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Hong Kong startups soon to start cashing in? Gobi Partners selected as first Investment Manager

Alibaba has officially launched its Entrepreneurs Fund for Hong Kong, in the form of a new US$1 billion not-for-profit fund with “resources offered by Alibaba’s ecosystem in e-commerce, logistics, mobile platforms, cloud computing and financial services.”

Plans for the fund were announced back in February, with Chairman Jack Ma also announcing plans to fund mobile-commerce startups in Taiwan.

The Fund has selected its first Investment Manager, Gobi Partners, to manage a portion of the investment programme. Additional Investment Managers will be decided later. The Fund will invest in qualifying startups in various stages of development.

“We are looking to bring on a couple investment managers that bring the right mix of local Hong Kong and international expertise and perspectives. We will look at a variety of sectors, including but not limited to, Fintech, O2O, e-commerce, IoT, consumer technology, clean technology and cloud computing. Sectors where Alibaba excels will naturally be prioritised,” Gobi Partners told e27.  

According to Gobi, there are no restrictions to the investment stage, as the fund is designed to be “stage agnostic.” If it is a promising startup, funding will be considered based on the company’s merits first and foremost, the VC states.

To qualify, founders must be either permanent residents of Hong Kong or have parts of the company carried out in Hong Kong.

In addition to funding, there will also be an internship programme.

“The programme is open to applications from graduates or final year students of tertiary education institutions in Hong Kong. Selected graduates will be offered real jobs with real responsibilities in Mainland China. They will work in Alibaba Group or other businesses within the Alibaba ecosystem to develop skills, knowledge and attributes needed for career development,” Alibaba said on its website.

Also Read: Gobi Partners invests US$2M in Malaysian cosmetics e-commerce company Hermo

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