Cathay Innovation Launches €1B Global Venture Capital Fund to Invest in Startups

Cathay Innovation has launched its third venture capital fund, a €1 billion global fund targeting startups that are accelerating the sustainable transformation of industries and society. 

At close, Cathay Innovation Fund III will be one of the largest multi-stage venture capital funds globally and is backed by institutional investors and multinational corporations including Sanofi, TotalEnergies, Valeo, BNP Paribas Cardif, Groupe SEB, Groupe ADP (Paris Aéroport) and more.

In the next ten years, all industries face massive change as modern digital infrastructure redefines markets by better linking products, customer needs and the wider value chain. The new fund looks to empower companies to lead the larger markets of the future by backing next-gen technologies, business models and platforms at the center of digital and sustainable transformation.

“We’re committed to helping create the economy of tomorrow while having a positive impact on society,” said Mingpo Cai, Founder and Chairman of Cathay Capital and Cathay Innovation. 

“Fund III marks an important milestone in our journey, building a multi-industry platform that connects large corporations and startups to collaborate, exchange knowledge and support the sustainable transformation of all stakeholders. We’re honored to have the trust of new and existing investors, partners and industry leaders who leverage the Cathay platform to take the lead in their respective fields and work together to drive meaningful change.”

Cathay Innovation has made over 120 investments across Europe, North America, Asia, Latin America and Africa that have gone on to raise over $16B and created 15,000 jobs since starting in 2015.

The firm has backed 19 unicorns including Chime, Glovo, Ledger, Owkin, Momenta, Sidecar Health and ZenBusiness with exits including the public offerings of Pinduoduo and Wallbox and the acquisitions of Glovo by Delivery Hero, Drivy by Getaround, Alkemics by Salsify and Trifacta by Alteryx.

From eight offices across five continents, Cathay Innovation now has around €2B assets under management across three marquee funds along with specialized vehicles such as C.Entrepreneur, Cartech, Smart Energy, Cathay AfricInvest Innovation, Seaya Cathay Latam and the recently launched Ledger Cathay Capital fund dedicated to web3. 

Fund III will focus on series A, B and late-stage startups in sectors including consumer, enterprise software, AI, inclusive fintech, digital health, new mobility, retail, energy and beyond. With check sizes ranging from €5M to €80M, the firm will invest as a lead or co-investor with reserves for follow-on rounds in key geographies including Europe, Asia and North America.

A fund to support the transformation of industries and society

The new fund looks to bring greater purpose to investments by focusing on both transformation potential and financial returns, leveraging various elements of Cathay Innovation’s investment approach:

• A global investment platform: includes investors with deep local expertise spanning the world’s innovation hubs to identify emerging trends while granting startups access to new markets.
• An extensive corporate ecosystem: the fund is heavily supported by globally leading multi-sector companies, acting as strategic partners that collaborate with portfolio companies to scale innovation in real-world industries and their own digital transformation.
• A sustainable investment framework: integrates sustainability into every step of the investment cycle to measure, track and maximize the impact of startups while helping entrepreneurs build more responsible, resilient businesses.

“We believe the time is now to accelerate digital transformation over the next ten years as innovation represents the biggest opportunity to take on some of the world’s largest challenges,” said Denis Barrier, Co-founder of Cathay Innovation. 

“With Fund III, we now have tailored investment theses for healthcare, finance, consumer, energy, mobility and logistics – investing in next-gen technologies that will be pervasive in global industries to deliver better, more efficient products and solutions addressing the needs of end customers. And this new generation of companies, larger and more sustainable than ever before, have the potential to have a greater impact on industries, society and the day-to-day lives of people everywhere.”

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