial hubs of the Pearl River Delta region. The idea is to connect the region’s financial and technological resources through infrastructure and policy developments. Stakeholders have been cautiously optimistic following the release of an early-stage framework for the plan in February.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Fundraising
• Credit/Special Situations
• Technology
• China
• Hong Kong (China)
• Greater Bay Area
• HSBC