After a dismal year for Chinese tech companies, the $9bn that Sequoia China raised earlier this month to fund hundreds more start-ups was a display of star power from the venture capital group’s billionaire founder Neil Shen.Shen’s peers have struggled to raise money this year, following heightened political risk and Beijing’s crackdown on Big Tech, which has forced some global institutions to put their China investments on hold.
By contrast, Shen has raised funds by managing to ride China’s political currents and align with President Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” policy goals, according to past associates, rival investors and others close to the country’s tech and investment scene.
“Everybody is having to take stock and reassess what it means to invest in China,” said David Brown, head of Asia deals at consulting firm PwC, speaking about the Chinese investing environment. He added only the “creme de la creme” of funds with strong local knowledge would survive.