V Fund, a private equity investment management company that specialises in industrial technology and intelligent manufacturing, has secured the first close of a new RMB fund.
The firm did not disclose the financial details of the transaction, however, it said its assets under management (AUM) now stand at over 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), following the latest close. Limited partners (LPs) in the new fund included conglomerates, listed companies, investment firms, and government-backed industry funds, V Fund added.
Going forward, V Fund will continue to allocate capital to automotive, intelligent manufacturing, semiconductors, and corporate services sectors. V Fund, which was founded in 2015 by five alumni of Goldman Sachs Group, primarily looks at the aerospace, big data, IoT, intelligent manufacturing, and automobiles sectors.
It claims to have invested 4 billion yuan ($616 million) in over 50 companies including Hillhouse Capital-backed lithium-ion battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), smart vehicles company Horizon Robotics, lithium-ion battery technology player Farasis Energy, and smart logistics robots developer Geek+ Robotics.
Earlier this month, V Fund had joined hands with Hillhouse Capital’s venture unit GL Ventures and other investors pouring over 100 million yuan ($15 million) in internet security services specialist Anxinsec. In July, it had co-led a nearly 1 billion yuan ($154 million) Series B round funding in SemiDrive.
Many Chinese investment firms have been busy raising RMB funds this year. In June, Yingke PE raised 1 billion yuan ($154 million) for a new yuan fund, bringing the firm’s total fundraising amount to date to over 13 billion yuan ($2 billion).
In the same month, Fortune Capital secured the first closing of its RMB fund at over 5.5 billion yuan ($847 million).