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☆ U.S. lawmakers accuse five VC firms of investing $3 billion in Chinese companies linked to military activities
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Rep. Mike Gallagher, center, chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, speaks at a news conference following a GOP caucus meeting at the Republican National Committee offices in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28, 2023. He is joined by fellow Republicans Rep. Elise Stefanik, left, and Majority Whip Steve Scalise. Sequoia Capital China, Qualcomm Ventures and three other venture capital firms plowed at least $3 billion into Chinese tech companies that support Beijing's military and its repression of minorities in Xinjiang, a U.S. congressional report alleged on Thursday. Reuters could not reach the venture capital firms for comment. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Persons: Mike Gallagher, Elise Stefanik, Steve Scalise, Biden Organizations: Chinese Communist Party, Republican National Committee, Washington , D.C, Sequoia Capital China, Qualcomm Ventures, Representatives, Republican, GGV, GSR Ventures, Walden International, U.S, Embassy Locations: Washington ,, Sequoia Capital, Xinjiang, U.S, China, People's Republic of China, Washington

☆ American Firms Invested $1 Billion in Chinese Chips, Lawmakers Find
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Ana Swanson | Erin Griffith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A congressional investigation has determined that five American venture capital firms invested more than $1 billion in China’s semiconductor industry since 2001, fueling the growth of a sector that the United States government now regards as a national security threat. Funds supplied by the five firms — GGV Capital, GSR Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Walden International — went to more than 150 Chinese companies, according to the report, which was released Thursday by both Republicans and Democrats on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. The investments included roughly $180 million that went to Chinese firms that the committee said directly or indirectly support Beijing’s military. That includes companies that the U.S. government has said provide chips for China’s military research, equipment and weapons, such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, or SMIC, China’s largest chipmaker. The report by the House committee focuses on investments made before the Biden administration imposed sweeping restrictions aimed at cutting off China’s access to American financing and technology.

Persons: Walden International —, Biden Organizations: —, GSR Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Walden International, Republicans, Democrats, Chinese Communist Party, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation Locations: United States

☆ Fintech Clara launches payment account in Brazil eyeing $1 bln in transactions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SAO PAULO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Latin American fintech Clara has launched a payment account in Brazil that it expects will help it reach 6 billion reais ($1.23 billion) in transactions in 2024, the firm said on Tuesday, as it eyes growth in the region's largest economy. Clara, which also provides corporate cards and expense management solutions, said the new product would allow clients in Brazil to expand their payment methods, adding bank slips and express wire transfers (TEDs) to its traditional credit card. Clara announced in August it was moving its headquarters from Mexico to Brazil after obtaining a central bank license to operate as a payment institution there, allowing it to launch the so-called 'Clara Conta'. Clara's credit card already accounts for annual transactions of over a 1 billion reais in Brazil alone, and the company says operations have been doubling in size every six months. ($1 = 4.8964 reais)Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Clara, Clara Conta, Gabriel Araujo, Sonali Paul Organizations: SAO PAULO, Banco, Thomson Locations: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia

☆ China's Moore Threads valued at $3.4 bln in funding before U.S. curbs - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The month before Moore Threads had raised roughly 1 billion yuan in a so-called "series B+" round, one of the sources said. Investors priced Moore at 24 billion yuan prior to the capital raise, and around 24.8 billion yuan after the injection of new capital, said the other source, who had been briefed about the fundraising progress in September. On Tuesday, updates to Moore Threads' company registration data on third-party database Qichacha showed it added new shareholders including a fund called Houxue Qingxin and venture investment firm Chenan Zhizhi alongside an increase in its registered capital. It was widely considered one of China's most prominent efforts to develop products capable of competing with those from market-dominating Nvidia. ($1 = 7.2482 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Florence Lo, Moore, Chenan, ByteDance, Jan Harvey Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Reuters, Nvidia, AMD, China Mobile, Sequoia Capital, Beijing, Thomson Locations: China, Rights BEIJING, U.S, Sequoia Capital China

