E-commerce firm Alibaba’s $129m Entrepreneurs Fund (EF) is preparing to extend its investment purview in Hong Kong to cover biotech startups, Tech in Asia has reported.
VC firm Gobi Partners manages Alibaba EF, which has until now largely focused on three areas identified in Hong Kong as economic priorities by the city’s government: fintech, artificial intelligence and smart city spaces.
However, the fund will now seek out more biotech opportunities, potentially working alongside specialised co-investors in a bid to combat Alibaba’s relative inexperience in the area.
Alibaba EF launched in 2015 with an evergreen structure to support entrepreneurs from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
It has so far invested $35m in more than 20 local business, typical investing in series A and B rounds to stimulate concepts facing a perceived dearth of early-stage capital.
Existing biotech bets for Alibaba’s EF include pharmacogenomic testing kit developer Prenetics, which raised $40m in a series B round co-led by the fund in 2017.