Sequoia Scores For Second Time In 2016 With NY IPO Of Chinese Startup
The biggest winner from the recent NYSE listing of China’s ZTO Express must be Sequoia Capital China, a consistent scorer with Chinese tech startups.
Sequoia was a lead and early investor in the Chinese logistics service firm with a 7.2% share before the IPO. ZTO counts as the 5th Chinese firm to go public in New York this year, as U.S. listings of Chinese companies pick up.
Sequoia partner Liu Xing said the venture firm first approached ZTO in 2011 and helped management scale the company before making an initial investment in 2013, following up in 2014, and returning again in 2015 with affiliate fund Gopher.
The IPO raised $1.4 billion to rank as the biggest public offering in the U.S. this year and second to Alibaba for U.S. IPOs from China-based companies. The ZTO IPO returned in the billion-dollar range for early investor Sequoia, which had backed ZTO with an investment “much smaller than $100 million,” according to Liu. Besides Sequoia, other investors were Warburg Pincus, Hillhouse Capital and Standard Chartered Private Equity.
Interestingly, Liu is also the Sequoia partner behind the firms’ investment in a second Chinese company that went public in New York this year – the NYSE listing in January of China’s 51 Talk, an English language mobile learning app.
Read post at Forbes: ZTO IPO.
Didi’s hint of early plans to expand beyond China could cause some conflict. Partnering with Uber in the US. could be awkward since Didi is a shareholder in Uber competitor Lyft. In Southeast Asia, Didi would need to choose between its nvestor Uber or its own investment Grab. In India, Didi faces a similar problem: it’s invested in local Uber competitor Ola.
Sequoia Capital China is making a $51.7 million strategic investment in the asset management business of Noah’s holdings of Chinese alternative asset manager Gopher. The deal strengthens the firm’s institutional partnership and helps Gopher extend its services for Chinese high net worth individuals domestically and internationally.
Initialized Capital, a $115 million venture fund in Silicon Valley investing in early-stage companies gains a new partner, Techcrunch contributor Kim-Mai Cutler. She joins Initialized’s founder Garry Tan, who was a partner at Y Combinator for five years and a founder of Posterous, and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
HTC’s Vive is giving guests at the InterContinental Hotel Groups in China a sample of its VR experiences and entertainment. Guests can also try the headsets in their rooms.
Xiaomi is launching its new phone, Mi Note 2, with an edgeless screen and top-notch security features.
INDIA
Fintech startup KredX in Bangalore has raised $6 million in a Series A investment by Sequoia Capital India and Prime Venture Partners. KredX runs an invoice discounting platform for small businesses that helps them raise capital against unpaid invoices.
