Red Rock Coffee, the Silicon Valley cafe famous for spotting venture capitalists, is a likely place to overhear Mandarin conversations on a weekday afternoon. Since the border to China reopened this spring after three years of COVID-19 restrictions, U.S. funds managers have been flocking to the Bay Area. The trips serve a new purpose as USD-denominated funds in China draw inspiration from Silicon Valley startups and seek out investment targets back home.
However, shifting global and domestic landscapes have made the dealmaking strategy of American funds in China less effective. Beijing’s crackdown on the tech industry and escalating U.S.-China tensions have prompted investors to turn their gaze to opportunities abroad. This, along with a slowing economy, has led to a decline in American VC funding activity in China.
As a result, investors are looking for opportunities beyond China’s borders, following the footsteps of a new generation of Chinese-founded startups that are expanding overseas. These startups are led by a generation of founders who have studied or worked overseas and are now eyeing global expansion from day one.
The changing currents have led to a decline in American VC funding activity in China, with many investors turning to opportunities beyond China’s borders. These investors are following the footsteps of Chinese talent who has already embarked on global expansion. Chinese startups have a long history of going abroad, and every wave has assumed its own approach. Previously, many companies would venture out only after succeeding in China. However, the current generation of globalizing Chinese founders is eyeing global expansion from day one, sometimes even skipping their home market.
In the face of heightened regulatory hurdles and uncertainties at home, many Chinese startups are venturing abroad, earning them the moniker, guihai, or those who “return overseas.” This reversal of their trajectory has presented them with broader, more predictable opportunities in AI by venturing abroad. This new wave of Chinese-founded startups expanding overseas has led to changes in the investment landscape, presenting opportunities for USD fund managers who are hunting beyond China’s territory.
At the same time, these parachuting investors also face challenges in the U.S. market, where local investors are shunning Chinese “links” at all costs. This has led some Chinese VCs flying in from Beijing and Shanghai to have limited avenues to source deals in the U.S., where American startups already have a plethora of local investors to choose from.
Despite these challenges, the changing landscape presents an opportunity for investors and entrepreneurs as they navigate a transitory phase in the global investment landscape.