GGV Capital Closes $1.88 Billion in New Funds
Firm continues multi-stage, sector-focused investment strategy in technology companies from inception to global scale
MENLO PARK, Calif. and SHANGHAI, Oct. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Global venture capital firm GGV Capital (GGV) today announced the close of its new funds totaling $1.88 billion. The new funds include $1.36 billion in the firm's main funds, GGV Capital VII and VII Plus, $460 million in GGV Discovery II focused on seed and early-stage opportunities, and $60 million in the GGV Capital VII Entrepreneurs Fund consisting largely of company founders as LPs.
Together these funds mark the continuation of GGV's multi-stage, sector-focused investment strategy in leading global technology companies by a single U.S./China investment team. GGV's global playbook is centered on three core tenets. First, the GGV team invests in founders with companies at all stages of growth, emphasizing early stage through its Discovery fund. Second, the GGV team is aligned by sector, rather than geography to ensure value creation across key markets. Finally, the team identifies global trends such as mobility and new retail then invests in local founders to build market-leading companies, including Grab, Hashicorp, Houzz, Keep, Niu, Opendoor, Poshmark, Wish and Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book).
"We are impressed with GGV's unique cross-border investment strategy, which they have successfully executed over the past 18 years. They consistently attract the best entrepreneurs globally who actively seek GGV as their partner of choice," said Nicholas Kong, CIO, National University of Singapore Endowment.
Since its formation in 2000, GGV funds have consistently performed in the top quartile for venture capital and private equity globally, generating an IRR of more than 25%. The firm has invested in 51 market leaders across the U.S. and China that have grown to $1+ billion in valuation; half of these were Series B or earlier stage companies at the time of initial investment. In addition, 25 of these companies are now public, such as Alibaba, Square, YY, Zendesk and 21Vianet. GGV continues its strong pace of distribution with more than $1 billion returned to LPs in 2017 and 2018 to date.
"What we like most about GGV is the firm's consistent and unified approach to the two largest venture capital markets globally – the U.S. and China. We believe these markets will continue to produce the world's leading technology companies and that GGV will continue to be a trusted partner to many of them," said David Chu, Senior Investment Officer of LACERA, a long-time limited partner of GGV.
The managing partners of the new funds are Jixun Foo, Jenny Lee, Hans Tung, Glenn Solomon, Jeff Richards, and Eric Xu. The team has decades of experience working with first-time founders as well as established leaders. Their connections to robust local ecosystems and talent networks, proven "go global" track records, and commitment to leadership development helps founders navigate complex challenges as their companies grow.
The closing of these funds follows GGV's announcement earlier this year of the close of its third Chinese RMB fund, in the amount of 1.5 billion RMB (approximately $225 million). This increases the firm's total capital under management to approximately $6.2 billion across 13 funds.
"GGV is one of Northwestern's most valued relationships. Their ability to work as one team across borders in China and the U.S. is seamless and unrivaled. We look forward to continuing our long-term partnership with GGV with commitments to the new funds," said Harisha Haigh, Managing Director, Northwestern University.
"We are excited and humbled by the support of new and longstanding partners such as CalSTRS, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund, Rockefeller Foundation and University of Texas Investment Management Company. We also want to thank the founders and CEOs we work with for their dedication to building extraordinary companies, enabling the GGV team to continue to do what we love – support entrepreneurs and their vision to change the world," said Jenny Lee, Managing Partner, GGV Capital.
Founder Perspectives
Yi Wang, Founder and CEO, LingoChamp (NYSE: LAIX)
"GGV was instrumental in helping LAIX go public last month. Starting with a $500,000 seed investment – one of GGV's earliest and smallest investments at that time – and a 15-minute chat with Jenny in May 2013, GGV started a close partnership with us to help navigate numerous growth challenges. They provide a unique perspective through both an entrepreneur's and worldwide lens, working alongside us in both Shanghai and Silicon Valley to realize our dream of building a global unicorn."
Mitchell Hashimoto, Co-founder and Co-CTO, Hashicorp
"GGV first backed Hashicorp at Series A when we were just seven people. From the outset, they understood the vision that my co-founder Armon and I had for the company. Having Glenn on our board and GGV behind us has been key to our rapid growth to more than 300 people today, serving nearly 100 of the Fortune 500."
Anthony Tan, Founder and CEO, Grab
"GGV has been one of our most value-adding investors throughout the years. Jixun, as a board member, pushed us when we needed to be pushed, and helped us hire when we needed new talent. Investors that can contribute strategically and also roll up their sleeves to help improve operations are rare, but GGV is certainly amongst that rare breed of investors."
Eduardo Musa, Founder and CEO, Yellow
"I am very impressed with how GGV adds value to Yellow – not only through deep knowledge of our business space, but also because of their knowledge of the venture capital ecosystem and typical startup challenges. Hans' global mindset and broad insights have an impact on how we think about our business. The team is very present and always ready to share their experience to help the founders and the company with all its needs."
Chris Barbin, Founder and CEO, Appirio
"One of GGV's strengths is the combination of a focused partner with the power of its overall team and resources. Jeff and the rest of the GGV team invested early, and worked with Appirio to become a world class go-to-market organization, with a world class leadership team and strategic culture. Together, we evolved the business over 10 years to an eventual exit north of $500M. Jeff and the GGV team put a premium on the entrepreneur, the team and our company culture as much as the economic returns to the firm -- a rarity in venture."
Jian LV, Founder and CEO, Zhaoyou
"Zhaoyou is my third startup and I wanted an experienced investor who would not only help me build the company but also share my vision for the company. I found that in GGV and Eric Xu, who is on our board. He is a valuable mentor and partner – from our first conversation and the many that have followed, Eric has helped to define the successful path that Zhaoyou follows every day."
About GGV Capital
GGV Capital is a global venture capital firm that invests in local founders. As a multi-stage, sector-focused firm, GGV focuses on seed-to-growth stage investments across Consumer/New Retail, Social/Digital & Internet, Enterprise/Cloud and Frontier Tech sectors. The firm was founded in 2000 and manages $6.2 billion in capital across 13 funds. Past and present portfolio companies include Affirm, Airbnb, Alibaba, Bitsight, ByteDance (Toutiao), Ctrip, Didi Chuxing, Grab, Gladly, Hello Chuxing, HashiCorp, Houzz, Keep, LingoChamp, Namely, Niu, Nozomi Networks, Opendoor, Peloton, Poshmark, Slack, Square, Wish, Xauto, Xiaohongshu, Yellow, YY, Zhaoyou and more. The firm has offices in Beijing, San Francisco, Shanghai and Silicon Valley. Learn more at ggvc.com, @GGVCapital or GGVCapital on WeChat.
SOURCE GGV Capital
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