Chinese investors show a growing presence in Silicon Valley

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Chinese investment continues to flow into US tech in record amounts. According to market intelligence company CB Insights, 26 percent of all US startups valued at more than a billion dollars have an investor based in the Greater China Region. And one of their main attractions is Silicon Valley.

In the first nine months of 2016, Chinese investors participated in 160 US tech deals totaling 3.5 billion US dollars and more money is on the way.

At this recent event in Silicon Valley, the Chinese founder of education company New Oriental, launched the A-Plus 100 million dollars' worth fund to invest in US tech startups.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group headquarters in Beijing, China on November 16, 2016. /CFP Photo

At the Silicon Valley platform known as InnoSpring, Chinese investors poured 100 million dollars into its portfolio of startups last year.

Startups like GLF (GulfMark Offshore, Inc.), which makes semi-conductors that power internet-of-things devices, gets 60 percent of its funding from investors in China.

US venture capital investments in startups have actually dropped as Chinese investments rise.

Xiao Wang, CEO of InnoSpring, said the belief that Chinese investors only want to buy US tech to copy it is outdated.

“China - they have ambition, they don’t want to be the second, they don’t want to continuously catch up. They want to have an advantage over the next wave of technology innovation, which perhaps new platform like virtual reality, mixed reality, drones, maybe IOT, whatever will become the next dominant platform,” he states.

A rendering view of the Silicon Valley sign from Milpitas on Highway 880/ Business Insider Photo

Chinese company IngDan has also opened a tech experience room. You can find everything from a personal purifier to a designer pancake maker to a levitating speaker. IngDan is one of China’s largest platforms for connecting startups to a massive supply chain and markets for their products.

IngDan is also a partner in a 50 million dollars smart tech fund that will bring in startups to incubate right next to their showroom.

Shipeng Li, CTO of IngDan, regards Silicon Valley to be the innovation center of the world which they want to tap into. “For US companies they need to tap into China market as well,” he stated.

That also means jobs. “We can host like 40 to 50 people here. By helping these startups to success, we can bring more people, create more jobs,” Li said.

Li expects their smart tech fund to grow and says it’s highly likely they’ll launch other US startup funds in the near future.

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