☆ 3 things to know about the most important relationship in the global economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Even so, finding ways to “get back on a normal course” — in the words of Biden — matters hugely to the global economy. He also pointed to some American companies leaving China altogether, such as asset management giant Vanguard. In the third quarter, a measure of foreign direct investment into China turned negative for the first time in 25 years. The country is by far the world’s biggest gallium producer, and a leading global producer of germanium, according to the US Geological Survey. Listed American companies with big business in China, such as Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA), may face higher scrutiny, too.

Persons: Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, “, Biden, ”, Scott Kennedy, Chenggang Xu, California Justin Sullivan, Xu, Gina Raimondo, Adam Glanzman, Zongyuan Zoe Liu, Donald Trump, Liu, … Organizations: Hong Kong CNN —, Economic Cooperation, CNN, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Stanford Center, China’s, Shipping, Port, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, European Union, American Chamber of Commerce, Vanguard, Companies, US, Nvidia, Semiconductor Industry Association, Bloomberg, Getty, Geological Survey, Council, Foreign Relations, Communist Party of China Finances, Capital, Apple, Chinese Communist Party, China Economic, Security, Commission, Biden, CFR Locations: China, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Asia, United States, Mexico, Canada, Port of Oakland, California, Shanghai, Ukraine, Moscow, Washington, Beijing, American, New York, US, Japan, Netherlands, Sequoia

Insider spoke with startup founders and VCs who are managing companies while aiding the war effort. Startup founders and employees have traveled back to Israel from their homes abroad to take up arms and defend their country. The call to serveIn Israel, military service is mandatory for all citizens over 18. These startup founders and employees are using the skills they use every day like problem solving, multitasking and leading during the war effort. "I'm lucky to be a cofounder not a sole founder, so I'm relying on my cofounder," Kandel explained.

Persons: Israel, VCs, —, Oren Kandel, I'm, We're, Munch, Kandel, Isaac Gili, Jon Medved, David, Noy, Danielle Eisenberg, Leyb, Eisenberg, I've, Medved, Oren Kandel Kandel, that's, Ben Yellin, Ofer Sharon, Itamar Friedman, " Eisenberg, Tasmin Lockwood Organizations: Palestinian, Hamas, Service, Wednesday, Israeli Defense Forces, Startup, Israel Relief, Microsoft, Israel, Tel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, GGV, Insight Partners Locations: Gaza, Israel, Gedera, New York, cyberintelligence, Tel Aviv, Binyamina

☆ Exclusive: Self-driving startup Plus splits US and China operations amid tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

SHANGHAI, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Self-driving truck startup Plus has split its Chinese and U.S. operations and struck a deal in which a key shareholder, China's Full Truck Alliance (FTA) (YMM.N), will focus on the China unit, Plus said on Wednesday. Plus, which had headquarters in Suzhou, China, and California, separated its operations into two independent companies. FTA increased its stake in Zhijia Technology via a stock swap arrangement that reduced its ownership in Plus, the company said. Plus declined to comment on the size of FTA's shareholding in Zhijia Technology. The stake in Zhijia Technology will help the company's work to develop autonomous trucking fleets - a potentially lucrative market amid a truck driver shortage in China.

Persons: Uber, Zhang Yan, Roxanne Liu, Brenda Goh Organizations: Alliance, Reuters, U.S, Sequoia, GGV, Zhijia Technology, Technology, New York Stock Exchange, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, China, Beijing, U.S, Suzhou, California, Huochebang, United States

☆ GGV Capital, a top Silicon Valley investor, is splitting off its China business as pressure mounts
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —GGV Capital, a prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm, has become the latest big investor to break up its US and China operations into separate companies as tensions between the two countries over tech and geopolitics continue to rise. The other side will focus on China, Southeast Asia and South Asia, run from its headquarters in Singapore, by managing partners Jenny Lee and Jixun Foo. Jenny Lee, managing partner of GGV Capital, at a conference in Singapore in September. Lee will co-lead the Asia side of the business as it becomes its own firm, according to GGV. Asked whether the US order or wider geopolitical tensions had factored into its decision, GGV Capital declined to comment.

