China VC Weekly: Hillhouse Moves Uphill With New Fund

In last week’s VC news, Hillhouse Capital Group plans to set up a 5 billion yuan fund, Airwallex bags $100 million at a $5.5 billion valuation and more.

Chinese Precision Medicine Developer Completes $40 Million Series A Round Led by Qiming Venture Partners

Allorion Therapeutics, a Chinese developer of next-generation precision medicine for oncology and autoimmune diseases, announced on Tuesday the completion of a $40 million Series A round of financing led by Qiming Venture Partners.

Participants in the new round of financing included IDG Capital, healthcare-focused investment firm Octagon Capital, private equity (PE) company Firstred Capital, and Elikon Venture. Existing investors TF Capital, a Chinese life sciences venture capital (VC) firm, and Shanghai-based Med-Fine Capital, also poured money into the company in this new round.

The proceeds will be used to support Allorion’s preclinical projects, investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies, and the IND applications of two drug candidates in China and the US.

About Allorion

With operations in Boston, USA and Guangzhou, China, Allorion focuses on the development of novel molecular drugs that fight against cancer and autoimmune disease. Its drug discovery engine integrates technological breakthroughs in protein structures, big data, machine learning, and gene editing to systematically discover and develop small molecules, including covalent and allosteric inhibitors, of validated targets.

BOX.Game Bags $5 Million in Angel Round

BOX.Game, incubated by leading coding and AI education company CODEMAO, recently announced the completion of an angel round of financing worth $5 million. The funds will support its continuous building of a metaverse for teenagers and youth to create, play and socialize. The round was led by Atypical Ventures, founded by Ruby Lu, Kwai’s angel investor with in-depth knowledge in creators’ cultivation platforms.

“We have seen the creativity of Chinese children on the BOX.Game platform and were impressed by them,” Atypical Ventures said. Lu continued: “We are thrilled to grow with Metaverse’s related fundamental technology, content, platform and communities.”

About BOX.Game

Officially released on June 1, 2021, BOX.Game is a web-based real-time multiplayer gaming platform for teenagers to create, play, socialize, govern and earn. With its self-developed BOX 3D Engine, creators can build a wide spectrum of content and games, which concurrently support more than 200 creators collaborating on the same game.

COL and Xiaomi Invest in Online Audio Platform Qingting FM

Qingting FM, an online audio platform launched in September 2011, announced the completion of its latest round of financing, which was led by COL and followed by Xiaomi, Ruiyi Investment and Puwei Investment. In June this year, the audio platform received an F round of financing led by WeMove Capital.

COL, the leading investor in this round, was founded in 2000 and holds a large number of literary work copyrights and contracted authors. Xiaomi’s investment will further promote the user growth of Qingting FM. As it stands, Xiaomi’s XiaoAI Tongxue has been in use on  Qingting FM’s platform since 2018. Based on past agreements, Xiaomi’s existing radio products will be uploaded to Qingting FM and will be pre-installed on all Xiaomi smartphones.

About Qingting FM

Qingting FM is a network audio application. Since its release in September 2011, it has grown into one of the leading audio content aggregation platforms in China.

Cornerstone Robotics Raises 500 Million Yuan in Series B Financing

Cornerstone Robotics, an innovative surgical robotics developer, announced the completion of a Series B financing round in which the company garnered 500 million yuan ($78.4 million). The new funds were provided by a number of well-known investment institutions in the industry, including Meituan’s venture capital (VC) fund DragonBall Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) and New World Development Group. Previous shareholders Qiming Venture Partners, China TsingSong Capital (CTS), Gaorong Capital and K2VC added to their original investment.

This round of financing is mainly to be used by the firm for product R&D, clinical trials, marketing promotion, new product layout and the construction of cutting-edge technology platforms of surgical robotics, so that patients in China and around the world can enjoy high-end medical services faster.

About Cornerstone Robotics

Established in September 2019, the founding team of Cornerstone Robotics includes the world’s top surgical robotics experts dedicated to the development of innovative products. At present, the company has completed the development of porous laparoscopic surgery robotic products which will quickly enter the clinical trial stage.

North Ocean Photonics Secures 400 Million Yuan in Series B+ Financing

North Ocean Photonics, a Chinese photonic technology company, announced on Monday that  it has secured nearly 400 million yuan ($62.7 million) in Series B+ financing. Investors in this round are CITIC Zhengye Xinye Industry Fund, YF Capital, Haiwang Capital of Pudong Kechuang Group, CCB Investment Funds Management, Future Capital, Source Code Capital and Winsdom Capital (Country Garden Core Alliance Enterprise). Serving as co-investors are Kinzon Capital, Walden International, Lingang Sc-inovation Invest, Vision Plus Capital, Oriza FoFs and Chenhui Venture Partners.

