Co-chairmen Hugo Shong (left) and Jim Breyer at the Fortune Global Tech Forum in 2018. Credit: Shawn Koh/Fortune, Creative Commons
IDG Capital has backed some of China’s hottest startups. The venture capital and private equity firm that got its start in China in 1993 has made more than 1,000 investments over the past two decades. It made early bets on the Chinese search engine giant Baidu and the powerhouse social networking and gaming giant Tencent but has also backed Xiaomi, SenseTime, Pony.ai and Pinduoduo. Today, it has over $23 billion in assets under management, according to PitchBook.
It has stayed ahead of the curve to become the world’s fourth-most successful investor in unicorns, according to a Hurun report.Unicorns are privately held companies worth $1 billion or more.
Though IDG Capital was formed in the United States, its portfolio is predominantly Chinese.Data from PitchBook shows that 608 of the 732 companies it’s backed are Chinese, as of March 5. Far behind is second-place United States with 72 companies. Patrick J. McGovern, the late chairman of the Boston-based parent com
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative under Donald Trump, reflects on his decision to launch the trade war with China and begin the process of "strategic decoupling" — a process he says the U.S. must see through to the end.