China's ZWC hits first close on debut renminbi fund
Chinese venture capital firm ZWC Partners has reached the first close of CNY 1bn (USD 149m) on its debut renminbi-denominated fund. The overall target is CNY 1.5bn.
LPs include national-level fund-of-funds, family offices, and institutional investors. nd family offices. Out-of-home advertising player Focus Media and nutritional products manufacturer Xiamen Kingdomway Group are among the corporate LPs.
ZWC was founded in 2015 and has more than USD 1.5bn in assets under management. Having raised various project funds raised over the years, the firm closed its first US dollar vehicle on USD 150m in 2019. ZWC raised USD 770m for a successor fund last year, beating a target of USD 450m.
The renminbi fund will make growth-stage investments related to the digital economy, deep technology, consumer upgrades, and cross-border opportunities. The firm pursues a "technology + industry" strategy, identifying application and commercialisation scenarios for technology in traditional industries.
The ZWC portfolio includes online recruitment platform Boss Zhipin and electric vehicle manufacturer Xpeng, which completed US IPOs in 2021 and 2020, respectively. A dozen companies have achieved unicorn status, among them artificial intelligence specialists Yitu Technology and 4Paradigm, autonomous driving specialist Horizon Robotics, and industrial internet platform RootCloud.
Numerous China-focused venture capital firms are prioritising B2B over B2C opportunities, largely in response to regulatory uncertainty around consumer-facing internet businesses. Legend Capital has gone so far as to exclude consumer internet from its latest US dollar TMT fund - although sector coverage continues from a renminbi fund perspective.
ZWC remains convinced that technology and consumption will be the key growth drivers of China's economy. It plans to increase exposure to long-term trends within the consumer sector with an emphasis on brands in the context of new consumer concepts and product innovation.
More on Greater China
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.