Legend Star raises $119m for fourth renminbi fund
Legend Star, the early-stage investment arm of China’s Legend Holdings, has raised RMB800 million ($119 million) for its fourth renminbi-denominated fund.
Legend Holdings - the controlling shareholder of Legend Star - contributed 25% of the corpus. Other LPs include state-backed funds, fund-of-funds focused on science and technology, and private investors such as high net worth individuals. Existing investors account for 90% of the new fund.
A first close was achieved at the end of last year, giving the firm sufficient capital to capture opportunities arising after the outbreak of COVID-19, according to a statement. As of the end of September, 16 deals had received investment committee approval.
Legend Star continues to pursue early-stage investments in three fields: cutting-edge technology, healthcare, and technology, media and telecom (TMT). Among the more specific areas of interest are the domestic substitution of foreign suppliers in the semiconductor and aerospace technology industries, the application of 5G and artificial intelligence technologies, and biomedicines.
Legend Star closed its third local currency fund in 2018, also at RMB800 million. That marked the first time the GP had raised capital from third-party investors as an independent business, having previously spent 10 years as a wholly captive unit.
Legend Star was launched in 2008 as a start-up incubator and angel investor, with interests in TMT and healthcare. It currently manages seven early-stage investment funds totaling nearly RMB3.5 billion and has invested in more than 300 start-ups.
The portfolio features AI start-up Megvii Technology, voice interaction technology provider AISpeech, autonomous driving pioneer Pony.ai, genetic testing business Burning Rock Biotech, and Kintor, an R&D service provider for new drugs.
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