China’s economic growth might be slowing down but there’s no shortage of funds going into its startups. In fact, 2015 was another record-breaking year in terms of the number of venture capital deals, according to London-based information provider Preqin. China had a total of 1,737 deals last year, up from 1,060 in 2014.
The outlook might not be all that rosy for China’s unicorns – private startups valued at over $1 billion. In the heated tech sector, there are already casualties. Many “online to offline” (O2O) startups have failed to attract investors because of their skyrocketing valuations.
These firms, which aimed to draw mobile users to physical stores and services, offer anything from food delivery, car washing or even professional home decoration to group discounts at shops, restaurants and cinemas. There are already questions that the O2O market has become a bubble.
Meanwhile, Chinese deals no longer lead in Asia. Figures from Preqin showed that just 535 of deals in Asia were Chinese deals last year, suggesting investors might also be looking at other countries in the region for startups.
via www.forbes.com