Venture capitalist invested a total of $37 billion last year into start-ups in China, bringing the country closer to snatching US's tech industry crown. This record breaking figure is double to China's previous total investments in 2014.
The London-based consultancy Preqin Ltd. reported that venture firms placed their money in 1,555 China deals, bolstering the surge in investments. Bloomberg News wrote that the growth of the deals slowed down during the fourth quarter as the value of investments declined by 40 percent due to Internet service issues in the country.
This venture boom led to the success of some of the world's biggest start-ups. Smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi Corp. is among the firms that benefited from the pour of VC funds in the country.
However, the latest news from Forbes shows that the company had a rough 2015, missing its 80 to 100 million annual shipment target. It sold only about 70 million smartphones last year. Billionaire Lei Jun said Xiaomi is now on the defensive, looking at its other business lines for revenue as competition in the smartphone market intensifies.
Ride-hailing service app Did Kuaidi also benefited from the influx of VC money. According to Tech Crunch, Didi Kuaidi recently released its own SDK for third-parties and developers. After relieving $3 billion, the company is now valued at $16.5 billion. It is now considered Uber's biggest rival in China.
Another notable beneficiary of the VC funds in China is the peer-to-peer lender Lu.com, which is now officially called Shanghai Lujiazui International Financial Asset Exchange Co.
The value in 2014 is triple the figure during the year prior to that. This only means there will be more companies that will benefit from these investments. Preqin head of venture capital Felice Egidio said that the growth from 2013's $4.5 billion to 2014's $15 billion and 2015's $37 billion shows the massive appetite of VCs for China's start-ups.
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