Withinlink CEO Bessie Lee (pictured), has announced the launch of the firm’s second venture capital fund this year – a new USD30 million fund that is aiming to bring startups to China.
“As our world globalises and China gentrifies, there has never been a better time to bridge the gap between Silicon Valley innovation and the China market,” says Lee. “Withinlink Venture Fund 2.0 will invest in US-based companies with products and services poised for takeoff in China.”
The new Withinlink fund, which follows a RMB fund which closed this past March, will target mid- to late-stage US media and technology companies not yet doing business in China as well as early-stage companies founded in the US by Chinese entrepreneurs.
“Our first RMB fund was a domestic affair, but we are a global team. In our trips overseas, we have noted the difficulty mid-stage US tech firms have in getting China onto their roadmaps,” says Lee. “We also recognise the high caliber of Chinese entrepreneurs operating in Silicon Valley. With this second fund we will invest to help both groups launch business in China.”
In April, Lee resigned as CEO, WPP China, where she was responsible for 14,000 employees and more than USD1 billion in annual revenue, to focus full time on Withinlink, a China-based startup incubator and early stage venture fund she founded in 2015, while still at WPP.
“While China has an abundance of venture capital firms, many VCs lack basic knowledge of the advertising ecosystem, relations, and how or why companies are acquired by agency networks. Withinlink leverages a network of C-suite media executives to source deals, mentor startups, and create winners,” says Lee.
Over the past two years, Withinlink has made angel and early-stage investments in nearly a dozen China-based startups in mobile advertising, big data and analytics, social media, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Selected current investments include Pingcoo (mobile advertising solutions), Kuaizi (AI creative platform), Zhima (retail data), Fugetech (marketing automation), Bowhead Technology (smart hardware), WeTalk (social media tracking and management), Zaojiu (premium content platform), RabbitPre (H5 creative automation and user engagement tracking) and Robin8 (web influencer search engine and platform).
Highly influential in China’s social media landscape, Lee is also a frequent commentator and keynote speaker, having presented multiple times at Cannes Lions’ International Festival of Creativity, FT Future of Marketing, and RISE. Lee, who was awarded the 1990 Institute’s IGNITE Award earlier this year, is an independent director on the board of Ecovacs, and co-founder and current co-chair of the Mobile Marketing Association in China.
