The Government today announced that the Innovation & Technology Venture Fund has added five venture capital funds as co-investment partners.

The Innovation & Technology Commission called for a new round of applications from venture capital funds to become co-investment partners of the fund late last year.

It received 15 applications.

Based on the assessment criteria including the venture capital fund’s capability, its investment strategy and performance, its management team’s expertise and experience and its local network and resources, as well as the advice of the fund’s advisory committee, the commission selected five co-investment partners at the first stage.

They are Beyond Ventures II Fund LP, BitRock Capital Fund II, LP, BVG IV LP, ORI Healthcare Fund II, LP, and Transcend Capital Partners II LP.

The remaining selected partners will be announced later.

The Government set up the fund with the aim of encouraging venture capital investment in local innovation and technology (I&T) startups and creating a more vibrant I&T ecosystem in Hong Kong.

The co-investment partners are responsible for recommending suitable investment targets to the commission which will co-invest with them at a ratio of approximately 1:2 in eligible startups.

The fund signed co-investment agreements with 11 venture capital funds in the two rounds of applications that opened in 2018 and 2020.

The Government has co-invested in 27 local I&T startups with the partners through the fund so far. Its investment has totalled around $200 million, attracting around $1.7 billion of private investment.

The business areas of such I&T startups include supply chain management, e-commerce, financial technology, biotechnology and artificial intelligence.