China’s Sky9 Capital Raises US$440m For Two New VC Funds

Shanghai-headquartered venture capital firm Sky9 Capital has secured a total of US$440 million in commitments for its two new VC funds that will separately focus on early-stage startups and growth-stage companies.

In a statement, Sky9 Capital said the two new funds – Sky9 MVP Fund and Sky9 Capital Fund IV LP – received commitments from sovereign funds, pension funds, family offices, and foundations.

Just like its predecessor funds, Sky9 Capital Fund IV will focus on startups in their early stages, concentrating on Series A and B funding series. In April 2018, the VC firm closed Sky9 Capital Fund III with US$200 million in commitments.

The second fund, Sky 9 MVP Fund, will concentrate on break-out and growth-stage companies specifically in the firm’s portfolio. Its portfolio include Haoyiku, a community-base ecommerce platform; Songshu Pinpin, a group buying platform; blockchain news media company DeepChain; cryptocurrency exchange Coinsuper; among others.

The fundraise for the two funds were over-subscribed, according to Sky9. This underscores the investors’ confidence and commitment to China’s great startup entrepreneurs and next generation of high-impact firms.

Sky9 Capital was setup in 2016 by Ron Cao, former managing director at Lightspeed China Partners. It focuses on seed, early, and expansion stage investments in the financial technology sector.

The firm said it gives investment weight on companies and startups operating in deep technology, social ecommerce, mobile platform, internet consumer, telecommunication, and media. It invests between US$1 million and US$10 million in seed to Series A rounds and over US$10 million for expansion-stage companies.

“We are privileged to have worked with so many remarkable entrepreneurs. Having witnessed multiple economic cycles over the past two decades, we believe we are entering into an unprecedented new phase of technology innovation,” Cao said.

He added that the potential disruptions around internet, media, commerce, software, infrastructure, and AI are “perhaps greatest around the Chinese start-up ecosystem as the country’s entrepreneurial environment continues to mature and develop”.