Under-the-radar fundraising: A group of private enterprises are making frequent moves.

The anxiety about the "disappearance" of social LPs persists. However, beneath the surface, the industrial capital legion represented by Zhejiang private enterprises is continuously active in the investment arena.

"It's difficult to find social LPs." has become a common and real dilemma in the current fundraising market.

In the past few years, affected by factors such as market environment fluctuations, many social LPs chose to withdraw or wait and see, and market-oriented funds were in short supply.

However, beneath the seemingly quiet surface, a group of private enterprises have remained active.

Recently, another private enterprise has taken action to invest in a GP.

Precise Layout of Private Enterprise LPs

On July 7th, a notice from Meituan disclosed its latest move in equity investment.

Meituan Food Co., Ltd. issued a notice announcing that it will contribute 100 million yuan of its own funds to become an LP of Changsha Quanzhong Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership).

The fund is managed by Suzhou Weiteli New Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd., which is an affiliate of Jiayu Capital. The total scale of the fund is 1 billion yuan, and the first-phase fundraising is 652 million yuan.

The structural design of this fund reveals the clear demands of industrial LPs:

Clear industrial focus: More than 80% of the funds are targeted at the core "big consumption" track.

Clear stage preference: The fund mainly invests in growth and mature enterprises, and also appropriately considers early-stage consumer enterprises with good development prospects and clear incubation paths.

Meituan clarified in the notice its motivation for participating in the fund: to leverage the resource and experience advantages of professional investment institutions, reserve more high-quality targets, and further enhance the company's competitiveness.

In the view of industry insiders, in recent years, consumer goods enterprises have frequently appeared as LPs in the venture capital field. Their underlying motivations mainly point to two aspects: seeking a second growth curve outside the main business and strategic layout in emerging tracks. Through fund investment, they can not only expand the boundaries of the industrial ecosystem or conduct cross - border exploration but also obtain potential financial returns.

He further pointed out: "For Meituan, which has experienced a decline in both revenue and net profit, this layout may be an important measure to seek new growth momentum."

According to our observation, this is not Meituan's first foray into venture capital. As early as 2022, it participated as an LP in Huzhou Zhenxiang Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership).

Against the backdrop of the continuous shortage of market - oriented funds plaguing the venture capital industry, Meituan's investment undoubtedly sends a positive signal.

More importantly, industrial LPs with continuous investment capabilities are not an isolated case. In Zhejiang, such enterprises are accelerating their investment.

Zhejiang's LP Legion

Meituan's move is not an isolated case.

In Zhejiang, an "underwater LP legion" composed of traditional enterprises and listed companies is making high - frequency and continuous investments.

According to FOFWEEKLY statistics, in June alone, the investment scale of listed companies in Zhejiang Province as LPs exceeded 1 billion yuan, ranking first in the country; its investment activity (number of transactions) was also second only to Guangdong, ranking second in the country. The listed companies that made investments that month included Proya, Huatong Co., Ltd., Leidike, etc. Further observation shows that the main businesses of these listed companies participating in the investment are highly concentrated in industries such as new materials, daily necessities, and department store retail.

An investor who has long focused on the consumer track analyzed: "Ample cash flow is a typical feature of consumer goods enterprises. Although the consumer field has undergone adjustments in the past few years, the introduction of policies such as the 'Guiding Opinions on Financial Support for Boosting and Expanding Consumption' this year has injected impetus into the development of consumer enterprises and also created more opportunities for the venture capital industry, which is expected to further stimulate the investment willingness of consumer enterprises as LPs."

He further pointed out: "Such enterprises generally have considerable cash flow but are cautious about direct cross - border investment in new fields. By being an LP, they can better achieve strategic or financial layout."

It is worth noting that there are not a few industrial LPs in Zhejiang Province with continuous and high - frequency investment capabilities. Take Zhejiang Tenaishi Daily Necessities Co., Ltd. as an example. According to incomplete statistics, since it first entered the equity investment field in 2021, it has made a total of 40 investment transactions.

The investment preferences of Zhejiang private enterprise LPs are not random but have a clear industrial synergy logic, which is also the core feature of current industrial capital's participation in equity investment.

"When screening partner GPs, we value whether they have in - depth industrial resources and a profound understanding of our field." an investment department head of a manufacturing listed company admitted. "We prefer to make small - scale investments so that we can have a stronger sense of participation in the fund and more easily establish in - depth communication with GPs."

With the profound adjustment of the primary market fundraising logic, the investment strategies of LPs and the criteria for screening GPs are also being re - constructed.

The investment head of an industrial group admitted: "We focus on carefully evaluating the quality and growth potential of GPs' historical investment projects and also hope that GPs can provide more high - quality direct investment projects."

Facing the upgrading of LPs' demands, GPs need to accelerate their adaptation and evolution.

Conclusion

In recent years, the equity investment industry has been undergoing tremendous changes. Although challenges remain, driven by favorable policies and technological changes, the primary market has shown new enthusiasm.

The anxiety about the "disappearance" of social LPs persists. However, beneath the surface, the industrial capital legion represented by Zhejiang private enterprises is more active than ever in the investment arena.

As more and more industrial LPs predict: 2025 is very likely to become a new starting point for China's venture capital, and they also hold a positive attitude towards the future development of industries.

This article is from the WeChat official account "FOFWEEKLY", author: FOFWEEKLY, published by 36Kr with authorization.