亞洲接近成爲接受風險投資最多的地區

Asia is closing in on the US as the biggest home for venture capital, with total funding of $70.8bn last year to America’s $71.9bn, according to the latest PwC/ CBInsights MoneyTree Report.

普華永道(PwC)與CBInsights聯合出品的最新MoneyTree報告顯示，亞洲正逼近美國，成爲接受風險投資最多的地區——去年亞洲接受風險投資總額達708億美元，美國則爲719億美元。

Global VC funding increased nearly 50 per cent year-on-year to more than $164bn invested across 11,042 deals, according to the survey. In Asia, funding more than doubled while in the US it rose 17 per cent year-on-year but deal volume fell to 5,052, the lowest level since 2012.

該顯示報告，全球風險投資基金的投資額同比增長近50%，超過1640億美元，達成了11042筆交易。在亞洲，投資額同比增長逾100%；而在美國，投資額同比增長17%，但交易數量下降至5052，爲2012年以來最低水平。

Europe remained the world’s laggard, despite a 40 per cent rise in financing to $17.6bn across 2,483 deals.

歐洲仍是接受風險投資方面的落後地區，儘管達成了2483筆交易，投資額增長40%，至176億美元。

China is proving a magnet for capital, with money pouring into everything from ride-hailing apps and shared bikes to artificial intelligence and car-charging stations.

中國正成爲吸引資本的一塊“磁石”，資金涌入了從叫車應用到共享自行車、再到人工智能(AI)和汽車充電站的各個領域。

Didi Chuxing late last month announced a $4bn investment from a consortium that included Japan’s SoftBank and Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Capital as well as domestic investors. That valued the ride-hailing group at $56bn, making it the world’s biggest unicorn behind US rival Uber.

上月下旬，滴滴出行(Didi Chuxing)宣佈獲得了一個財團的40億美元投資，該財團由日本軟銀(SoftBank)、阿布扎比國家基金Mubadala Capital 以及國內投資者組成。這使這家叫車服務集團的估值達到560億美元，成爲僅次於美國競爭對手優步(Uber)的全球最大獨角獸。

Other top-ranked Chinese unicorns, including Meituan-Dianping, an app that enables users to book and buy meals, manicures and many other services, raised $4bn late last year for a valuation of $30bn.

在中國，其他排名靠前的獨角獸公司包括美團-大衆點評(Meituan-Dianping)，它的應用能讓用戶完成訂餐、美甲和許多其他服務。去年下半年，該公司融資40億美元，估值達到300億美元。

Abundant funding has helped fund cut-throat business practices, including costly subsidies — which precipitated Uber’s retreat from China, throwing its lot in with Didi. Meituan last week marked its own entry into ride-hailing.

充裕的資金支持了殘酷的商業行爲，包括高額補貼——這導致優步退出中國市場，並與滴滴達成合作。上週美團也進入了叫車服務市場。

Some one-time start-ups such as handset maker Xiaomi are now eyeing the public markets, where liquidity is also abundant and tech companies in particular, including China’s tech titans Tencent and Alibaba, are seeing their prices propelled higher.

一些曾經的創業企業——比如手機制造商小米(Xiaomi)——目前正在籌備股票上市。在股市中，資金也很充足，尤其是科技公司——包括中國的科技巨頭騰訊(Tencent)和阿里巴巴(Alibaba)——都看到自己的股價被推得越來越高。

The duo are also big investors in start-ups in China and Asia, with Tencent in particular out-spending traditional VC firms.

這兩家公司也是中國和亞洲創業企業的大型投資者，其中騰訊的投資額尤其高於傳統風投公司。