Persons: Glenn Solomon, Hans Tung, Jeff Richards, Oren Yunger, Jenny Lee, Jixun, Lee, Slack, ByteDance, Didi, Biden, “, ” Organizations: Hong Kong CNN — GGV, Jiyuan, GGV, Bloomberg, Getty, CNN, Sequoia Locations: China, Hong Kong, North America, Latin America, Europe, Israel, India, California, New York, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Singapore, Asia, United States, China’s Xinjiang, Dentons

☆ US venture firm GGV Capital to separate China business amid geopolitical tension
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Sept 21 (Reuters) - U.S. venture capital firm GGV Capital said on Thursday it plans to split its business into two, with one focused on Asia and the other on the U.S., as political pressure mounts on American companies to limit investments in Chinese technology. This comes after Sequoia Capital in June said it is splitting its businesses in China as well as India and Southeast Asia into two independent firms. Venture capital firm GGV said the separation of its Singapore arm that would solely focus on investing in China is expected to finish by the first quarter of next year. GGV Capital, which has around $9 billion in assets under management, has backed companies such as Airbnb, ByteDance and Alibaba to establish itself as a cross-border venture capital company. China-focused firms only raised $5.5 billion in U.S. dollar-denominated funding in the first half of the year, Preqin data showed, a far cry from its peak of $27.6 billion raised in the same period in 2021.

Persons: GGV Capital, GGV, Alibaba, Seher, Shweta Agarwal Organizations: GGV, Sequoia Capital, U.S, Wall Street Journal, GSR Ventures, Walden International, Qualcomm Ventures, Venture, ., Thomson Locations: Asia, China, India, Southeast Asia, Singapore, Bengaluru

☆ China VCs have a big problem — and it’s not just a drop in U.S. investor appetite
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Among China-focused investment firms, only four U.S. dollar-denominated venture capital funds established between 2015 and 2020 have at least returned investors all the money they put in. Alternative assets include venture capital, but not publicly traded stocks and bonds. Preqin doesn't track every single China VC fund, and only included those with data as of the end of last year or more recently. In the world of early-stage investing, "limited partners" (typically institutions) give money to "general partners" (venture capital funds) to invest into startups. The outperforming funds were: Loyal Valley Capital Advantage Fund I, Hillhouse Fund II, Oceanpine USD Fund I and HighLight Capital USD Fund II.

Persons: Preqin, —, Reuben Lai, “, Reuben Lai Preqin, they'd, Alex Shum, Preqin's Lai, there's, Lai, Jinjian Zhang, Vitalbridge, Zhang Organizations: Nurphoto, Getty, ., China VC, CNBC, Fengshion, Investment Fund, LYFE Capital, GGV, BioTrack, U.S, Capital, II, Sequoia, Sequoia Capital China Growth Fund, TPG NewQuest Locations: Shenzhen, China, BEIJING, That's, Preqin, Greater China, Beijing, IPOs, Vitalbridge, Shanghai

☆ Open Cosmos, a UK space tech startup that launches satellites for data collection, raised $50 million using this 13-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Open Cosmos, a UK space tech startup, has raised $50 million in fresh funding. Founded in 2015, Open Cosmos had only raised $7 million previously. Open Cosmos, a UK space tech startup that designs and launches satellites for data collection, has raised $50 million. Open Cosmos then shares this information to provide users with "actionable data" around the energy transition and natural resource monitoring. "We're quite an unusual space company, yes we do satellites but it's also about the data," Open Cosmos founder and CEO Rafel Jorda Siquier told Insider.

