The more geopolitical competition between China and the United States has become more and more intense. Under the tide of science and technology decouragement, a group of US dollar funds who have been operating in China and supported companies such as Alibaba and bytes to move from local to the world are saying goodbye to China.
Once upon a time, China Science and Technology Corporation relied on the US dollar fund to take the international platform, fame and fortune, and capital and technology companies achieved each other in the era of globalization.However, today, geopolitical shakes the foundation of the global development of enterprises. Enterprises were born in the Chinese market. It is difficult to repeat and no longer popularize the script of the world stage through the ladder of US dollar capital.
Not only is the US dollar fund investing in Chinese technology companies under pressure, but Chinese companies have also reserved for acceptance of US dollar funds.A partner of the US dollar fund that was originally active in Shanghai told the United Morning Post that he observed that the founders of Chinese startups showed the political sensitivity that had not been seen before. When seeking international capital support, they would seriously consider whether these funds were "politically politically politically politically.correct".Those sensitive areas involving the fierce competition between China and the United States, such as semiconductor and artificial intelligence companies, especially.
In this context, the fund he managed to move the office from Shanghai to Hong Kong and Singapore last year.
Nowadays, those US dollar funds who have entered China with funds and experience in the early 1990s, which driven China's entrepreneurial investment industry, seems to have completed the stage of supporting the horse and sending one journey.In the face of new reality, they either leave the game gradually or turn into pure Chinese funds to cut off the connection with the US headquarters to ensure "political correctness."
U.S. Equiso Capital, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, is a prominent example.The world's largest risk investment company last Tuesday (June 6) announced a high -profile separation of the company's Chinese and American business.Sequoia clarifies his identity and cuts Chinese and American business in order to survive both markets.
More funds exit silently.The Chinese rudder of China Silicon Valley Fund Kleiner Perkins (KPCB) with Sequoia has no investment since 2021.Silicon Valley Fund, Silicon Valley Fund, which has invested in Facebook and China UAV company DJI, has stopped new investment in China in 2019.
According to the data released by Standard Purcell in February this year, US private equity and risk capital invested US $ 7 billion in China in 2022, a significant decrease of 76%from 28.9 million US dollars in 2021, which is in the past three years.The lowest; the projects invested also fell sharply from 346 in 2021 to 208, a 40%
Glory no longer
China does not have venture capital.In the early 1990s, a group of funds from the United States entered China with funds and experience, educated the market and cultivated the industry, and supported the development and growth of a number of Chinese technology companies.
Risk investors were once Bole of Chinese private technology companies.A often mentioned story is that in November 1999, the Tencent's account was only 10,000 yuan (S $ 2000), and his life was hanging.Some people say to the founder of the wall, Ma Huateng: You have to find some crazy people. What they see is not the profit in front of you, but a company that can make a lot of money in the future.This is called Venture Capital, entrepreneurial investment.
Ma Huateng finally got money from the US investment company IDG, and the company continued to develop.
In that year, entrepreneurial investment or venture capital was still new in China.With Sequoia, KPCB, Jingwei Venture Capital, DCM and other Silicon Valley funds entering China, the Chinese venture capital industry has gradually developed.Since then, the US dollar funds have appeared behind almost all Chinese technology companies.Weibo's parent company Sina was invested by DCM. Pinduoduo was blessed by Gao Rong Capital. Behind the beating of the parent company of the video website Bilibili and TIKTOK, there was a figure of Sequoia.
In the past ten years, these Bole who held the dollar not only received a large money return, but also the award for the bells of the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange with the founders.
Belle is still there, but it is not easy to invest.The operation of the venture capital company focuses on the four links of "fundraising, investment, management, and retreat"."Revisiting" is a fundamental person, such as donating funds such as foreign universities, government pensions, etc., and "investing" companies that are optimistic about "investing".
Under the current political pressure, the funds, investment and exit of venture capital companies have different problems.
Ramping is the first step, but the upstream funder is shrinking.The aforementioned fund partners who did not want to be named told Lianhe Zaobao, "Last year, US investors contributed half less to Chinese fund managers."
He analyzed that on the one hand, the Chinese economy received a blow to the epidemic, and the success rate of startup companies declined. Even if successful, the road to overseas will be strictly supervised.On the other hand, overseas investors have also begun to review themselves, narrowing risk exposure in China.
Bloomberg reported last April that Harvard's donation funds are considering reducing investment in China. Pennsylvania and Florida's pensions have been suspended in injecting new investment into Chinese funds.According to the Wall Street Journal, the Biden government is about to sign an administrative order that restricts the United States' investment in China's high -tech field this year.
Although China's US dollar funds have funds from Canada, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, the main sources are the United States.
It is difficult to raise funds, and it is not active.According to the 2022 China Private Equity Investment Report issued by Titanium Media, the number of RMB funds of the RMB in 2022 starts from 9,624, and US dollars and other foreign currency funds have invested only about 1003.
RMB Fund, it looks beautiful
From the US dollar fund to get capital, develop into unicorn, and then go public in the United States, this is the standard path for Chinese technology companies.The US dollar means that Chinese companies have the opportunity to board the global capital market and often have higher valuations.But now, for some startups, it may be a burden.
an entrepreneur who engaged in agricultural drone development in Beijing told the United Morning Post that he accepted an investment of a US dollar fund China branch in the early days and introduced RMB investors in the subsequent rounds to obtain more agricultural agriculture in agricultureOpportunities in the field.
He said, "We need to explain to RMB shareholders, who is the investor behind the US dollar shareholders in the board of directors. They (state -owned shareholders) said that this is the requirements for compliance." Later, he was asked to repurchase from the US dollar fund to repurchase the US dollar fund.In other words, the shares in their hands allowed the US dollar fund investors to go out.
Renminbi or US dollar?For some sought -after Chinese technology companies, this is a problem that has only begun in the past three years.It is believed that the US dollar is better because the US dollar fund can wait more patiently to wait for the growth of the company.For example, the US dollar investor can invest and recover the cost of the fund manager for up to 13 years, but the RMB investor is up to seven or eight years.
On the other hand, the renminbi itself means the Chinese government's resources and policy orientation.Venture Capital Media 36 said that 75%to 80%of the RMB funds, the source of the source, from state -owned enterprises and governments.
The main funder of the Renminbi Fund is a guidance fund established by the local government of China. It is usually stipulated that after these funds get money, they must "return" part of the industry and enterprises where the capital government is located.Fund managers decide.
Shenzhen Innovation Investment Group (referred to as "Shenzhen Venture Capital") is a benchmarking enterprise of the RMB Fund, which once said that heThe basic investment strategy of our country is: what the country needs, and the deep venting investment will be invested.
Another Dachen Venture Capital also publicly stated that he must follow the party (the Communist Party of China) and go with the policy.This company that said many years ago that he had learned from the US dollar fund, and after raising a new fund that raised 8 billion yuan in May this year, he told the media that the pendulum of the times had come to the RMB side.
Shen Meng, director of Xiangsong Capital, told the United Morning Post that the RMB Fund is more sensitive to risks, which has led to the gradual approximate of funds to mature enterprises rather than in the early stages of entrepreneurship, because the former has a higher degree of success.The probability of start -ups getting money will become smaller.
He also analyzed that eager to withdraw from exit is not necessarily a good thing for the development of technology companies.Taking the semiconductor industry that the Chinese government values the semiconductor industry as an example, it is common for this industry to grind a sword for ten years.
Shen Meng said that for enterprises, taking RMB (funds) is safe, but it is not necessarily the best for development and innovation. Entrepreneurship not only requires policy orientation, but also needs to rely on the market.