Draper Venture Network

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Established in 1995 by Sean O'Sullivan, SOSV is a venture capital firm with six attached accelerator programs. Upon receiving investment from SOSV, portfolio companies join one of the accelerator programs that best suits their products. The accelerators are: Chinaccelerator, focused on the Chinese market; Indie Bio, supporting biotechnology and life sciences companies; Food-X, for food-tech and agriculture-focused companies; dlab, which supports startups exploring blockchain and decentralized tech; HAX, for IoT, robotics and other hardware-focused startups; and MOX, an accelerator specializing in mobile platforms and technologies. SOSV, along with the O'Sullivan Foundation, has also provided support for education initiatives such as Khan Academy and CoderDojo (which teaches coding skills to youth).

Formerly known as Guangdong Technology Venture Capital Group, Technology Financial Group is a state-owned firm based in Guangzhou. It has a subsidiary in Guangdong province and has set up nine offices in other provinces across China. Technology Financial Group began investing in companies when it was founded in 1992, and it has assets under management of RMB 50bn. With a focus on VC investment, it also provides financial services such as asset management.The firm invests mainly in the high-end equipment manufacturing; new-generation information technology; new material; art, entertainment and media; consumption; biotech and pharmacy; energy and environmental protection; and automotive sectors.

Caris LeVert is a professional basketball player in the USA’s National Basketball Association league, playing for the Brooklyn Nets. A graduate of the University of Michigan, he joined the Nets in 2016, after the Indiana Pacers swapped him for Thaddeus Young in that year’s draft. In 2019, the Nets signed a three year-extension for LeVert’s contract, worth $52.5m.LeVert is managed by Roc Nation, the entertainment and sports management firm founded by musician Jay-Z. He took part in Roc Nation’s investment (via venture arm Arrive) in Indonesian coffee brand Kopi Kenangan. LeVert is also the founder of the 22 Initiative, a youth mentorship program in New York.

Sofina began in 1898 as Société Financière de Transport et d’Entreprises Industrielles, an engineering conglomerate in Belgium. In the late 1960s, Sofina changed course to become an investment company. As a holding company, its major investments lie in the consumer goods, energy, and distribution sectors, with stakes in companies like Danone and communications satellite operator SES. It has also been involved in various venture capital investment activities, both as an LP to other VCs and as a VC itself, running the Sofina Growth portfolio. The Sofina Growth portfolio spans a wide range of sectors and geographies, from China to Southeast Asia, with investments in notable companies like Zilingo, Byju’s and Kopi Kenangan.

Castel Capital is a privately-owned Dutch venture capital and equity platform. The company also works with co-investors and private family offices to build bespoke investment portfolios. Castel focuses on both tech and non-tech business opportunities across Europe. Seed funding of €100,000–€500,000 and Series A rounds of €500,000–€1 million are generally available for tech deals. Castel has a hands-on management approach and seeks to add value to the portfolio companies. The firm has invested in 10 startups in diverse sectors like digital health, fintech and transportation.

Dharmash Mistry is non-executive director of the British Business Bank and the BBC. He is also a partner at LGT Lightstone, Balderton Capital and Lakestar. As an experienced venture capitalist and entrepreneur Mistry has raised and managed investment funds totaling $1bn. He is a board member and one of the early investors of unicorns like Revolut and Glovo.Mistry is the former MD of Ascential plc, formerly EMAP, B2B media business specializing in exhibitions and information services and listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). He was also the chair and co-founder of Blow Ltd, an on-demand beauty services provider in the UK. Mistry also previously held non-executive director roles in companies like Dixons Retail and Hargreaves Lansdown.

Vesalius Biocapital III is a €70 million fund that invests in medtech, e-health initiatives and drug development in Europe. It was launched in 2017 by Luxembourg-based Vesalius Biocapital, a life sciences venture capital firm founded in 2007.  Preceding Vesalius Biocapital III were Vesalius Biocapital I, with €76 million under management and Vesalius Biocapital II, which has €78 million invested; both funds have 11 portfolio companies each.Its recent investments include in Portuguese home physiotherapy tech solution SWORD Health's 2021 $25m Series B and in the 2020 $9m second phase of its Series A round as well as in the 2020 €22m Series B round of German biotech Topas Therapeutics. 

Torch Capital is a venture capital firm based in New York, primarily investing in seed and Series A rounds with check sizes ranging from $500,000 to $3m. Founded in 2018, the firm raised its first fund of $60m in June 2019, making 15 investments within its first year of operations. Torch Capital has made a total of 46 investments and 10 exits to date. Two investees, Compass and Digital Ocean, are now public-listed companies.Founder and managing partner Jonathan Keidan previously worked for McKinsey and Company and for General Electric CEO Jack Welsh. Keidan is also the co-founder of digital media publication InsideHook.

