Baidu Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of China-based internet company Baidu, has raised $400m for its third fund, DealStreetAsia reported on Friday.
The fundraising has increased the unit’s assets under management to over $700m. Baidu is a limited partner in the fund, however, it is unclear who else has backed the vehicle or which denomination the capital has been raised in.
The fund will primarily be used to invest in early-stage technology startups in artificial intelligence (AI) technology-focused business sectors.
Baidu Ventures has already tapped the fund to complete several investments including in Tsing Standard, a developer of electric vehicle testing technology, and cancer drug and diagnostics technology developer Gene+.
Baidu’s corporate VC unit was launched in 2017 and has operations in Beijing and San Francisco.
Baidu Ventures raised nearly $318m for the close of its second renminbi-denominated fund in 2018, with commitments from Baidu and undisclosed external limited partners.
It most recently participated in a series B round of undisclosed size for China-based intelligent clean technology developer iReady in August 2021.