Plum Ventures Explained

Ningbo Plum Angel Investment Management Co. Ltd.
Trading Name:Plum Ventures
Native Name:宁波梅花天使投资管理有限公司
Native Name Lang:zh
Type:Private
Industry:Venture capital
Location:Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
Aum:US$1.5 billion

Plum Ventures is a Chinese venture capital (VC) firm that focuses on angel investing and early stage companies. It is headquartered in Ningbo, Zhejiang.

As of 2024, Plum Ventures has invested in over 600 companies.

Background

In 2014, Wu Shichun founded Plum Ventures.[1] Wu was an entrepreneur who had founded companies such as TQ and KuXun. Wu sensed that China needed new set of VC organizations to serve growing businesses and entrepreneurs so he founded a VC firm instead of another company.[2]

According to Wu, Plum Ventures generally invests in founders which have three characteristics: poor, smart, and have desire. Historically Plum Ventures invests in companies related to technology. Due to market cycles moving very quickly, Plum Ventures takes a fast approach to investments. Plum Ventures completes a fund every 1-1.5 years with the investment team looking at more than 5,000 projects and selecting 100 of them to invest in. For one project, Wu drafted an investment agreement with a founder in less than 10 minutes.[3]

In May 2019, Wu stated on The New York Times that the Trump tariffs would affect Plum Ventures' portfolio companies that rely on the US to do business. As a result, going forward Plum Ventures would have to invest in companies that focus only on the Chinese market.[4]

In February 2024, National Business Daily noted that a legal letter representing a limited partner (LP) that was addressed to Plum Ventures was circulating on social media. The letter complained about the treatment the LP was getting from Plum Ventures and how there was a lack of communication and transparency.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 26 September 2024 . 最佳早期投资机构TOP10——梅花创投 . 2 December 2024 . Sohu.
  2. Web site: 17 October 2019 . Are 'village youths' driving China's economy? . 2 December 2024 . Chinadaily.
  3. Web site: 4 November 2021 . 曾获1500倍回报,梅花"帮"再发寻人令:抓住那个小镇青年 . 2 December 2024 . 163.
  4. Web site: Li . Yuan . 14 May 2019 . In China, Some Fear the End of 'Chimerica' . The New York Times.
  5. Web site: 1 February 2024 . 知名投资机构,被LP举报了 . 2 December 2024 . Securities Times.