Sinovation ventures raises $675mn in cooling environment

A Chinese venture-capital fund raised about 4.5 billion yuan ($674 million) in capital as the country’s top venture firms build up their cash piles amid a cooling environment for funding. Sinovation Ventures, co-founded by former Google and Microsoft executive Kai-Fu Lee, said Monday it closed two venture-capital funds: a dollar-denominated fund of $300 million – in which Apple supplier Foxconn Technology Group was the anchor investor – and a yuan-denominated fund totaling the equivalent of $374 million. Sinovation Ventures plans to invest the funds raised in startup companies involved in artificial intelligence, building enterprise software, and creating entertainment content. According to The Wall Street Journal, Chinese venture-capital firms have reined in investing after a frantic 2015. Valuations are falling and some startups are struggling to find investment.