Innovation and Technology Venture Fund adds five co-investment partners

 The Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) today (October 11) announced that the Innovation and Technology Venture Fund (ITVF) has added five venture capital (VC) funds as co-investment partners (CPs), namely Beyond Ventures II Fund LP; BitRock Capital Fund II, L.P.; BVG IV LP; ORI Healthcare Fund II, L.P.; and Transcend Capital Partners II L.P.. The ITC called for a new round of applications from VC funds to become CPs of the ITVF late last year and received a total of 15 applications. Based on the assessment criteria including the VC fund's capability, its investment strategy and performance, its management team's expertise and experience, its local network and resources, as well as the advice of the ITVF Advisory Committee, the ITC selected the aforementioned five CPs at the first stage. The remaining selected CPs will be announced later. The ITVF signed co-investment agreements with six VC funds in the first round application in 2018, and another five VC funds in the second round application in 2020. To date, the ITVF has co-invested in 27 local innovation and technology (I&T) start-ups. The Government's investment has amounted to approximately $200 million, attracting around $1.7 billion of private investment. The business areas of these I&T start-ups include supply chain management, e-commerce, financial technology, biotechnology and artificial intelligence. The Government set up the ITVF with the aim of encouraging VC investment in local I&T start-ups and creating a more vibrant I&T ecosystem in Hong Kong. The CPs are responsible for recommending suitable investment targets to the ITC. The ITC will co-invest with the CPs at a matching ratio of approximately 1 (Government): 2 (CP) in eligible local I&T start-ups. The updated list of CPs is at the Annex. Details of the ITVF and brief information on the CPs are available on the ITVF website (www.itf.gov.hk/l-eng/ITVF.asp). https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202210/11/P2022101100200.htm Ends/Tuesday, October 11, 2022 Issued at HKT 12:00