China Deal Review: Startups raise $1.62b in Jan despite CNY, coronavirus outbreak

China Deal Review: Startups raise $1.62b in Jan despite CNY, coronavirus outbreak

People walk on the street in Macau wearing face masks to protect them to be infected with coronavirus. Source: Macau Photo Agency/Unsplash

Chinese startups have garnered about $1.62 billion across 33 transactions in the first month of 2020 even as the mainland market has nearly come to a standstill since the Lunar New Year holiday started on January 24.

According to proprietary data compiled by DealStreetAsia, all venture capital deals worth $10 million and more were recorded before the Lunar New Year, an originally seven-day public holiday that the Chinese government extended to February 2 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The epidemic, which appears to have started in central China’s Wuhan city, has already led to temporary store and factory closures of Apple, IKEA, Tesla, Starbucks, Disneyland and more companies with operations in China.

As the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the epidemic a global health emergency last weekend, nations like Australia, Singapore, and the United States banned or restricted the entry of Chinese citizens and any foreigners that have recently visited China, potentially further disrupting supply chains and business activities in the country.

Since the impact of the coronavirus on deal flows is yet to be seen, the mainland Chinese VC market remained largely intact in January with an approximately 31 per cent growth, or $382.3 million more, compared to the total deal value in December 2019.

Please find below detailed charts and analysis of prominent deals, active investors, deal stages and top sectors grabbing the largest venture dollars in the Greater China region between January 1 and 31, 2020.

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