Earlier this month, ZhenFund and Sequoia China announced an agreement to set up a new 200 million RMB fund (US$31.45 million) in China. This new fund, described as “ZhenFund 2.0,” aims to invest in 100 early stage companies over the next two years.
ZhenFund was established in 2006 by angel investor Xu Xiaoping, who was also one of New Oriental’s co-founders. To date, ZhenFund’s portifolio includes Lightinthebox, Jumei, and Jiayuan, the online dating site which went IPO this year. Xu Xiaoping remarked:
The past five years were the era of ‘ZhenFund 1.0.’ During this time, I invested in nearly 80 early stage companies in China, sharing in the entrepreneurs’ experience of realizing their dreams and achievements.
‘ZhenFund 2.0’ will not only have the opportunity to expand these investment activities, but by harnessing the resources and experience of the world’s most famous venture capital firm [Sequoia], we’ll be able to do our job even better.
Xu said that Sequoia China was ranked as the most influential venture capital firm in China and thus sees the VC firm as a valuable partner moving forward. Sequoia China will participate in investment decisions and also provide human resources and advice to the fund.
Even though winter looks to be coming for some tech circles in China, that doesn’t seem to stop investors from getting gung ho over the Chinese market. For Chinese entrepreneurs, that’s pretty good news. The more money there is in the market, the more opportunities there are to create and build the next big thing in China.
[Thanks to Tayler Cox of ZhenFund for the heads up.]
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