Venture capital firm Vertex Ventures, backed by Singapore state investor Temasek, is set to raise nearly $500 million for a new fund targeting tech development in China.
The new fund’s size will exceed an initial target of $400 million, compare with an earlier, similar fund that raised $275 million, said Tay Choon Chong, managing partner at Vertex Ventures China.
Vertex Ventures will be investing around 90 percent of the new capital in Chinese start-ups.
President Xi Jinping kicked off China’s 20th Communist Party Congress on Sunday emphasizing the importance of self-reliance in technology and the need to improve the nation’s capacity for independent innovation.
Vertex will also look for firms that have potential in reducing Beijing’s reliance on foreign suppliers, Tay said.
Vertex’s China investments include electric vehicle battery maker SES, Beijing-based chip developer Horizon Robotics, and Mobike, a bike-sharing firm acquired by China’s Meituan.
