Fidelity backs $131m Series A for China citytech platform Venturous

The family office participants come from Hong Kong, Singapore, Europe, and the US. There is a strong technology focus, with Savio Kwan, Alibaba Group's first COO, among the participants. 

Venturous originally sought to raise $80 million but increased the target in response to demand. It claims this is the largest-ever Series A in Asia's "citytech" sector.

Venturous emerged from Tan's family office and was officially formed in 2019 through a merger with Lioncrest Global. Its mission is to build 10 smart cities in China to improve quality of life, according to AVCJ Research's records.

Venturous is an investor, business builder, and operator of data-technology services companies used in smart city infrastructure. It has 14 employees across offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Tianjin Anjie IoT Science & Technology company is its largest holding. Anjie helps claims to help reduce energy consumption in buildings by 15-30% through artificial intelligence-enabled internet-of-things (AIoT) solutions. 

Venturous claims that smart energy and smart building solutions could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 33-66 million tons per year in Chinese cities with populations above one million. That is the equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide sequestered by 3.3-6.6 billion trees per year.

In China, urbanization is forecast to increase from 64% to 80%, adding 230 million residents to city mega-clusters over the next two decades. The country has launched pilot smart city development programs in more than 800 cities, according to a statement.

“China is leading the way in developing smart cities and the integration of related technologies. In light of the nation’s rising urbanization, this makes sense,” said Dale Nicholls, a portfolio manager for Fidelity's China special situations strategy.

Venturous already has three core investments and four ecosystem investments on its balance sheet. It is offering backers the opportunity to set up partnerships with these projects and enter into co-investments.

“Smart citytech is the biggest emerging market opportunity we have ever seen. City internet is the third-generation internet and has 10 times the potential of mobile internet. From smart energy, smart buildings, smart automation, smart health, smart finance and beyond, applying deep tech, like artificial intelligence, internet of things and big data, will truly transform the future of city living,” Tam added.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Expansion
• Technology
• Infrastructure
• Early-stage
• China
• artificial intelligence
• Fidelity