China-focused venture capital (VC) firm Ince Capital said it had secured $700 million in commitments for two dollar-denominated funds, indicating global investors were not deterred by Beijing’s crackdown on the technology sector.
Ince’s latest fundraising received strong support from global institutional investors, including US educational institutions such as Duke University, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.
One of the funds was oversubscribed and raised $478 million, said Ince, which focuses on Chinese tech, Internet and consumer start-ups.
China has cracked down on the technology sector over the past year and recently stepped up scrutiny of offshore listings by domestic companies, roiling domestic stocks in the sector.
“Despite the global uncertainty and challenging capital market, we continue to believe in the innovation, entrepreneurship in China and Chinese venture capital as a great asset class,” Edward Grefenstette, president of The Dietrich Foundation, said.
The foundation, which participated in the fundraising, expected Ince “will navigate through these uncertain times exceedingly well”, he added.
JP Gan, founding partner of Ince Capital, said the fundraising was a recognition of the firm’s ability to nurture fast-growing companies in the world’s second-biggest economy.
- Reuters with additional editing by George Russell
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