One of the earliest and independent VC firms in China, Chengwei Capital was founded in Shanghai in 1999. It’s also the first and only evergreen fund in China.With Yale University Endowment as its largest investor, the VC limited partners also include institutional investors from around the world. With a portfolio of about 30 companies, the firm mainly invests in manufacturing, consumer goods, education, internet and petroleum & natural gas.In 2012, Chengwei and China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) jointly launched the $100m CEIBS-Chengwei Venture Capital Fund to invest in early- and growth-stage companies founded or managed by CEIBS alumni. The VC also seeks to support entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses over a long period of time, acting as their long-term business partner. 

ICONIQ Capital is a private investment management company that is known for serving a wide variety of famous clients, including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and Asian billionaire Li Ka-shing, among other Silicon Valley elites and world-famous billionaires. The company is led by Divesh Makan, Chad Boeding and Michael Anders, who were coworkers at Goldman Sachs and joined Morgan Stanley together before establishing ICONIQ in 2011.The investment company is a mix of family office and venture capital, with specialized verticals in tech startup investing, real estate, and impact investments. Its VC arm, ICONIQ Growth, manages over $9b in capital commitments, and has invested into companies like stock brokerage app Robinhood, short-term accommodation startup Airbnb, and online signature company DocuSign.

Established in 1958, VERSO Capital is a boutique merchant banking and financial services firm based in Luxembourg. It also has offices in Geneva, Fribourg, Vaduz, Dubai, Singapore and BVI. VERSO specializes in sectors like education, food and renewables. Since 2011, the firm has invested over $700bn in venture capital in the global startup ecosystem. Funds worth over $245m were pumped into climatech, foodtech and biotech sectors since 2017. In February 2021, it merged with Swiss alternative asset manager ALDINI Capital that was also founded in 1958 and based in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. VERSO will leverage the expertise of ALDINI in hedge funds, private equity and real estate.

Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) started as a division of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works in 1933, and established as an independent in 1937. As of December 2019, it ranked tenth largest company in the world by revenue. An established multinational automotive manufacturer, Toyota has invested in startups working on everything from online marketing to cybersecurity, placing an focus on new-generation mobility services. In 2019, it invested $600m in Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, and founded a joint venture to offer car maintenance, insurance and finance services to ride-hailing drivers. Also that year, Toyota invested $500m in Uber for self-driving cars. In early 2020, the auto giant invested $400 in the self-driving startup Pony.ai. Before the investment, the two had already partnered to test self-driving cars on public roads in China. 

Joe Zhou graduated from Beijing University of Technology in 1982 and worked five years as a lecturer at his alma mater. In 1987, he went to study in the US and obtained a master’s at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1989. He stayed in New Jersey and worked for five years at AT&T Bell Labs and its spin-off Lepton Inc.In 1995, Zhou returned to work in China as the VP of UTStarcom China until 1999 when he joined Softbank China Venture Capital as the head of its Beijing office. In October 2001, he became a partner at Softbank’s SAIF for five years. In 2007, he became a founding managing partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers China. In April 2008, he co-founded Keytone Ventures as managing partner.

Founded in 1813 as a small grain-trading firm in Arlon, France (now Belgium), Continental Grain Company (CGC) is now headquartered in New York. It has operations in 10 countries and employs over 13,500 people worldwide. Business activities include animal feeds, aquaculture and meat production.Besides interests in the food, agribusiness and commodities sectors, CGC also manages different asset classes like private equity, listed securities and venture capital. Its investment portfolio includes more than 30 food and agribusiness companies, ranging from early-stage ventures to established market leaders across the US, China and Latin America.CGC Asia mainly invests in feed milling, animal husbandry, meat production and processing businesses in the region. Direct investments are made through Continental Capital Limited in China, focusing on high‐growth food and agribusiness firms.

Founded in Sydney in 2004, Artesian Capital Management (Australia) Pty Ltd is a global alternative investment management firm specialized in public and private debt, venture capital and impact investment strategies. The VC was a spin-off from ANZ Banking Group’s capital markets business, backed by ANZ Private Equity. Artesian’s founding partners Jeremy Colless, Matthew Clunies-Ross and John McCartney bought ANZ’s stake in 2005.Today, Artesian has international offices in New York, London, Singapore, Jakarta and Shanghai. Its China VC Fund was launched in 2017 and the firm also has plans for a Southeast Asia VC Fund. The alternative investment firm currently manages multiple funds including Australian VC Fund 2, High Impact Green Debt Fund, GrainInnovate and Women Economic Empowerment Fund.

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