| Global Venture Capital Congress (GVCC) 2018 | |   The HKVCA, represented by Johnny Chan, President, and Joanne Yuen, Secretary General, participated in the Global Venture Capital Congress (GVCC) that was held from April 8 -11, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. The Congress brought together more than 40 delegates, guests and speakers representing more than 16 professional associations and 6 firms from around the world. Participants discussed the many issues and opportunities that the industry faces globally, including how to improve the environment for investment, entrepreneurship and innovation. There was also much discussion around the theme of this year’s event, which was the role of limited partners in the PE and VC community. | | HK InnoStars: From Struggling to Success | |  | Private equity and venture capital investors are always seeking deals and rarely forgo an opportunity to invest in a company with potential. This past March, the Our Hong Kong Foundation announced the winners of its inaugural InnoStars Awards. The six winners were Alex Kong from TNG (Asia); Joe Lee from Kuaidi Group; Li Zexiang from Da-Jiang Innovations; Steven Lam from GOGOVAN; Dennis Lo from Xelcom and Cirina (merged with Grail); and Simon | Loong from Welab. Each of the winners had already successfully raised significant venture capital. Notably, Johnny Chan, KO Chia and Duncan Chiu participated in the vetting committee as representatives of the HKVCA.
Before venture capitalists invest in a startup, there are typically several factors they take into consideration - most obviously the actual product or service itself, but also the management team the startup has in place. Each of the Innostar Award winners have shown they possess highly innovative products and services that are truly globally relevant. Yet their path to success involved struggles that had to be overcome and from which they learned valuable lessons, creating a spirit and sense of belief that has truly made them innovators.
Some Hong Konger might not be familiar with the TNG Wallet, which provides a mobile suite of financial services that include global remittance and cash withdrawal services. But it is a very popular mobile application among foreign domestic helpers, offering the community a convenient way to transfer money overseas from Hong Kong.
Alex Kong, the founder of TNG, tasted business success early, owning more than 40 properties by the time he was 38 years old. Poor investment decisions ahead of the global financial crisis, however, saw him lose much of his fortune. In a move to reboot his career, and vowing to learn from his earlier failure, he founded TNG in 2013 and has not looked back. Today, 70% of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong use TNG services, and leveraging a population of 1.2 billion without bank accounts in Asia, it is one of the largest e-wallet applications in the region.
(Represented PE/VC investors: New Margin Capital, KBR Capital Partners)
Prior to its merger with Didi (when it became Didi Chuxing), Kuaidi was the leading taxi-hailing mobile application in mainland China. But its co-founder, Joe Lee, did not always find it easy going at the start of his entrepreneur journey 10 years ago. For one thing he was not a Mandarin speaker, making communication extremely difficult. He learned to use pinyin, which at least allowed him to communicate with his peers using instant messaging software as he began to learn the language.
Lee is committed to the simple philosophy, “think big, be small”, which led the Company to control 99% of the taxi-hailing market in mainland China. Lee has also begun his own solo venture, Klover Fintech, an insurtech company that aims to disrupt the world's view to the insurance industry. Klover's vision is to break the zero-sum business model with insurtech and innovative products intertwined with services.
(Represented PE/VC Investors: Matrix Partners, New Horizon Capital)
| Dr. Li Zexiang, Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI) | One might wonder what Dr. Zexiang Li, a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Science and Technology of Hong Kong, and DJI, the largest drone maker in the world, have in common. But it was Li who originally incubated DJI - he even injected a significant amount of his own money into the company as seed capital. Today he continues to support the drone giant, sourcing capital and helping establish the business in Shenzhen, while still keeping to a jam-packed schedule at the University.
Li is a firm believer that Hong Kong students have tremendous entrepreneurial spirit. He remains committed to helping them explore opportunities in mainland China as well as internationally, and to nurturing truly innovative leaders in Hong Kong.
(Represented PE/VC Investors: Maison Capital, Sequoia Capital)
GOGOVAN, a van-ordering platform, is Hong Kong’s first unicorn after its merger with 58 Suyun last year, providing logistical services in Hong Kong, mainland China and Southeast Asia. GOGOVAN’s original seed capital was only HK$20,000, and Lam admits the company was close to bankruptcy three times in its early days. Yet it’s also why Lam still holds to the motto “never give up”, as the company’s van-hailing app has now been used by as many as one-third of all Hong Kongers.