Persons: Rafel Jorda Siquier, We've, OpenCosmos, Wise, Taavet Hinrikus, Kheng Nam Lee, Siquier Organizations: Cosmos, Partners, Accenture Ventures, Banco Santander InnoEnergy Climate Tech Fund, Wille Finance, Claret Capital Partners, GGV Capital Locations: Harwell , United Kingdom, South America

☆ Lending startup Captain raised $107 million in the boom times. Now it's up for sale amid layoffs and a capital drought.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Melia Russell | Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Captain, a startup that aimed to quicken home repairs after natural disasters, is winding down. The Louisville-based company had previously raised $107 million across venture and debt equity. CartaMany early-stage startups such as Captain, which had raised $107 million across equity and debt capital, have struggled to raise new funding as a drought in venture capital spreads through Silicon Valley. Liabilities pile upThe company relies on debt financing to pay contractors upfront for materials, supplies, and labor costs. In his email, Gray said prospective buyers were aware of the outstanding liabilities and the sale price would be used to satisfy those liabilities, "with wages being the most paramount," he said.

Persons: Demetrius Gray, Gray, Captain, Red Swan, Pete Flint, Flint, PATRICK T, FALLON, Talent, Melia Russell, Rob Price Organizations: quicken, Carta, TechCrunch, GGV, fintech, Munich Re, San Francisco Superior Court Locations: The Louisville, Silicon Valley, Carta, Louisville , Kentucky, NFX, CoVenture, Munich, Maui

☆ Union Square Ventures slashed the value of 7 of its funds by 26%. Insiders say this will be the 'start of a cascade' of lower valuations for VC funds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Ben Bergman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Union Square Ventures is widely considered to be one of the top performing venture firms of all time. USV marked down seven of its funds by nearly 26% this year, a far steeper writedown than other firms. Union Square Ventures — an early backer of Robinhood, Coinbase, and Etsy— is widely considered to be one of the top performing venture firms of all time. Venture firms are required to value their holdings at fair market value, but assessing the value of illiquid assets leaves considerable room for discretion. USV's 2004 fund returned more than $305 million in cash from a $22 million UTIMCO investment, with an IRR of 66%.

Persons: USV, —, VCs, Vincent Harrison, Combinator, Fred Wilson, Wilson Organizations: Square Ventures, Union Square Ventures, UTIMCO, University of Texas, Venture, Bay, Sequoia, Twitter, Zynga Locations: Robinhood, Texas, USV

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party sent letters to four separate U.S. venture capital firms, including Qualcomm's venture arm, expressing "serious concern" about their investments in Chinese tech startups. The letters, which were made public on Wednesday, were sent to GGV Capital, GST Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, and Walden International. Qualcomm Ventures, for example, made 13 investments in Chinese A.I. Walden, a smaller firm, was identified as a particularly significant backer of Chinese AI companies. He said at the time he found there was "broad support" among venture capitalists and others to keep U.S. asset managers from investing in Chinese AI firms.

Persons: Mike Gallagher, Wisconsin Republican Mike Gallagher, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Janet Yellen, Antony Blinken, Gallagher, Krishnamoorthi, SenseTime, GGV, Didi, Megvii, Abu, Walden, Intellifusion, Neil Shen helming Organizations: U.S, Capitol, Chinese Communist Party, GGV, Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Walden International, Wisconsin Republican, Treasury, New York Times, Qualcomm, Tiger Global Management, Tiger Global, Denglin Technology, Georgetown's Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Macquarie Group, GSR Ventures, Center for Security, Horizon Robotics, Silicon Valley, CNBC, U.S . Commerce Department, Street, Sequoia Capital, Sequoia Locations: Illinois, China, U.S, Silver, Denglin, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Megvii, Sequoia China

☆ Bowery: 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Founded in 2015 in New York City, Bowery is among several urban plant factories that are changing food supplies, and attracting substantial funding. The need to grow produce more efficiently, and closer to end markets, is represented in Bowery and the concept of vertical agriculture. Early last year, Bowery secured a $150 million credit investment from KKR & Co. Overall, Bowery increased its retail distribution 40% in 2022, with supermarket chains Albertsons, Giant Food, Walmart and Whole Foods on board. Almost a decade on from its founding, the idea behind Bowery remains novel, but skeptics say vertical farming remains closer to a DIY niche than a grown up, globally scalable agtech industry.

