DFJ consolidates China operations
Draper Fisher Jurvetson’s (DFJ) Shanghai office will close as the firm consolidates its operations in China. Existing portfolio companies will continue to receive support and Hope Chen remains a managing director responsible for overseeing China investments, a spokesperson said.
The move comes as it emerged that Tim Draper, DFJ's founder and managing director, will not be an investment partner on the firm's next fund. However, he is expected to be one of DFJ's largest LPs and will remain a management committee member and a managing director on existing funds.
According to an earlier report by Fortune, Draper and John Fisher would not serve as investment partners on the new fund, while Jennifer Fonstad and Don Wood - both longstanding managing directors - and Chen would be "transitioning out" of the firm. It said all five would continue to manage existing portfolio responsibilities.
Fortune added that DFJ's China and India offices would be shuttered. When asked for clarification of the firm's plans in India, a spokesperson said: "We continue to support our existing portfolio companies in India." Mohanjit Jolly, who established the firm's India office and manages the India portfolio, is already based in Silicon Valley.
DFJ's past investments in China include Baidu and Focus Media, both of which were sizeable IPO exits, and the current portfolio features Yeepay, PP Live, Miartech and UUSee. In India, it backs iYogi, Bharat Light & Power, Cleartrip, Canvera, Komli and Attero, among others.
DFJ also has a network of 16 affiliate funds, including DFJ DragonFund China, DFJ VinaCapital Fund in Vietnam, DFJ Athena in Korea and DFJ-JAIC Technology Partners in Japan. Members of the DFJ Global Network cooperate on due diligence and corporate relationships, and sometimes co-invest, but they raise their own capital and manage investment decisions independently.
Earlier this year, DFJ restructured the network under a single governing board. The affiliate funds are also expected to drop the DFJ-branding from their names.
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