Lam is convinced that Hong Kong’s traditional “Lion Rock Spirit” remains a core value - one that also applies to its pursuit of innovation and technological development locally.
(Represented PE/VC Investors: Centurion Investment Management, New Horizon Capital)
| Dr. Dennis Lo, Xcelom and Cirina | Prof Dennis Lo, Li Ka Shing Professor of Medicine and Professor of Chemical Pathology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, is co-founder of Cirina, regarded by many to be Hong Kong’s most valuable biotechnology startup. Lo has worked to develop a single test that can detect multiple types of cancer at its earliest stage.
As a pioneer in blood-based diagnostics, Lo was the first to discover that fetal DNA is present in a pregnant mother’s blood and can be screened non-invasively prenatally. At the time of that discovery in late 1990s, funding for applied research was limited and difficult to obtain. Fortunately, the Innovation and Technology Commission was created and provided funding for applied research, offering an opportunity to commercialize the project and continue the necessary research. Today, NIPT is used by pregnant women to screen for Down’s syndrome and other chromosomal disorders in over 90 countries worldwide.
(Represented PE/VC Investors: Applied Research Fund, Decheng Capital)
As one of the world’s leading fintech companies, WeLab operates online lending platforms that provide unsecured personal loans to borrowers. Loong had been regional head of unsecured lending at Standard Chartered when he decided in 2013 to establish the company – a move he admits was way out of his comfort zone. WeLab’s operations were initially very small scale with the founders having to manage even the most basic secretarial duties by themselves. This was quite a challenge for someone who had been in a senior position with a traditional banking firm.
Within five years, however, the startup had grown to over 600 staff with offices in mainland China and across Asia. To date, it has over 28 million users. In early 2016, WeLab raised the fourth largest fundraising and second largest Series B fundraising in Fintech globally.
(Represented PE/VC Investors: Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Sequoia Capital)
Attracting VC to Hong Kong
Good companies with good management attract more capital - this is the holy grail of venture investing. To ensure Hong Kong keeps pace as an attractive investment location, we need to continue to support our own outstanding entrepreneurs.
| | | | | Full Members Only |  | | PRC Regulations for LP Commitments to Offshore Funds | | Full | | Speaker: | Serena Tan, Partner, Morrison & Foerster | |  | | Date: | 4 May 2018 (Fri) | | Time: | 12:30 - 14:00 | | Venue: | Morrison & Foerster office, 33/F, Edinburgh Tower, The Landmark, HK | | Fee*: | Full Member (Corporate): one free pass per company | | Additional pass: HK$200 per person | | *Fee inclusive of a light lunch | | CPT: | 1.5 points |
| Limited seats available
Members Only Event |  | | Sponsored by |  | | | Date: | 11 May 2018 (Fri) | | Time: | 8:00 - 9:00 | | Venue: | Victoria Suite, Hong Kong Club, 1 Jackson Road, Central, Hong Kong
(Room reserved under the name of Johnny Chan) | | Fee*: | Full Member (Corporate): one free pass per company | | Associate Member/ Full Member (additional pass): HK$300 | | *Note, free pass no shows will be charged full price | | *An additional charge may apply to accommodate special dietary requests. | |  
| | Limited seats available
| Limited seats available
| | Gender Equality in PE: Has There Been Progress? | | Sponsored by |  | | Please participate in the pre-event survey by clicking on this link.
The results of the survey will be announced at the Brownbag Luncheon Talk. | | Speakers: | Judith Li, Partner, Lilly Asia Ventures (Moderator)
Bonnie Lo, Partner & COO, NewQuest Capital Partners
Denise Mak, Managing Director, CVC Capital Partners
Jie Gong, Partner, Pantheon Ventures
Melissa Guzy, Managing Partner, Arbor Ventures
Wendy Zhu, Managing Director, AlpInvest Partners | | | | Date: | 17 May 2018 (Thur) | | Time: | 12:00 - 14:00 | | Venue: | KPMG Office, 8/F Prince's Building, 10 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong | | Fee*: | Full Member (Corporate): one free pass per company | | Associate Member/ Full Member (additional pass): HK$200 per person | | Non-Member: HK$400 per person | | *Fee inclusive of a light lunch | | CPT: | 1.5 points | |
|  |
|  | | The 17th HKVCA China Private Equity Summit | | Date: | 5 June, 2018 (Tue) | | Time: | 9:00 - 17:15 (followed by a cocktail reception) | | Venue: | Forum – N101, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (New Wing),
1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai, HK | | Lunch – Bauhinia Room, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre | | CPT: | 6.5 points | |  | Johan Bygge joined EQT in 2011 and is today Chairman of EQT Asia Pacific. Before EQT Johan worked as CFO within Investor AB.
