Futian Guidance Fund invests in 122 unicorns

An industrial fund backed by Futian’s district government and its umbrella funds have jointly invested in 122 global unicorns that account for 8.5% of the total global total.

The combined valuation of these unicorns invested by the Futian Guidance Fund and its sub-funds has reached 2.29 trillion yuan (US$315 billion), according to the Hurun Research Institute’s Global Unicorn Index 2024, a ranking of the world’s startups founded in the 2000s. The umbrella funds have poured 19.38 billion yuan into these startup firms. 

The number of unicorns in the world jumped 7%, or an addition of 92 firms, year on year to 1,453 in 2023 and the United States led the world with 703 firms, followed by China with 340, according to Hurun Research, which has been tracking unicorns since 2017. A unicorn company is valued at least US$1 billion and not yet listed on a public exchange. 

But another ranking unveiled by domestic market tracker Wind Info and Zepin Macro is a little bit different from Hurun Research’s findings when it comes to the Futian funds’ investment.    

The recently released China Unicorn list 2024 showed that the number of private startups funded by the Futian Guidance Fund and its umbrella funds reached 96 and these unicorns’ value totaled 1.92 trillion yuan, with 16.73 billion yuan invested by the umbrella funds.

Wholly owned by Futian’s district government, the Futian Guidance Fund was launched in August 2015 with a registered capital of 9.4 billion yuan to serve as a policy-oriented industrial guidance fund.

The guidance fund is expected to play an important role to promote regional industrial upgrades and foster high-quality economic development through “market resource allocation and guidance of financial funds,” according to its website. 

Over the years, the fund has centered on the leading industries in Futian and steered social capital into emerging industries and public welfare development sectors, which has injected a constant impetus for the transformation and upgrading of the regional economy.

As of December 2023, the accumulated fund size managed by the Futian Guidance Fund had reached 166.10 billion yuan, with subscribed contributions amounting to 13.09 billion yuan and actual contributions of 9.531 billion yuan. 

The guidance fund’s investments span multiple sectors like new energy, hard technology, artificial intelligence, new retail, and health care, making them darlings of the capital market due to their high growth potential, valuation, and innovation capability.

The fund’s successful investments include JD.com, GAC Aion, DJI, BYD Semiconductor, Moore Threads, Chang Guang Satellite and Terminus, which have grown into giants in their respective sectors over the years.

When making investment decisions, fund managers of the guidance fund focus on factors such as project innovation, market prospects, and team strength. Through rigorous screening and evaluation mechanisms, they select projects with potential and room for development for investment. 

Additionally, the fund provides a series of post-investment services like guidance and resource support to help firms achieve rapid development and facilitate investment and financing connections.