Panlin raises $148m for China VC fund
Shanghai-based venture capital firm Panlin Capital has raised RMB1 billion ($148 million) in its latest early-stage fund having spent about 16 months in the market.
The vehicle, known as the Science and Technology Innovation Fund, attracted LP commitments from government guidance funds, fund-of-funds, listed companies, and entrepreneurs.
This is Panlin's 12th fund and its largest to date. The firm claims to have achieved an IRR in excess of 30% across all its vehicles.
The new fund will focus on investments in healthcare - innovative drug developers and high-end medical services - and technology. Within the latter segment, areas of interest include the digital transformation of traditional businesses, enterprise services, and smart consumer hardware. The fund will mainly participate in seed and Series A rounds.
Established in 2010 as a PE firm targeting pre-IPO investments, Panlin backed 17 companies in the first three years and saw eight of them go public. In 2014, it switched focus to venture capital. Early investments included Suzhou Ribo Life Science, a local pioneer in nucleic acid drugs. The company recently closed a RMB470 million extended Series C round.
Panlin's portfolio also features Yesmro, an e-commerce platform for maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) of industrial consumer goods, Passion Technology, a cloud-based data platform for restaurants now owned by Meituan Dianping, and YCloset, a clothing rental business that has been partially exited to Alibaba Group.
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