The Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC), an investment company wholly-owned by the Hong Kong government, has announced partnerships with several general partners (GPs), including Gobi Partners, Lanchi Ventures, and Gaw Capital, as the wealth fund bolsters its position as the hub of patient capital.
HKIC said the firm has jointly created a new fund named Patient Capital Strategic Fund with Gobi Partners, an Asian venture capital firm dual-headquartered in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong. Part of the HKIC-Gobi fund’s mandate includes opening up Hong Kong’s I&T ecosystem to overseas capital.
Meanwhile, early stage-focused Chinese VC firm Lanchi Ventures—previously known as BlueRun Ventures China—will tie up with HKIC to set up a ‘Co-investment Partnership Programme’. The programme targets to support Chinese tech entrepreneurs to achieve global impact, according to a release on Thursday.
Gaw Capital, a homegrown multi-asset investment firm, too, will join hands with HKIC to set up an international strategic expansion platform, which eyes to accelerate the commercialisation and application of R&D outcomes. The initial stage will focus on facilitating Hong Kong brands and companies to expand in the Global South, including the Middle East.
Without further details, the series of partnerships was announced during the inaugural International Forum for Patient Capital, an event hosted by the HKIC, that saw 400 patient capital institutions across the world with a total AUM of over $20 trillion.
With an initial deployment capital of HK$62 billion ($8.6 billion), HKIC targets opportunities in the hard tech, biotech, green tech, and new energy sectors. So far, the HKIC has invested in over 100 firms. The wealth fund said that for every dollar that it invested, it attracted four dollars of external long-term private capital.
Most recently, HKIC selected four fund managers under its New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES), which includes Betatron Venture Group, InnoAngel Fund, MindWorks Capital, and Radiant Tech Ventures Limited, according to an announcement in December 2024.
The new CIES is a cash-for-residency programme under the Hong Kong SAR government that aims to attract asset owners to settle in the city through wealth allocation and management.
Each eligible applicant under the scheme is required to make at least HK$30 million ($3.9 million) of investment, which includes placing HK$3 million ($0.4 million) in the HKIC. The pool of capital collected through the scheme, which is expected to be at least HK$600 million ($72 million) by the end of 2024, will be evenly allocated to the four appointed managers.
