Alibaba picks Gobi, CDIB to run HK, Taiwan entrepreneur funds

The initiative, known as Alibaba Hong Kong Young Entrepreneurs Foundation, which is worth HK$1 billion ($129 million), was announced in February. The Entrepreneurs Fund for Taiwan was introduced a month later, with NT$100 million ($315 million) earmarked to boost entrepreneurship in Taiwan. The local government responded that although Chinese investors are free to make VC investments in Taiwan, they cannot take control of local start-ups.

Both funds will invest in young people who start businesses by leveraging resources within Alibaba's e-commerce ecosystem, including the Tmall and Taobao platforms, logistics, mobile platforms, cloud computing and financial services. Both funds are non-profit, which mean any profits generated from exits will be re-invested in the funds.

In addition, Alibaba said the capital would be managed in partnership with independent investment firms. Gobi is the first fund manager selected to invest a portion of the Hong Kong fund. Further selections will follow.

Cindy Chow, who works for Alibaba in the financial control department, serves as the executive director of the Hong Kong fund. Local business and community leaders will join the fund's board, including Allan Zeman, founder and chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Group and Bernard Chan, president of Asia Financial Holding.

In Taiwan, Alibaba picked ex-EnTie Bank's CFO Andrew Lee as executive director for the fund. CDIB, a subsidiary of China Development Financial (CDF), will source, evaluate and select potential deals for investments.

"At Alibaba our mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere. We are passionate about fostering entrepreneurial spirit and hope the resources provided by the fund will help unleash potential for innovation and entrepreneurship in Taiwan and Hong Kong," Joe Tsai, Alibaba's executive vice chairman, said in a statement.

Founded in 2002, Gobi has raised six funds to date and invested in more than 100 companies in China and the ASEAN region. It is headquartered in Shanghai and has seven offices across China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

In line with partnership with Alibaba, CDIB has also formed a strategic alliance with Meet Startup Innovation Corporation - launched by Taiwan serial entrepreneur Hung-Tze Jan - to establish a NT$1.5 billion accelerator program to invest in local start-ups. Jan previously found Taiwan's largest e-commerce platform PC Home Online. The accelerator will focus on cloud, internet-of-things, mobile internet and e-commerce technology innovation.

Taiwan's internet innovation is lagging behind than other markets as local start-ups have little access to early-stage capital. The government has announced a slew of measures to encourage the early-stage investments but industry participants say there are still many hurdles.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Fundraising
• Technology
• Venture
• Early-stage
• Taiwan (China)
• China
• Hong Kong (China)
• Venture
• seed
• CDIB Capital
• Gobi Partners
• Fundraising
• TMT
• Alibaba Group