Ten Chinese companies with venture capital backing have become unicorns this year, per PitchBook data, some racing past the initial $1 billion mark and generating valuations as large as $12 billion in what seemed like a blink of an eye (looking at you Toutiao). Bikesharing startups Mobike and Ofo have pulled in $2 billion this year alone, with the latter in negotiations to raise $1 billion from SoftBank and Didi Chuxing, according to Reuters.
Indeed, it's no secret that Chinese companies have upped their respective efforts when it comes to VC fundraising.
The country's 10 startups make up about one-third of the unicorn class of 2017, while US-based companies occupy almost two-thirds. Still, the Chinese group has managed to take in about 44% of overall capital invested in 2017's unicorns (from the companies founding dates until now), slightly edging out the US companies for the majority. This year alone, China's newest unicorns have grabbed nearly $5 billion in combined funding. But it's not like the US-based 2017 unicorns have been struggling, as they've secured more than $3 billion in VC funding this year.
2017 could end up being a peak year for VC funding in China-based companies, thanks to enormous vehicles like SoftBank's $93 billion Vision Fund, as well as the biggest names in Chinese venture activity: Sequoia, Matrix Partners, Tencent, IDG Capital and more.
Here's a breakdown of China's newest VC-backed unicorns:
PitchBook subscribers can access the full data set on the unicorn class of 2017. Related content: SoftBank eyes investment as ofo continues bike-sharing funding extravaganza
Article by KateClark, PitchBook
