Sequoia Capital led venture capitalists globally in first half of 2022 while Tencent topped Chinese peers, Hurun report says

Sequoia Capital has invested in 328 unicorns and ‘gazelles’ in the first six months this year
The impact of technology is no longer felt just in computers, but across all parts of the business world, Hurun chairman Rupert Hoogewerf says

Banking & finance

Mia Castagnone

Published: 4:30pm, 6 Sep 2022

Why you can trust SCMP

US investment firm Sequoia Capital, which has invested in several Chinese companies such as ByteDance, Shein and Envision Energy, was the world’s most prolific venture capital institution in the year’s first half.

A report by Hurun Research Institute ranking companies that have made the most investments during this period found that Sequoia Capital had invested in 328 unicorns and “gazelles” in this period. A gazelle is a high-growth company valued at US$500 million to US$1 billion. It is smaller than a unicorn, which is a privately held start-up valued at more than US$1 billion.

Sequoia Capital added an additional 43 new investments to its portfolio compared to the same period last year.

“The impact of technology is no longer [felt] just in computers, but across all parts of the business world,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher at Hurun. “Venture capitalists play a critical part in the start-up ecosystem, bringing money, advice and connections to help start-ups grow into global-scale businesses.”

Sequoia China launches start-up accelerator despite tech sector slowdown

The report, released on Tuesday, lists 121 venture capital institutions, with 71 per cent founded in the United States and about 21 per cent from China. The 25 venture capitalists founded in China that are included in the rankings were led by Tencent Holdings, which ranked fourth with 122 investments. CICC Capital, which added 41 unicorns to its portfolio in the first half of this year, trailed close behind with 115 investments.

Sequoia China, a firm Sequoia Capital formed in 2005 with Neil Shen Nanpeng, an entrepreneur and co-founder of Ctrip, is one of China’s top technology industry financiers. Sequoia Capital has invested in ByteDance, Shein and Envision Energy, among other firms.

Sequoia Capital China sells Meituan stock for US$799 million

Japan’s SoftBank ranked second with 217 deals. Its recent investments included South Korean augmented reality app Naver Z and Chinese automotive app Chehaoduo. Tiger Global came in third with 196 deals after its investments in technology stocks such as Zoom got a boost during the coronavirus pandemic.

The top three venture capitalists alone invested in 38 per cent of the world’s unicorns and gazelles, according to Tuesday’s report. Accel, Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, Insight Partners and Lightspeed rounded out the top 10.

Globally, there are 1,312 unicorns currently, representing a 24 per cent increase from the previous half-year period. The value of unicorns has also gone up by 11 per cent to US$4.1 trillion, the report said. The most common industries for unicorns were financial services, corporate management solutions and healthcare.

China-focused PE firms face extended dry spell as investors get cold feet

The number of gazelles has increased by 18 per cent to 621 over the past six months. The average age of such companies was 7 years, and the most common industries included healthcare, financial services and business management.

The total venture capital investment in 2021 exceeded US$600 billion, nearly 10 times the level a decade ago, according to Crunchbase data.

Post