(Yicai) July 31 -- Government-backed investment institutions from Shanghai and Hong Kong inked a partnership agreement yesterday, paving the way for the establishment of the HKD600 million (USD76 million) Victoria Link Sci-Tech Fund, which will focus on investing in Hong Kong-based technology and innovation projects and accelerate the deployment of cutting-edge global technologies in both Shanghai and Hong Kong.

The Victoria Link Sci-Tech Fund's core investment targets will include three emerging industries, namely artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and new energy as well as life sciences and healthcare. The nine pipeline projects unveiled at yesterday's signing ceremony were all incubated by universities and colleges in Hong Kong.

Shanghai State-owned Capital Investment is the cornerstone investor of the new fund, while Hong Kong tech firm Yeebo International Holdings is also one of the investors. The Hong Kong government's capital contribution will equal one-third of the total amount invested by external investors.

The Victoria Link Sci-Tech Fund aims to combine capable government guidance with an efficient market, mobilizing more market resources to help startups in three strategic industries stay afloat and accelerate their commercialization, Sun Dong, secretary for Hong Kong’s Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, said at the signing ceremony.

By linking with domestic and foreign capital and leveraging their industrial ecosystems, the Victoria Link Sci-Tech Fund will also help Hong Kong tech firms expand into broader markets, Sun said.

Innovation Ecosystem

The Victoria Link Sci-Tech Fund will capitalize on Hong Kong's high-quality science and technology and innovation resources to help local tech entrepreneurs establish a complete value chain spanning research, incubation, capital and industrialization, said Dai Minmin, president of Shanghai State-Owned Capital Investment.

At the same time, it will connect its Hong Kong portfolio companies with Shanghai's application scenarios, supply chain resources and policy support, he added.

Leveraging Hong Kong's position as a global hub, the fund will help Shanghai attract high-quality overseas science and technology resources and top talent, while assisting Shanghai's hard-tech companies in raising capital internationally, Dai said.

The Victoria Link Sci-Tech Fund will also regularly hold project roadshows, industry-academia-research matchmaking events, and exchange activities for science and technology innovation in both Hong Kong and Shanghai as well as upgrade one-off capital cooperations between the two cities into a long-term, systematic ecological synergy, Dai said.

Fund Milestones

Hong Kong established a HKD2 billion (USD255 million) Science and Technology Innovation Venture Capital Fund in 2017 to encourage venture capital investment in the special administrative region’s innovation and technology startups. The optimization plan launched in 2024, allocated HKD1.5 billion of the fund to establish co-investment funds with external capital and focus on investing in strategic industry startups. The Hong Kong government participates in these co-investment funds as a limited partner, contributing HKD1 (USD0.13) for every HKD3 raised from private investors.

The Victoria Link Sci-Tech Fund is the first technology innovation investment fund under this program to complete fundraising from external investors, and also the first fund in Hong Kong's history to be created through market-based fundraising.

The Victoria Link Sci-Tech Fund will also become the first Hong Kong dollar-denominated fund under Shanghai State-owned Capital Investment. Shanghai State-owned Capital Investment currently manages 37 funds with total assets under management of nearly CNY300 billion (USD44.4 billion). These funds have invested in more than 3,000 technology companies and supported the listing of over 160 companies.

Since last year, nearly 20 tech firms that received early-stage investment from Shanghai State-owned Capital Investment, including Biren Technology, Lightelligence and MiniMax, have successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor