Chinese corporation Kuang-Chi is launching an international innovation fund based in Israel to invest in companies worldwide. The "Kuang-Chi GCI Fund & Incubator" will be the first Chinese fund of its kind, combining investment in early to mid-stage Israeli and global companies with incubation by Kuang-Chi. The newly established fund has an initial $50 million and is planned to grow to $300 million within the next three years.
GCI refers to the Global Community of Innovation initiated by a Shenzhen-based technology conglomerate Kuang-Chi, which will make its full corporate resources, from sales and marketing to technology collaboration and joint development, available to the companies in which it invests.
Founded in 2010 by five distinguished Chinese scientists who returned to China after earning advanced degrees at Duke, Oxford, and Cambridge universities, Kuang-Chi is a global innovation group with operations from China to North America, Europe, Africa and Oceania. Kuang-chi has applied for more than 3,000 patents worldwide in the areas of metamaterials, photonics, satellite technology, aviation, and robotics in the past five years alone. Acting through public companies, private holdings and research institutes, the group's value exceeds $10 billion.
Kuang-Chi will also announce investments in local Israeli technology companies that are joining GCI, led by a sizable investment in a leading Israeli technology company. Kuang-Chi chairman Dr. Ruopeng Liu said, "Israel has unparalleled capabilities to offer the world. You share with Kuang-Chi a special mindset and vision. We intend to invest in the best local companies in the fields of biometrics, communications, robotics, and AR, and to take them to the next level commercially and technologically."
Kuang-Chi's longtime partner in Israel, Indigo Global, will represent and manage the GCI Fund & Incubator's activity. Indigo Global managing partner Dorian Barak said, "Kuang-Chi is one of the most important technology companies in the world today, combining the best of the Shenzhen tech ecosystem with China's scale and development vision. Dr. Liu and his team have developed a unique and successful model to partner with leading innovators in a range of fields, which affords enormous resources to the companies in which they invest. Kuang-Chi isn't merely a financial investor for their enormous technological resources, distribution networks, and design and product development capabilities to benefit the companies selected for the China-based accelerator. We at Indigo are very excited to manage the platform in Israel with a view to expanding the model globally."
A senior Kuang-Chi delegation led by Dr. Liu, including representatives of Chinese media outlets and company executives, will visit Israel in early May to formally announce the fund and to meet with high-level government officials and industry leaders. The talks will end with a launch event at the offices of leading Israeli law firm ERM Law. ERM senior partner Amnon Epstein said, "It is a great pleasure to welcome such an important Chinese technology company and we look forward to continued collaboration with Kuang-Chi in Israel."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 1, 2016
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