China-headquartered e-commerce group Alibaba’s Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund (AEF) is anchoring a HK$2bn ($258m) vehicle dubbed AEF Greater Bay Area (GBA) Fund.
GBA Fund counts undisclosed conglomerates, financial institutions and family offices among its limited partners, and is scheduled to reach its final close in the first half of 2022.
The fund will target developers of technologies in areas including deeptech and sustainability, healthcare, artificial intelligence and industry 4.0 technology. It is being managed by venture capital firm Gobi Partners.
Investments will focus on startups based in, or that intend to enter, the GBA, a geographical cluster that includes nine southern cities in China and both the country’s special administrative regions: Hong Kong and Macau.
Joe Tsai, executive vice-chairman of Alibaba Group and chairman of AEF, said: “We started AEF five years ago with the vision to invigorate the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit of Hong Kong.
“We are now ready to extend our startup ecosystem to the GBA in order to give innovators and entrepreneurs a bigger platform for growth.”