During 1987-2006 Johan served with Electrolux where he held numerous CEO-positions, more recently CEO Electrolux Major Appliance Europe and Asia Pacific and CEO Electrolux Major Appliance International, including operations outside of Europe and North America. Prior to that he served | with Ericsson as Deputy Group Treasurer and Deputy Group Controller.
Johan holds a Degree in Economics and Business Administration from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Currently Johan serves as Chairman of the boards of PSM and ILA Vietnam, Director of Getinge AB. His former directorships include Anticimex, I-Med, Swiss smile, Sanitec, Novare and Samsari. | | | | View all speakers here |  | | EARLY-BIRD RATE (Payment deadline: 4 May, 2018) | | HKVCA Members | Corporate Full Members | One free pass per company | HK$3,200 HK$4,300 per person | HKVCA Corporate Associate /
Overseas Members | HK$3,200 HK$4,300 per person | | Non-Members | Non-Members | HK$5,200 HK$6,300 per person | Members of supporting organizations
(20% off) | HK$4,160 HK$5,040 per person | LP firms (sovereign wealth funds,
pension funds, endowments, foundations,
family offices, DFIS and fund of funds) | One free pass per company
HK$5,200 HK$6,300 per person | | | | | Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in English and Mandarin in the main conference room. |
| Supporting Events:
SuperReturn China
7-9 May, 2018
| J.A.D.E Conference 2018
15 May, 2018
| 20th Annual IFC/EMPEA Global Private Equity Conference
15 - 16 May, 2018
| SVCA Southeast Asia PE/VC Conference 2018
17 May, 2018
| HKTDC Start-up Express
19 March - 18 May, 2018
| HKIRA 4th Investor Relations Awards 2018
January - June, 2018
| Belt and Road Summit 2018
28 June, 2018
| Outperform Asia 2018
18 September, 2018
| South-East Asian Private Equity Conference
4 October, 2018
| EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018 China
May - November, 2018 | | | | New Members | | Corporate Full Members | | | Cenova Management Advisors Limited
Cenova is a Shanghai headquartered Chinese healthcare fund investing in early and growth stage companies. It has four funds under management with a combined AUM of over US$600. | | | | MetLife Investments Asia Limited | | | Oneday Capital Limited
OneDay Capital Limited (ODC) was founded by financial veterans. Relying on China’s developing economy, and targeting its financial industry and business, ODC serves as an innovative capital operating platform offering tailor-made financial solutions to corporations and institutions integrating finance with capital. ODC’s team of partners have more than 42 years’ experience in personal finance, corporate finance, RMB and foreign exchange and private banking. They have 35 years’ experience in audit and financial advisory, restructuring and insolvency, M&A and IPO management. The team also have substantial experience managing 20-year sovereign wealth funds and 15-year private equity funds, as well as expertise investing in 14 key industries around the world. | | | Shining International Holdings Limited
Shining International Holdings Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Superactive Group Co. Ltd. (HK stock code: 176) and is a Hong Kong SFC licensed corporation with authority to advise on securities (type 4), futures contracts (type 5), corporate finance (type 6) and asset management (type 9). We provide a full range of services, including portfolio and fund management, investment advisory M&A and corporate finance structuring. Our primary focus is on real estate, distressed assets, education and pre-IPO investments, providing an investment platform linking overseas investors, Chinese based asset management houses and corporate clients with their preferences for investment and corporate development. | | | | Overseas Full Members | | | | Red Swallow Investments LLC Red Swallow Investments, LLC, a Delaware entity, is in the process of establishing its first US $300 million PE fund, focusing on the connected and intelligent vehicle sector. | | | Wharton Alumni True Impact Fund (WHAT IF Holdings LLC)
The purpose and character of the business of the company is to act as a management consultant to companies, invest in companies, and raise and manage investment funds that meet the investment and social impact criteria of the members and the investment committee. | | | | Overseas Associate Members | | Denning & Company
