Author: Rebecca Fannin

The Difficulties (Not) of Starting A Business in Hong Kong

I have recently been asked by the Institute of Directors in Hong Kong China to detail the difficulties of starting a business in Hong Kong. I have been starting businesses from scratch pretty much for my whole working life from my recent firm NEST, an early stage startup investment firm, to my earlier business, agency Fluid www.fluidhk.com. I had to think long...

Alibaba, Tencent, Qihoo 360 Driving Up Valuations

Late stage valuations are being driven by corporate venture capitalists seeking access to innovation so they are willing to pay more, pointed out VC Mark Suster at the PreMoney conference in Miami. These new investors include China’s tech titans Alibaba, Renren, Tencent, Fosun and Qihoo 360. It’s the theme of Silicon Dragon San Francisco 2015, March 25. In fact,...

Are Chinese Tech Startups Overvalued?

Technology startups in China are raising cash at a record pace from private investors, prompting concerns about potential overvaluation. The latest hot deal is an $800 million-plus round for Shanghai-based Dianping, an online-review site similar to Yelp Inc., as the WSJ’s Rick Carew and Juro Osawa report. Late demand from new investors increased the fundraising, pushing Dianping’s...

Why Asia’s Tech Titans Are Investing In U.S. Startups

Asia’s wealthiest technology companies are leading a wave of investment in U.S. startups with the hope of gaining a toehold in Silicon Valley and taking some hot new products home. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., China’s largest online retailer, recently invested $200 million in Snapchat Inc. The investment pushed the Venice, Calif., mobile-messaging company’s value up to...

Huawei’s Leaps Ahead In Mobile With Wearable Smartwatch

Huawei has introduced a 7-inch tablet with cellular voice capabilities alongside its Android Wear smartwatch that was leaked before the Mobile World Congress event. Huawei already sells a large phone direct to consumers in the U.S.: You can buy the Ascend Mate2 with its 6.1-inch display for $299.99 off contract. The new MediaPad X2 brings the screen...

Gov. Christie Confidante Bob Grady Joins Private Equity Firm

Bob Grady, a close confidant of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former chairman of the $81 billion New Jersey Investment Council, has agreed to join mid-market private equity firm Gryphon Investors as a partner, according to Fortune.  He also will lead Gryphon’s general industries group, which is one of the San Francisco-based firm’s four areas of...

Investors Beware: Today’s $100M+ Late-stage Private Rounds Differ from an IPO

Every successful technology company raises money throughout its lifecycle, perhaps starting with a seed investment and progressing through Series A, B, C, late-stage investments, and, for the most successful companies, an IPO. Historically, different financial institutions specialized in different stages, because the assessment of risk and opportunity was considered unique at each stage — for example,...

Shenzhen Drone Maker: How Hong Kong Let It Get Away

Once upon a time Hong Kong was close to making itself home to one of the world’s most innovative companies – but eventually missed the golden opportunity for both political and economic reasons. Even more sadly, apparently almost no one in Hong Kong realised or cared about the missed opportunity until recently when “start-up” became the...

The Cash Funnel For Startup Exits

Viewpoint by venture capitalist Tytus Michalski of Fresco Advisers contends that tech titans are raising cash at low rates to become more aggressive in acquiring startups. See