Micro Connect, former HKEX CEO Charles Li’s investment platform, raises US$70 million in new funding
- Micro Connect’s Series B round includes investments from Sequoia Capital China, Adrian Cheng and Li Ka-shing’s Horizons Ventures
- Platform focused on providing financing to micro and small businesses in China
An investment platform co-founded by the former top executive of the Hong Kong stock exchange operator raised US$70 million in Series B funding and completed more than 100 investments in micro and small businesses in China, the company said.
Micro Connect has raised US$120 million in its two funding rounds.
“We are fully excited about our journeys ahead, as we continue to develop the definitive financial technology and market infrastructure to empower micro and small businesses and their owners, and deliver impact to the broader society,” Zhang said.
The company said it would use the proceeds from its latest capital raise to scale up its partnership network and capital-deployment capability in mainland China, enhance its technology and further build out its market infrastructure for global investors.
Micro Connect is focused on providing funding to micro and small businesses in China by connecting them with global investors. The platform offers direct financing opportunities, as well as opportunities to finance pools of small companies.
There are some 20 million small and medium-sized enterprises in China and small businesses as a whole accounted for 80 per cent of non-government employment in the country in 2019.
“We are very excited about Micro Connect’s mission,” Horizons Ventures said. “It resonates well with an investment thesis we have been developing for the past 2 years – start-ups that ingrain the concept of ‘respect, dignity and self reliance’ into their business model.”
Micro Connect has a headcount of nearly 100 professionals, including an on-the-ground presence in the mainland to help with investment sourcing and capital deployment, as well as its capital markets team in Hong Kong.
The company said it has invested in more than 100 micro and small businesses in 15 sectors, including food and beverage, retail and cultural and sports industries, in more than 10 provinces and municipalities in China.
The platform is aiming to make more than 1,000 investments by the end of this year, and 10,000 investments in 2023, Micro Connect said.