In October, China continues to pour capital in venture, WeWork (and its valuation) became a behemoth, investors lay the foundation for acquisitions and biotech startups raise major funding.
Chinese startups and investors have dominated the big-dollar venture capital deals for the past few months, and their lead continued in October. Among the 10 biggest deals of the month, five involved investors or startups based in China.
Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels, one of China’s largest hotel chains, tops the list with $260 million invested in the New York-based workspace-sharing startup WeWork. The new round pushed the startup’s valuation to $16.9 billion, ten times the amount of capital it has raised since inception in 2010. Interestingly enough, WeWork now operates much like a hotel chain, renting out office spaces to 40,000 members in 23 cities worldwide. It is unclear whether Shanghai Jin Jiang’s move implies future intentions of consolidating WeWork into its own hotel empire.
(On a side note, WeWork’s previous funding round also came from a Chinese investor. Hony Capital, backed by Chinese technology conglomerate Legend Holdings, led a $430 million series E in March.)
The month’s second largest deal is another Chinese investor who surely intends to consolidate. Dalian Wanda Group, the real estate behemoth owned by China’s richest man Wang Jianlin invested $236 million in home-grown smart-parking app developer ETCP through its e-commerce platform ffan.com. Shortly after the funding closed, Wanda announced a strategic partnership with the company that includes integrating the app in its shopping malls to give customers a better experience.
San Francisco-based Zymergen and Dublin-based Carrick Therapeutics also raised funding. Both fundraising rounds involved ARCH Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm.
Here are the 10 biggest venture capital deals in October:
1) Investor: Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels
Startup: WeWork
Location: New York, New York
Industry: Space Sharing
Funding Amount: $260 million, Series F
2) Investor: ffan.com (Dalian Wanda Group’s e-commerce platform)
Startup: ETCP
Location: Beijing, China
Industry: Smart Parking App
Funding Amount: $236 million, Series B
3) Lead Investor: Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV)
Startup: Payoneer
Location: New York, New York
Industry: Payment Platform
Funding Amount: $180 million, Series E
4) Investor: SoftBank
Startup: Zymergen
Location: San Francisco, California
Industry: Biotechnology
Funding Amount: $139 million, Series B
5) Investors: Jeff Bezos, Mayo Clinic Ventures, Baillie Gifford, ARCH Venture Partners, Venrock, WuXi AppTech
Startup: Unity Biotechnology
Location: San Francisco, California
Industry: Biotechnology, Anti-Aging Medicine
Funding Amount: $116 million, Series B
6) Investor: Greenwoods Asset Management
Startup: Ejiupi
Location: Shanghai, China
Industry: E-Commerce, Alcohol Wholesale
Funding Amount: $100 million, Series B
7) Investor: Bryan Johnson
Startup: Kernel Co.
Location: Los Angeles, California
Industry: Augmented Reality, Software
Funding Amount: $100 million, Venture Round
8) Lead Investors: Hillhouse Capital, Warburg Pincus
Startup: Mobike
Location: Shanghai, China
Industry: Bike Sharing
Funding Amount: $100 million, Series C
9) Investors: ARCH Venture Partners, Woodford Investment Management
Startup: Carrick Therapeutics
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Industry: Biotechnology
Funding Amount: $95 million, Series A
10) Investors: Envision Energy, Thomas Putter
Startup: Sonnen
Location: Wildpoldsried, Germany
Industry: Renewable Energy
Funding Amount: $88 million, Series D
Click here to see Trusted Insight’s monthly roundups of venture capital funding.
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