HongShan — Sequoia Capital’s China unit that spun out from its parent last month — has established an office in Singapore which will serve as the base for making bets in Southeast Asia, Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.
The move comes after a slew of major China-focused investment firms announced their plans to build presence in the city-state — Matrix Partners China, the Chinese franchise of US venture capital (VC) major Matrix Partners, for example, obtained a local licence for fund management in February, according to the official website of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
However, HongShan’s latest move could pose competition to Peak XV Partners, the India and Southeast Asia unit of the venture capital group, which has Singapore as one of its five offices, per the Financial Times.
Venture capital powerhouse Sequoia in early June announced that it would split into three independent entities — Peak XV Partners, which will focus on India & Southeast Asia; HongShan to focus on China; and Sequoia Capital representing the US and Europe. The separation is set to complete by March 2024, while any profit sharing between the regional funds will stop by December 31.
The split-up did not seem to hinder HongShan‘s dealmaking activity, which participated in five deals in June worth $100.2 million, according to DealStreetAsia’s proprietary data.
Founded in 2005 by investment guru Neil Shen, Sequoia Capital China has been known as the early backers of Chinese tech giants including TikTok-owner ByteDance and Alibaba Group.