According to the company, this round of financing will be used to further enhance its wafer-level optical capability and upgrade the closed loop of its R&D and mass production system by cooperating with important customers and partners.

About North Ocean Photonics

North Ocean Photonics, headquartered in Shanghai, is a high-tech enterprise focusing on wafer-level optics and optical integration.

Autonomous Driving Technology Company MAXIEYE Rakes in 300 Million Yuan

MAXIEYE, an autonomous driving technology and service provider, announced that  the company had completed a B round of financing worth 300 million yuan  ($47 million). This round of financing was led by Huizhou Desay SV Automotive, and followed by the funds of People’s Daily Online, Shanghai Free Trade Zone Equity Fund, Yonghua Capital, and Changzhou Xingyu.

According to the company, this round of funds will be mainly used to supplement the large-scale mass production investment in intelligent driving products for passenger cars and commercial vehicles, as well as further R&D in high-level automated driving technology.

About MAXIEYE

Founded in 2016, MAXIEYE aims at the factory-installed mass production market of passenger cars and commercial vehicles, providing advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving systems (ADS) products and solutions, as well as imaging system products required for intelligent driving.

AI Firm StartDT Closes C1 Round of Financing 

StartDT, a provider of AI-based technology solutions, announced on Friday that  it had completed a C1 round of financing exceeding 200 million yuan  ($31.3 million), with Taikang Asset leading the investment, and previous shareholders ByteDance, DT Capital Partners and XY Capital also joining the investment round.

According to StartDT, this round of financing will be invested in the R&D of independent technologies. The company will use the funds to hire more specialists to help improve its service capabilities, expand market share, and strengthen its ecosystem of products and services.

About StartDT

Established in December 2016, StartDT focuses on using big data and artificial intelligence technology to enhance the business capabilities of enterprises. Its self-developed AI-driven data system helps enterprises automate and optimize their data processing and management.

3D Vision Startup Tanglang Huishi Raises Series A Financing to Ramp up R&D Efforts

Tanglang Huishi Technology Co., Ltd. announced the completion of round A financing in which it secured 138 million yuan ($22 million), led by Shang Tang AI Fund and followed by Wenxing Shengshi and Putuo Investment. Its original shareholder Mantis Vision also participated in this round of financing.

The new funds will be mainly used for research and development of 3D technology software and hardware, the landing of a 3D studio and production of Metaverse content.

About Tanglang Huishi

Tanglang Huishi, established in 2018, is committed to the research and development and application of 3D vision. Its team comes from SAP, IBM, Intel and other high-tech enterprises, with rich technology and market experience.

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Prominent VC Fund Hillhouse Capital Group Set up 5 Billion Yuan Fund with District Government of Xishan in Wuxi, Jiangsu

Chinese venture capital (VC) firm Hillhouse Capital Group and the district government of Xishan in Wuxi, Jiangsu province will set up a 5 billion yuan ($783.5 million) VC fund to invest in fields such as biotechnology, carbon neutrality and manufacturing.

The agreement includes establishing a Hillhouse Deep Technology Innovation Center in Xishan, which will assist in the incubation of technology entrepreneurship programs and further cultivation of tech startups.

The above-mentioned special funds will focus on investing in biotechnology, hard technology and software services, carbon neutrality, advanced manufacturing and other fields. The innovation center is to support the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in cutting-edge fields.

Hillhouse Capital will work with universities, research institutions and tech firms to help develop hard-technology entrepreneurial projects, the Beijing-based company said.

About Hillhouse Capital Group

Founded by Zhang Lei in 2005, Hillhouse Capital Group focuses on long-term structural value investment and industrial innovation, covering the fields of life and health, hard technology, consumption and retail, carbon neutrality, enterprise services and others. Its investment spans early VC, private equity investment, listed company investment and M&A investment.

Fintech Platform Airwallex Raises $100 Million at $5.5 Billion Valuation

Fintech platform Airwallex announced on Thursday that it had completed a Series E1 round of financing worth $100 million, pushing the company’s valuation to $5.5 billion. This latest round of financing was led by Lone Pine Capital and followed by previous investors, 1835i Ventures, the venture capital partner to ANZ, and Sequoia Capital China.

About Airwallex

With technology as its core, Airwallex has built a global payments platform. Its network covers more than 50 currencies in more than 130 countries and regions, providing digital financial technology products for enterprises of various sizes.