Qiming hits $930m final close on latest renminbi fund

Last year, when the venture capital firm announced a final close of USD 2.5bn on its eighth US dollar fund, it was revealed that CNY 4.7bn has been raised for the latest renminbi vehicle. Though not clearly stated at the time, this constituted a first close.

Qiming has now raised USD 9.5bn across 18 funds since its inception in 2006. There has been a significant increase in fund size for both currencies - the latest vintages coming in at more than twice the size of their predecessors. Renminbi Fund VI closed on CNY 2.8bn in 2021. 

LPs in the new fund include insurance companies, independent fund-of-funds, listed corporates, state-owned enterprises, and government guidance funds. The re-up rate was more than 70%. Qiming noted in a statement that eight insurance companies participated - compared to two in Fund VI - and their share of the corpus amounted to 25%.

Renminbi fundraising for China as a whole stands at CNY 35.3bn for 2023, already nosing ahead of the 12-month total for 2022, according to AVCJ Research. However, more than 80% of the capital was committed to two government guidance funds. After Qiming, the largest close by an independent manager is the CNY 4bn DCL Investments raised for its latest distress-focused fund.

Qiming's seventh fund will continue the existing strategy of making early and growth-stage investments in technology, consumer, and healthcare. No details were given as to the likely split between these categories. On the US dollar side, Qiming has become increasingly healthcare-heavy. The latest USD 2.5bn fund comprises a core pool of USD 1.55bn for all three areas and a parallel healthcare-only vehicle of USD 950m. 

The firm completed 90 investments in 2022. Nisa Leung, a managing partner with Qiming, told AVCJ at the end of last year that deployment slowed in 2021 because valuations were unreasonable. "The prudence continued in 2022," she said. "But we didn’t stop investing and have been working diligently on portfolio management. We've also been quite active in facilitating IPO processes for our portfolio companies."

There have been 41 portfolio company IPOs in the past 24 months via the mainland's A-share market and Star Market, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and NASDAQ in the US. Those making their trading debuts include Hesai Technology, APT Medical, Apollomics, Sino Biological, Rendu Biotech, Inventisbio, and Transwerp Technology.

Qiming's team now numbers 40 investment professionals. There were 31 new recruits last year, with more than 20 of them joining the post-investment unit, which supports portfolio companies in business development, branding and marketing, human resources management, and tax and legal matters.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Fundraising
• Renminbi fund
• GPs
• Technology
• Healthcare
• China
• Qiming Venture Partners
• Fundraising