China-based electronics manufacturer Xiaomi is one of the most significant venture investors in the Chinese technology sector – and the company has been spreading its wings into other Asian markets in recent years.
Much of its activity has been directed by Wen Jiang, its entertainment and content lead investment manager. Jiang worked as investment manager of the Lenovo Tech Seed Fund, the technology startup incubation and corporate venture capital division of electronics firm Lenovo before joining Xiaomi.
Previous roles include a spell as investment manager at 21st Century Angel Capital, and time spent as an entrepreneur – which included setting up Startup Cinema, a platform bringing together investors and company founders.
Among Xiaomi’s recent investments are participation in the $100m seed round for artificial intelligence developer Aibee, as well as in the $1.6m series A round for Hutt Wisdom, a manufacturer of robots for cleaning, and a role in the $16m series A round for BSG Technology, a developer of intelligent solutions for the manufacturing industry.
In the past 12 months, Xiaomi has also put money into Shenzhen New Degree Technology, a business which has developed a touch-sensitive film for use in metal manufacturing, as well as into electric vehicle power provider Chilye. Over the last four years, Xiaomi has also made significant investments in markets such as India.
To date, Xiaomi has invested in almost 200 businesses, committing a total of $7.4bn in funds. Xiaomi went public on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2018 in an IPO which valued the firm at more than $52bn.
