Chinese investment firm Orient Jiafu has held the final close of its new technology venture fund at 1 billion yuan ($145.3 million).
As the firm’s fourth venture fund, the vehicle secured capital commitments from China’s government-guided industry investment funds, state capital investors, privately-run investment companies, financial institutions, and listed companies, said Orient Jiafu in a recent statement.
The firm said over 60% of its existing limited partners (LPs) re-upped in the new venture fund. The fund had hit 640 million yuan ($93 million) in its first close.
With nearly 15 billion yuan ($2.2 billion) in total assets under management (AUM), Orient Jiafu plans to continue investing in its focused areas of smart manufacturing, new materials, new-generation IT, innovative healthcare, and other emerging industries, said the firm.
Founded in 2016 and fully known as Hangzhou Orient Jiafu Asset Management Company Limited, it is a mixed-ownership investment platform affiliated to China’s Zhejiang Orient Financial Holdings Group, a state-owned financial institution listed on the Shanghai stock exchange. It makes equity investments in startups as well as in listed stocks in the secondary markets.
Upon its final close, Orient Jiafu’s fourth venture fund has already completed a few investments, including transactions in the follow-on financing of some of its portfolio companies in China. It has invested in CellProBio, a manufacturer of high-end life science consumables; electric bicycle charging and battery swapping service Yugu Technology; GLB Intelligent Power Technologies, which offers system solutions for motor and electronic control to new energy vehicle (NEV) makers; and robot vision startup LINX ROBOT.
Some of its previous landmark deals were made in companies such as artificial intelligence (AI) chip maker Cambricon Technologies, which went public in Shanghai in 2020, raising 2.58 billion yuan ($374.8 million) in its initial public offering (IPO).
It also backed the now Shanghai-listed lithium-ion battery material producer Ronbay New Energy; intelligent video solutions provider Hangzhou Arcvideo Technology, which is also listed in Shanghai; and 360 DigiTech, a credit-tech platform dual-listed in the US and Hong Kong.
Hangzhou-headquartered Orient Jiafu has offices in Beijing and Shanghai, with about 40 investment and market research professionals in the team. The firm claims to have completed more than 20 new investments, plus another five follow-on investments in its existing portfolio companies, for the whole year of 2022.
“The next decade will see technology innovations in China reach a new height. It is like a pendulum, with China’s economic development, once again, swinging to the side of growing the country’s technology and manufacturing power,” said Xu Xiao, founding partner at Orient Jiafu, in the statement.
Xu said Orient Jiafu will continue its focus on manufacturing, energy, and life sciences, coupled with investments in segments such as new materials and components, integrated software and hardware solutions, and digital applications to capture enterprises with great growth potential.
In its most recent fundraising successes, Orient Jiafu held the final close of its fifth flagship fund at 1 billion yuan in November 2021. One month later, it set up an intellectual property (IP) angel fund with 100 million yuan ($14.5 million) in its first close to focus on emerging technology startups in the advanced manufacturing, new materials, and IT areas.