Having faked its revenue numbers, Luckin became a laughing stock of a unicorn, with analysts on both sides of the pond contemplating over what outcomes this situation will have on a larger scale for Chinese businesses abroad.
Tagventure capital
Several interesting news surfaced last week, with China’s VC industry getting back on its feet.
The venture capital landscape has been looking rather bleak for the past several weeks with COVID-19 taking a heavy toll on the industry.
Last week saw one of the most prominent Chinese TMT investors Qiming Venture Partners raise their seventh USD fund, a notable milestone for a fund partly responsible for the success of companies like Xiaomi and Meituan Dianping.
The past week saw exciting news surface regarding several players in China’s AI and automation space, with one of the most prominent AI unicorns 4Padadigm raising two hefty rounds and adding another $1 billion to its valuation.
China’s VC activity is beginning to recuperate with a series of notable investments from ByteDance, Meituan Dianping, Matrix Partners China and others.
The coronavirus outbreak is still in full force, limiting business opportunities and impelling investors to put their activities on hold.
After a record-setting 2018 that saw Chinese VCs ladle out cash to startups at mind-boggling valuations, current numbers spooked global investors, some of whom regard the diminished numbers as a sign of an imminent industry debacle.
This year, Sinovation Ventures will turn nine years old. At a recent press conference, I shared several stories of entrepreneurship over the past nine years. During this time, the world has changed dramatically. The venture capital (VC) industry has become increasingly competitive and the rules of the industry have also changed.