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Key trends
There were 88 deals last week. Strategic investments took centre stage with 57 deals made. Enterprise Services and healthcare continue to lead the industries with a total of 31 investments obtained.
Top Stories: VCs and Investments
This week’s big-ticket deals span across the property, retail, and medical and healthcare industries.
The largest transaction was a RMB 4.95 billion (USD 757 million) strategic investment into Haichuan Real Estate by Huafa Industrial Co Ltd. Funds raised will be used to transform Haichuan Real Estate into a platform, so that the company and related parties can undertake joint real estate projects in various regions of the country. This will also optimize resource and capital allocation.
Top IPOs of the week
Harbour BioMed
IPO amount: HKD 1.8 billion (USD 282.2 million)
Offering price: HKD 12.38 (USD 1.60)
Debut date: December 10 2020
Harbour BioMed was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 10, with Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and CITIC Securities as joint sponsors. Harbour BioMed issued a total of 138 million shares, and the issue price of HKD 12.38 (USD 1.60) per share as at the high end of the IPO range. A total of nine investment institutions participated in the IPO subscription as cornerstone investors, pouring in a sum of USD 97 million.
Established in 2016, Harbour BioMed is a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to the R&D and commercialization of novel antibody therapeutics for oncology and immunological disease. It is building its pipeline through internal R&D programs and collaborations with partners, and also has an incubation program for biotechnology start-ups.
Startups on our watchlist
Robotics and Automation
Yours (优时小车): Founded in 2018, Series A
Yours has completed its Series A financing round, raising tens of millions of yuan from Kuroneko Innovation Fund (managed by Global Brain), Seekdource Investments, Innoangel Fund, Aistar Ventures, PNP China, and Wenzhou-based Pingyang Fuhui Investment Management Partnership. Just a year ago, Yours raised tens of millions of yuan through angel investments and a multimillion-yuan seed round in the preceding year.
Founded in March 2018, Yours developed a low-speed, autonomous delivery robot that utilizes computer vision technology as a last-mile solution for logistics providers and retailers. Yours applied this to beverage deliveries. Customers scanned a QR code to make payments for their drinks. Designed to replace human labour, Yours’ proprietary robot gives businesses the option to extend their reach, as sales are no longer limited to their stores.
Consumption
Luoyin (落饮): Founded in 2020, Angel Investment
36Kr reported the low-alcohol fruit tea brand, Luoyin, received a multimillion-dollar angel investment led by XVC. Tiantu Capital participated in the round, while China Creation Ventures played an advisory role. The cash will be used for team expansion, as well as channel and brand development.
Luoyin targets young women aged between 20 and 35 years old from tier-one and tier-two cities. Its beverages are priced at RMB 50–70 (USD 8-10). The brand launched online in October, and generated several million yuan in sales within a month.
While Luoyin is mainly available on Tmall, it plans to extend its presence both online and offline in the brand’s next phase of development. This will cover JD.com and Douyin under its online strategy, as well as brick-and-mortar convenience stores such as 7‑Eleven and Hema. Luoyin plans to expand nationwide in China. It seeks to promote the brand and offer samples online, while shipping products that fit specific, local markets, like drinks with limited seasonal flavors. At present, Luoyin stocks eight to ten SKUs for its online and offline sales channels.