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China-backed Silk Ventures raises $500m for maiden fund

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London-based venture investor Silk Ventures, which is sponsored by the Chinese government, has raised $500m for its maiden fund.

Silk Ventures was founded in 2015 and has until now acted as an accelerator, connecting US and European firms with industry leaders in China.

Its first fund comes as part of a broader Chinese push to invest in overseas firms with the aim of encouraging their expansion into China.

Silk Ventures receives half of its funding from China's state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. The remainder of its funding comes from a group of corporations, which it has declined to identify but will announce later this year.

The fund will focus on investments in the US and Europe across all stages from series-A upwards. It will remain open to tech startups from each sector but will focus on artificial intelligence, robotics, the internet of things, fintech and medical technology.

Silk Ventures aims to help the firms it invests in to expand operations into the Chinese market and will have offices in London, Menlo Park, Shenzhen and Beijing. Its first investments will be announced in July.

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