☆ Exclusive: The University of California has invested billions in venture capital firms since 2000 and it has lost hundreds of millions so far. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Ben Bergman | Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Insider obtained UC Investments' returns through a Public Records Act request. Unlike many other financial institutions, VC funds are not required to show their return on investment in startups. UC Investments, which has been managed by Jagdeep Singh Bachher since 2014, declined to comment. Though selling early produced an initial windfall, UC Investments could have ultimately missed out on substantial gains from these VC funds. By comparison, UC Investments earned a 8.3% return for its investment in public markets.

☆ U.S. investors have plowed billions into China's AI sector, report shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Alexandra Alper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

According to the report, 167 U.S. investors took part in 401 transactions, or roughly 17% of the investments into Chinese AI companies in the period. Those transactions represented a total $40.2 billion in investment, or 37% of the total raised by Chinese AI companies in the 6-year period. According to the report, U.S. investor GSR Ventures invested alongside China's IFlytek Co Ltd (002230.SZ) in a Chinese AI company after the speech recognition firm was added to a trade blacklist. Silicon Valley Bank and Wanxiang American Healthcare investments group made investments in Chinese AI firms alongside China's Sensetime before the powerhouse in facial recognition technology was added to the same trade blacklist. Only one Chinese AI company that received funding from U.S. investors is involved in developing AI applications for military or public safety uses, according to CSET.

☆ Risk officers are the next hot hire for fintechs reaching consumers in new industries, VCs said. Startups are poaching from big companies to find them.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Risk officers don't just safeguard data: They take charge of many regulatory and technological issues in financial-services businesses. But only some fintech companies may benefit from thinking about hiring risk officers early. Large banks still dominate hiring for risk officers, but startups are gaining groundFintech startups want to hire risk officers, but they face a hurdle: There aren't enough risk professionals. But fintech startups have been attracting risk officers from banking giants for a while. Still, according to White, there are benefits to hiring risk officers for both types of companies.

☆ Monte Carlo: 2022 Top Startups for the Enterprise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Companies and their data analytics teams have more information to work with than ever before, but how do they know the data flowing through pipelines and across enterprise stacks is reliable? That's a question that led to the birth of the "data observability" niche, and has helped to turn some startups quickly into big companies, such as Databricks, and also pushed fellow "Top Startups" company Monte Carlo to a billion-dollar plus valuation. Founded by two executives who previously worked in customer experience and data security, Monte Carlo helps companies ensure that the increasing flow of data isn't only secure, but is available across an enterprise in real-time, leading to improved customer understanding and prevention of costly mistakes. Monte Carlo customers include companies across many sectors of the economy, from JetBlue to Affirm , Autotrader, Compass , Asics, GoodRx , and Shipt. Investors include some of Silicon Valley's largest VC firms, including Accel, GGV Capital and IVP.

☆ India's startup market may be behind China's, but it has 'tremendous potential,' says Facebook co-founder
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Su-Lin Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

India's startup market is worth betting on, though it's still "a few years" behind China's, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin said. "I think India is a huge market with just tremendous potential," Saverin said, in response to a question on why India's startup ecosystem has not generated better returns. "And I think as the market continues to mature, and as you get into a better macroeconomic environment, it is a market to bet on, combined with Southeast Asia." According to India's Ministry of Finance report from August, the country's foreign direct investments in the first quarter of the year still lagged behind China's. "And actually, some of the biggest companies out there, I think Microsoft started during a recession."

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