Denning & Company was founded in 2001 in San Francisco. With over 70 years of combined industry experience, the Denning and Company team has raised capital in excess of $12 billion, with over a range of 30 funds representing different disciplines from early stage venture to Distressed. The general partners were based in the U.S., Japan/Asia, UK/Europe, Russia, and Israel and the funds were raised from a limited partner base similarly diversified. Over 55% of the funds raised were oversubscribed and 40% were at or above target. Most recently, we closed a $300 million cybersecurity fund, and an $420 million insurance linked private credit fund that was not volatile, had low correlation, and low teens IRR. | | | Guernsey Finance | | |
| | Recent Events Report | | | HKVCA Luncheon Talk: Identifying Off-balance Sheet Red Flags: Pre-transaction and Post-investment
19 April 2018 |  | The HKVCA hosted a luncheon seminar on identifying off-balance sheet red flags for pre-transaction and post-investment on April 19, 2018 at the China Club. Stuart Witchell, Managing Director, and Ben Yeung, Director at the Berkeley Research Group, provided their views on the importance of effective due diligence. They also shared some of the many red-flag issues encountered during intelligence engagements in Asia Pacific, especially in mainland China. Yeung also provided some valuable hints on using internet searches to help speed-up the investigation procedure.
With close to 70 HKVCA members attending the event, we would like to thank all the participants, and especially our sponsor, Berkeley Research Group, for their generous support. | | | HKVCA Brownbag Luncheon Talk -
Australian agriculture: How Technology and Science are Creating Investment Opportunities
16 April 2018 |  | | The HKVCA hosted its latest Brownbag Luncheon Talk on April 16, 2018 at the offices of Macquarie Hong Kong. Elizabeth O’Leary, Global Head of Agriculture from Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, and Sean O’Reilly, Asset Director at Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management and head of its Crop Australia, discussed the latest trends in Australian agricultural investment. O’Leary noted that agricultural investments are tied to weather with a positive correlation between population growth and food production. O’Reilly spoke about the latest technology being utilized in the sector, including GPS guidance, traffic control systems and other innovations that are working to resolve issues and optimize operations and production.
The HKVCA and the Real Assets Committee would like to thank the many members who were able to take the time from their busy schedules to attend the lunch and take advantage of the opportunity to network with their colleagues. We would also like to extend a special thank you to our speakers and our sponsor, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, who made this event possible. | | | |
| | | Industry News | | PE Firm InfraRed Invests US$50M In HK Self-storage Provider RedBox | | —April 17, 2018 | | (ChinaMoneyNetwork by Violet Tang) - InfraRed NF, a Hong Kong-based real estate investment fund, has paid US$50 million for a 90% stake in Hong Kong self-storage provider RedBox Storage Limited, according to an announcement from InfraRed NF. | | (link to the full article) | | | | SenseTime Raises US$600 Million in Series C Funding | | —April 8, 2018 | | (Press Release) – SenseTime, China's leading artificial intelligence (AI) company, has successfully raised US$600 million in its Series C round of funding. Alibaba Group is taking the lead role for this round of funding and other participants include Temasek and Suning. SenseTime set a record by raising US$410 million in its series B round of funding in July 2017. Its latest raise has set a record for venture capital funding in the AI sector. | | (link to the full article) | | | | Blackstone Multi-manager Fund takes Minority Stake in Hong Kong-based PAG | | —March 27, 2018 | | (SCMP by Georgina Lee) - Blackstone has made a minority investment in Hong Kong-based alternative investment manager PAG through a fund that invests in several managers globally. The investment through Blackstone’s Strategic Capital Holdings Fund, a multi-manager fund, in PAG, which has more than US$20 billion under management, has brought the fund’s investments to eight globally. The stake in PAG is the fund’s first investment in Asia. | | (link to the full article) | | | | OHKF Announces “The InnoStars Award” Winners | | —March 21, 2018 | | (Press Release) - To recognize the outstanding achievements of today’s leaders in the field of innovation, and to inspire the city’s new generation to continue the legacy of local pioneers, Our Hong Kong Foundation (“The Foundation” or “OHKF”) was proud to have organized the first-ever “The InnoStars Awards”. | | (link to the full article) | | | | | |
| |
